Mekong Delta

Mekong backwaters from MyTho
Deep fried Elephant fish ( you eat it all)
me a top the big bridge ( yes there were drinks sellers and postcard sellers at the top too)
scenery
Friday on boat from CanTho floating market tour - we were put ashore later to ride on

Twilight boat ride
My guide insisted on taking this shot and i actually like it!

Mekong Delta Ride via My Tho, Can Tho, Long Xuyen then bus to Chao Doc as I was fed up with riding on the highway, very same same and long and hot and boring sort of. A disapointing ride as it follows the main roads rather than the back roads so I was happy to skip the last 53 km and the last day to push onto chau Doc to cross into Cambodia next day.

I did a few boat rides in the Delta, one from My Tho (dusk) and one at dawn from

CanTho to the floating markets. Features include the very big bridge, a couple of ferry crossings

Saigon Saigon bar

View from the cocktail bar
Pretending to be rich!

While waiting for my passport to come back from Hanoi with a visa extension to go to Mekong Delta, I decided to hang out with the rich for a day and ended up having a cocktail at the Saigon Saigon Cocktail Bar

HCM City [Saigon]

Cao Dai Temple
Chu Chi tunnels
wake me up when the fighting is over
inside the "enlarged tunnels"
Post office - yet another small parcel posted home of just stuff!


HCM City , day one did the sights by cyclo and orientation of city. Day 2 a tour to Cao Dai temple and the Chu Chi Tunnels. Get down and get diry at the tunnels trying them out. I think about twelve months ago I would have struggled to fit in the entry hole but with all the work we have done in teh last twelve months I must have shaved some excess off the hips... no comments except compliments thanks.

Mui Ne Beach

6.30 am fishing fleet and tourists
View from my hut door

The bus to HCM City


A day off to recover and enjoy the seaside .


The beach was a hