Laos

We flew from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang to explore our fifth and last country of this trip around South East Asia.

Laos (pronounced Lao) is a country covered to 70% of mountains. It is also the most bombed country in the world without really being involved in any wars.

During the Vietnam war, bombs that for different reasons wasn’t released from the loaded aircrafts meant for targets in Vietnam or Cambodia got dropped over Laos to secure a the landing of the plane back at base. How horrible is that?!

Still today people get injured and even killed from the bombs that never exploded when they were dumped. And they are everywhere. So very sad.

Apart from this Laos is a beautiful country with breathtaking views wherever you go.

For Christmas Eve me and S rented bicycles and road around town of Luang Prabang and visited some surrounding villages. This after getting up in the crack of dawn to watch the monks collect their aims. 

A lovely day.

An eight hour drive in the mountains we had travelled the 186km to get to Vang Vieng. A small little cute town surrounded by limestone karsts. 

We took a short boat trip on the river. Stunning scenery!

In the afternoon we travelled by local transport- tuk tuk to the Blue Lagoon where you could have a swim in the natural pools. Further on we walked through two villages, one Hmong and one Khmu, (two different mountain tribes).

We were given an opportunity to climb up to a viewpoint, but I decided not to, which turned out to be a very good decision. It was a very hard climb.

The day ended with a lovely group dinner at a restaurant located on the river. We sat on a platform on the water, as the locals - no chairs and a very low table.

We were also given the great opportunity to send a lantern to the sky together. 

The next morning we took the bus to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We visited the COPE Center. An organisation helping people that suffer injuries from the UXOs around the countryside. A very interesting visit. 

That was also the end of my SE Asia adventure! Due to circumstances with flights I left the group early and started my journey home.

It turned out to be a different and a bit dramatic, but I made it all the way home.

Thank you for taking part in my travels! 

I wish you a Happy New Year! May 2019 become a fantastic year!

Northern Thailand

This morning we boarded a local bus, really fancy compared to other local busses we’ve travelled with. This was a double decker and myself and S managed to get the two front seats upstairs. Great view, but unfortunately not much to see. 

We arrived in Chiang Mai mid afternoon and had one and a half days to explore it. I was imagine a small picturesque town, but met a big city. I am not really interested in more cities. 

We went to the old city, but it was far too touristy and not at all charming.

The next morning we strolled around the neighbourhood by the hotel and found much more interesting roads and allies.

Later that day we visited Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep a very important temple for Thai Buddhist. 

The story tells the location of this holy place was found by a white elephant carrying holy remains, who was sent out to pick the spot for building this temple.

And the elephant climbed a mountain and when he kneeled they knew this was the right place.

From Chiang Mai we went to Chiang Rai by private car. The driver was a bit of a maniac driver on this mountain roads. After stopping at some very commercial hot springs and a place selling cashew nuts we reach the “White Temple”. What a place!

A local guy decided he wanted to build a temple, but a very special temple. He started in 1997 and estimates to have it finalised 2070.

The place is surreal! It could be taken straight out from a Disney movie. Very strange things are going on everywhere. 

Very awkward but also spectacular. I’m having a hard time taking it seriously though. Difficult to see it as a sacred place.

After white comes black, and the next morning we visited a similar but very different place - “The black house”. 

A local artist that built about 40 buildings in different sizes on his property. The one more awkward than the other.

We ended of our Thailand excursion with a visit to the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet via the Mekong river.

As this used to be an area for growing opium we visited the opium museum to learn more about the “black gold”.

Sukhothai

From Bangkok we went to Sukhothai by train (and last bit by taxi). A journey that took more or less the entire day. The train ride was the most pleasant one we’ve hade as for comfort, but the most boring one for scenery. Maybe we have become a bit blasé after all the fantastic landscapes we’ve travelled through, and green rice fields and small villages doesn’t impress as much anymore.

However this train won on comfort and service. A pretty smooth ride, not much rocking and bouncing, pretty ok seats, but best of all we got served a warm meal that was kind of good, and later coffee/tea with cookies.

All one could miss was the drink trolley!

As Sukhothai is an old capital city from the 11th century when this part of then Siam, now Thailand belonged to the Khmer empire.

Old Sukhothai has many ruins from that time and we spent a day on bicycles visiting some of them. 

We also biked around the countryside through small cute villages and fields.

In the afternoon we needed to rest our behinds from the saddles a bit and stopped at a small shop in one of the villages. The shop owner did everything he could to accommodate this two strange ladies on bikes.

We got to sit on his bench were he was seated as we arrived watching badminton on tv. He even run to his house behind the shop to fetch glasses for our beer. What a sweet man. 

In total we estimated our ride to 40km. A lovely day that came to an end with a sore bum, a lovely meal and a rock hard most uncomfortable bed. Not to talk about the pillow. 

Bangkok

We managed to fit a lot into our two days in Bangkok.

The first day we spent the morning exploring our neighbourhood and as we do, we found the small little allies where the people live. We had delicious street food on a curb for breakfast. 

For the afternoon we had booked a tour to the floating market, the train market and a boat trip. 

The organiser said it would be a group of maximum 10 and turned out to be 14, so that meant a full bus. 

The drive to the market was long and for quite a bit of time we sat in traffic. 

I slowly started to loose interest for this tour... 

Finally we reached the floating market, which turned out to be such a disappointment. I had imagined a small canal packed with little wooden boats and ladies in straw hats selling fruit and veggies etc.

Instead we met an almost empty canal with market stalls along the sides in buildings suited for just that.

The few boats that actually were on the water, served as restaurants. 

Not at all what I imagined, however we found some great street food. 

Next was the train market. A market strangely situated along a railway track. Basically on the tracks! Every few hours there is a train passing and all the stall owners has to push back their stalls, which are on wheels. And you have to find a little spot to hide as the train passes v e r y close to you!

One wonders, who came first - the market or the tracks?

We ended off this tour with a boat trip on the river, to look at fireflies. We managed to see some, but it was too much lights in the area to really experience it. The boat trip itself was nice tho.

However the long drive back to town wasn't...

The next day we met our new group. Only three other people and a guide. Seams like an ok bunch.

We visited the Gran Palace, together with thousands and thousands of our new Chinese friends... 

The palace is a place out of the ordinary. Gold, sparkles, decorations, temple after stupa. Too big to try and take in, and impossible to get your head around.

We visited "The Emerald Buddha temple" the most sacred place in Thailand.

After the Grand and the Royal palaces some of us took a boat trip on the canals, to experience a bit more of the "real" Bangkok.

We visited, what used to be a floating market, which today is like a big food court, partly placed on a barge. 

All in all a lovely day, that ended with food in one of the many restaurants popping up at night.

From Inle Lake to the end

Inle Lake is a big lake. We boarded two long tail boats that took us around the lake to visit several places.

We passed the floating gardens where they grow mainly tomatoes at the moment. The often change crops after every harvest to get the most out of their “land”.

We went through a couple of villages, that are placed on the lake. All houses are of course on stilts. It looks very well organised with straight “roads”, fenced “gardens” around the houses, shops and of course a temple. 

This is one step further than Venice. 

We visited some workshops for Cheroots (Burmese cigars), silver smith, weaving where they make thread out of fibres in the stems of Lotus plants and also silk.

At one stop they had a sanctuary for Burmese cats and showed the different fish found in the lake.

The last stop was old ruins of hundreds and hundreds of stupas mixed with newer ones. An amazing site.

We travelled back across the lake while the sun set behind dramatic dark clouds, but no rain on us today.

In the evening me and S found a great bar for a light meal. Again it was us and the men in town...

The next morning we left for HeHo airport. During the way we stopped at an old wooden temple and a place where they make umbrellas. 

The airport was a small place run very  manually and the small propeller plane took us to Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar.

A city built for 60 000 people where the population is 6 million, whereof 1.5 in down town. Motorcycles are not allowed in Yangon, so 90% of the cars in the country are here.

Our guide took us around downtown showing some old colonial buildings, and other places of interest, we visited the skybar at Lakeview Hotel for the views, and after being stuck in traffic we visited the big pagoda, that unfortunately was under construction but the area was impressive! 

To end this leg of the trip and put another country behind us we had dinner with the group.

It was now time to relocate to Bangkok, for a days “break” before our final leg starts.

Elephants & Caves

We left Bagan by private van to go to Kalaw, a small town up in the mountains. 

After a short drive we stopped at a place where the show how to make peanut oil the old way, having an ox walking round and round pulling the grinder.

We were also shown how the get the juice out of the fruits on the toddy palm, to make toddy. 

Last but not least they showed how palm sugar candy, Jaggery is made.

The drive continued on very curvy mountain roads until we reached Kalaw district. 

Here we had a rememberable experience at the “Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp”

A place where they look after retired log elephants and disabled domestic elephants. The government recently forbid working elephants.

At the moment they have 8 elephants at the camp.

The go find them every morning to check them, feed them and bathe them before letting them free again.

We got to meet four of the elephants and fed them pumpkin, banana stem and grass.

You put it in their mouth or trunk. How amazing!!!

Then we got in the river to bathe and scrub them.

Loved it!!!

Before we left we met the vet that talked about their job at the camp, and how they make “poo paper” from the dung.

Altogether a wonderful experience!

It was late when we reached Kalaw. Myself and S found a lovely little bar, no bigger than a closet where we spent our evening.

The next morning we hade a little bit of time before our train departed so we took a walk to a cave, full of Buddha statues. Over 8000 of them scattered everywhere inside this natural cave with narrow patches and small halls. Fascinating!

The train left almost on time and a couple of rocky and bumpy hours we reached Shwe Nyaung. From here we got a van to Nyaung Shwe. 

This is by the Inle Lake which we will explore tomorrow.

Bagan - the city of temples

We took a local bus to Bagan. A very uncomfortable trip as the bus had no real luggage compartment so all the big bags people carried had to go under seats and in the aisle. 

We did arrive to Bagan though. Bagan is a place where there are more than 2000 temples, pagodas and stupas.

The first day we visited a couple of the big more famous temples, and watched a beautiful sunset from a hill overlooking the area.

The next morning we flew hot air balloon over Bagan. That was soooo amazing!!! The flight was at sunrise. It was just sooo beautiful to see all the temples and pagodas from the air. As tradition says we got a glass of bubbles after the flight. 

The rest of the day we drove around on Electric scooters watching more different and interesting temples and pagodas.

The last day we walked around in the close by area and found one very interesting little place, and another market. The afternoon we spent at the pool before having a delicious dinner in an Indian restaurant.

Some more Myanmar

Our last day in Hsipaw was open for our own adventures and we did what we always do - explore by foot! We walked around the countryside and visited a lovely area called “Little Bagan” where there is many old overgrown pagodas. 

We took the local bus from Hsipaw to Kyaukme a very local bus, our bags got tide up on the roof and the inside was full of bags of rice and corn - and people!!! The bus only had 16 seats, but at one stage we were 32 people in it (with one hanging outside the door) 

In Kyaukme we went on a full day hike up a mountain to a Palaung village. 

A stunning walk in a beautiful landscape. A family in the village welcomed us into their house for lunch.

The next day we took the train to Pyin Oo Lwin. A long and rocky ride through a beautiful landscape. It took a couple of hours longer as a wheel of the back car came if the tracks. So we had to wait till they had lifted it back and got a clear to go.

It was dark when we arrived to Pyin Oo Lwin so it wasn’t until the next morning we were able to see any of it, which we did by horse and carriage. A great way to get to see the little colonial town.

After the tour we headed back to Mandalay where we went sightseeing for the rest of the day. A few temples  gold leaf making, marble sculpturing a real bridge and more. Best was the “Largest book in the world”. Every page has its own white pagoda!! Amazing! 

The day ended on Mandalay Hill, where you normally watch the sunset from the temple, however we were late but saw the city lit up. 

First part of Myanmar

We left Bangkok early in the morning to fly to Mandalay, Myanmar(Burma). A new county to explore. I hardly know anything about Myanmar so I’m very excited to learn more about it.

We got to our hotel mid-afternoon and managed to squeeze in a little walk-around before it was time to meet our new tour leader and group.

As we always do we found some interesting small allies where we walked around amongst the locals. We even got invited to a house where we got to speak to the old-man. Very interesting.

The next morning we got divided up into three taxis, me and S got our own. After a five hour long crazy drive on very winding roads over the mountains into the small town of Hispaw, where we had a lovely walk along rice paddies and small villages until sunset. Stunning walk! 

The following day was all open for our own activities. Most of the group took a boat trip while me and S did another exploring. We walked and walked around villages, fields, monasteries and other interesting places. As the Bamboo Buddha.

When we continued our trip we traveled by the local, very local bus. We sat amongst bags of corn and rice. The few seats the bus had were taken by tourists, so the locals sat and stood on top of each other. At the most we were 32 people + some kids in a bus made for 16...

We arrived to Kyaumke where we went on a 15km hike. We visited a Palaung village on top of the “mountain”. A local family invited us in to their home for lunch. Very special.

The hike was great, the landscape fantastic and the views breathtaking!

A lovely day that ended with cake for S that had her birthday and interesting but difficult information about the country and their complicated history.

Last of Cambodia

In Battambang we took a ride on the Bamboo Railway, the former transport way between Battambang and Phnom Penh. You ride on a bamboo platform placed on to pairs of wheels. In the old days it was manually driven, today they use a 6 Hp motor. It was pretty fun and the landscape was beautiful.

After the train ride (going back in rain) we visited the one and only vineyard in Cambodia and tasted their products; a red wine, a brandy, a grape juice and a ginger drink with honey. 

I don't think I have to go in to details about the wine? Let's put it this way - I didn't buy a bottle... 

In the afternoon me and S took a bicycle ride that we were recommended. Our guide, a uni student, took us 22km around the countryside where we visited small family businesses in their homes; rice paper, banana plantation,fruit farm, rice wine making, Sticky rice making and a Killing field from the Khmer Rouge regime. 

It was a lovely and very interesting afternoon.

From Battambang we travelled to Siem Reap, where the highlight of the trip was to be visited, Angkor. We got there before sunrise and saw the characteristic silhouette of Angkor Wat with the sun slowly rising in the back ground. Amazing!

The Angkor are is huge, we visited 4 of the temples, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom City with Bayon and one more that I forgot the name of and finally Ta Pram for our guided tour and a few on our own.

Bayon in Angkor Thom City was built with 54 gothic towers with 216 faces of the king.

It was amazing to walk around the remains of it.

Ta Pram is overgrown by trees and also amazing!

We ended this fantastic day with a helicopter flight over the area and got to see Angkor Wat in all its beauty from above.

What a lovely day!

That was the end of this part of the trip. We flew to Bangkok where the tour officially ended wished the rest of the group happy travels and closed that chapter and opened a new... 

To be continued... 

More Cambodia

It was a very very long bus ride from Phnom Penh to Kratie in the east of Cambodia. The bus wasn't anywhere near the luxurious one we traveled with the other day. But this one was a real local bus, the bus the locals travel and not one made for tourists. So although it wasn't the same comfort, it was a better experience. 

It took almost seven long hours to reach Kratie, a small town along the Mekong River. Our hotel was overlooking the river and we arrived just in time for an awesome sunset. 

After our trip leader had showed us around the little place me and S bought a beer from a small shop and sat down on the riverbank watching the locals gather in groups all over the sidewalks having dinner. Some even brought their karaoke machine.

We on the other hand went to one of the local restaurants and had another lovely meal.

The next morning we got up early, had some kind of a breakfast. It's difficult when there is a language barrier. We took the 8 o'clock ferry over to the little island. Here we rented bicycles and took a slow ride around the island (approx 15km) including many photo stops. I also stopped and asked a family if they would let me pick a Pomelo in their garden, and for $2 that was fine! 

Back on shore we had the pomelo before it was time to get going to the next adventure - kayaking on the Mekong River. 

It was a hard 15km to paddle, but it was beautiful. We paddled through the sand islands, that appear in the dry season when the water level in the river drops. After that we got to see some of the flooded forest, and last but not least we reached the highlight of the trip, the dolphins, Irrawaddy dolphins. 

There are only around 90 dolphins left in Cambodia and around 25-30 of them live in this part of the river when the water drops, as it is the deepest part. They feed on deep sea fish only. 

You have to be quick and observant to see them, and have a lot of luck of course, as it is wild animals in their own environment.

We were lucky to spot quite a few, and by this time the sun was starting to set.

I had to pinch my arm, was this for real. Was I really sitting here, in Cambodia, on the Mekong River, in a kayak, at sunset, spotting dolphins?!? WoW!! 

Slept well that night, tired and happy!

Next morning was another early morning, and another bus ride. We travelled back the same way we came, just not the entire way. We stopped in Kampong Cham. Another small little place with not much to see. 

We had the afternoon free and myself and S did what we always do best - went exploring by foot and with no plans.

We found a little restaurant that looked good for lunch. They didn't speak any English, we couldn't even get them to understand vegetables. But with pictures, sign language and help from a customer that knew a few words, we got a lovely lunch and another fantastic experience.

It was a pretty little town to walk around and explore. Lots of interesting architecture and a fascinating market, where we found a hair salon in the meat and fish area, a lady sleeping on her table right next to the meat she was selling, a lady in a hammock above her table with chickens and much much more. It was a joy!

As we came further down the river the boats started to come in and a small fish market was taking shape on the sidewalk. The fish was still flapping around and gasping for air - can't get much fresher than that I guess.

Today it was time for another long bus ride. This time we have our own van. A small very uncomfortable van, that also got some issues with the accelerator after a short while. The driver run around after scissors, rubber bands and what ever else we don't know, and while diving in under the steering wheel assuring that all is ok! 

We stopped at a "Spider Market". Where I had a little snack, a mix of insects. I had one cricket, one maggot and two legs of a tarantula. Don't think I need to say more about that. 

It was the first (and probably last) insects I've eaten by choice. I don't count the flies and other small buggers that sneak in to my mouth while bicycling or similar.

We stopped for an early lunch as the driver wanted to fix the van. Before we continued, what felt like an endless drive.

Normally I have no problems sitting hour after hour watching the scenery pass by. I actually love it since it gives a good insight of how people live. But today was not one of these days. There's been too many hours in busses the last few days to really enjoy it. 

More Cambodia

After another lovely day by the beach, where we walked to the end of our beach and back (12km), had another lovely swim in the warm sea and a delicious meal just by the water it was time to move. 

Since the condition of the roads in Cambodia are not always the best, a short travel may take very long time.

We travelled to Kampot, where we changed our van to tuk tuk and traveled 18km on very bumpy roads to a pepper plantation and got more info about pepper than a person can digest, we even got to have a pepper tasting, meaning being given different pepper corns to shed as they are. Something I never thought I'd do. On the bumpy road back we stopped at a salt field, however no salt there that day.

Me and S ended the day with a lovely boat cruise along the Kampot river to see sunset and fire flies. 

Next stop was Phnom Penh. We got there in a very fancy bus, that we almost missed as the pick up from the hotel was very late and almost gave our tour leader a heart attack. 

We stayed in Phnom Penh for two nights. The Water festival was going on, so the city was packed with happy people. Boat races on the river, illuminated boats and fireworks in the evenings and vendors and people all over!! They celebrate that the rainy season is over.

However Phnom Penh wasn’t just joy and happiness, we also visited S-21 (one of the security prisons during the Khmer Rouge regime) and the Killing fields. It was very interesting but so awful! How could this happen, and so resent? Unbelievable!

It was still dark when eyes had to be open and body needed to move. The time was 05.30 when the taxi took us to the airport. It was time to leave Vietnam and go explore Cambodia, one of my big highlights on this trip. 

After queuing for hours for check-in, immigration and security we boarded this tiny little propeller plane. The plane had almost passed its "best before day", but at least it managed one more short flight to take us to Sihanoukville, Cambodia. 

On bumpy roads that could need some TLC we were taken to our accommodation. A little hotel three minutes walk to the beach, but without sea view due to the big complexes being built in front. Apparently the Chinese has taken over a lot of the beachfronts building massive luxury hotels and casinos etc. So very sad to see. In the area we stay there is still a bit of the original character left, but also big building sites... 

We took a walk on the lovely white sand beach, and had a couple of dips in the bathtub warm ocean. How lovely!! All I missed was a "noodle" so that I could float around there the entire day. 

Back at the hotel we continued to soak in the pool, until a storm came in. It rained hard for a short while but cleared up nicely so that we could find a lovely spot where they served local beer for $0.50 and fresh spring rolls, where we sat and admired the sunset. A new storm blew in and it was very dark, so time to go back and have an early night after a very early morning.

My time in Vietnam has now come to an end. It has been a fantastic experience and I'm so glad I finally got here, although it is 20 years too late, as big parts of the country has become very touristy. 

I started in Hanoi 17 days ago, where I met up with my travel buddy and a few days later with the little group we were joining to show us the highlights of the country.

The first few days we explored the old quarters of Hanoi on foot. No maps, just walking plan less deciding at the street corners what direction to go next. Some places we wanted to leave straight away, some real little gems to further explore. I liked that part of Hanoi, very lively, clean to be such a big city and very friendly. 

We also got to visit the Ho Chi Minh "Uncle Ho" mausoleum and the president palace, an old citadel and many lovely holes in the wall for lovely local food.

Our tour started with a cruise to Halong Bay, a bay with an archipelago of thousands of limestone formations. Absolutely breathtaking. We cruised (along thousands of other boats filled with tourists) this beautiful scenery for two days, visiting a big cave that was just amazing, a little inland where we could climb to the top for breathtaking views and some did a short kayaking trip.

Back on the mainland and a stopover Bäck in Hanoi we flew south to Hue. Another place to walk around and explore, with a few differences from Hanoi, less traffic (but as crazy) and rain!! The first day we got a little rain, but managed to miss most of it while having lunch and also escaping into a market. 

Our second day in Hue we joined a local tour for visiting three tombs and a pagoda. The tombs were amazing, however the weather wasn't. It was pouring with rain most of the days. We finished the day with a short boat trip on the Perfume River. 

Next morning we got picked up with our own mini van, to take us to Hoi An, and yes, more rain on the way. One of the highlights on the drive was the Hai Van Pass. When we left Hue they were concerned we wouldn't go over the pass due to the weather, but as we got closer the weather improved and we started the climb. We managed to get some glimpses of the view before the rain came back, and how it rained, it was bucketing. We quickly lost the view but could see poor people trying to climb the pass by bicycle in this massive rain.

When at the top the weather was so bad you couldn't see your own hand in front of you. No use to even get out and get wet, so we started our drive down on the other side.

Close to Hoi An you find Marble Mountain, five sacred "mountains" (Water, Air, Earth, Fire and Wood) where people have come for hundreds of years to worship. They were also very important during the war as an American base is based close by, the Vietnamese was hiding in the mountains spying. 

We visited "Water Mountain". It has many stunning caves with carvings of Virgin Mary and Buddha. Me and my buddy climbed to the highest peak and got a fantastic 360 view of Dan Ang and the area around.

We arrived in Hoi An and took a walk around the old part by the river. I Immediately fell in love with this small town. Small narrow streets and allies, beautiful houses, what a fantastic place. We stayed here for three nights, I think I could have stayed at least another three. Me and my buddy S we walked and walked, found our way into the residential areas, small pathways along the rice fields and experienced fantastic things.

Our last day in Hoi An we joined a cooking tour. After being picked up and taken shopping at the local market we took a boat about 30min out of town, where we changed to a small rowing boat and ended up at a little island where we cooked four courses of lovely local cuisine. What a stunning day.

Late that night we boarded the sleeper train to Nha Trang. Nha Trang was a dirty and unfriendly places, I didn't like it that much. We had one really great experience here though, a Mud Bath, Me, my buddy S and and a third guy from the group had a lovely day soaking in mud, mineral pools, and under the sun. After a relaxed afternoon on our balcony (the only positive with the hotel here) we went for dinner at a recommended restaurant that served fantastic food, however the food memory I will bring from Nha Trang is the Bó Né from the little hole in the wall in a small ally.

We left Nha Trang for the vibrant Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon). Oh my the traffic here is crazy... The part of town we stay in (District 1) is pretty nice for being a big city like this. Our tour leader took us for a walk and showed som of the sights. We also visited the War Museum, that was very interesting and very overwhelming. I find it hard to take in the brutality the went on for so many years. Sad, very sad.

The next morning we took of for the Mekong Delta, one of my highlights of this trip. The drive there was pretty long, but it was great to finally see som countryside. As we entered the delta we left the mini van for a boat the took us into the delta. We had a boring and expensive lunch at what they called a local traditional restaurant, the we visited some very interesting places, a fruit nursery, a pottery and a coconut candy place, before we were taken to our Homestay, where we would spend the night.

Me and my two hooligan friends, also called the terrible trio, took a bicycle ride to a close by village. The pathways were narrow and uneven, and the bikes had seen better days, so it was a real adventure. 

Back at the homestay we had to help cooking our dinner... a multi course lovely meal enjoyed outside. 

The second and last day in the delta we travelled with our bigger boat to a place where two ladies in rowing boats (water taxis) took us along the small narrow canals while we were zipping on a fresh coconut.

Bäck on the bigger boat we passed the floating market and visited a bee farm and got to taste their honey tea it was time to head back for the mainland. 

I would have loved to stay in the delta longer and explore more of it, but I guess I have to save that for another time.

Our last day and a half we spent in Ho Chi Minh City, shopping at H&M (hahaha), having a lovely Indian dinner, experience the nightlife, getting lost in narrow little allies and visiting the botanical garden... 

It's been an amazing trip around this lovely country. A bit touristy at times, but I can only blame myself for not coming here earlier, 

The highlights has been so many I cannot chose, but I love Hoi An the most and the best memories will be the interaction with the "real" Vietnam, the meals in the holes in the walls and the exploring of tiny allies of "real life".

It's time to cross the border to Cambodia and get to know a new country!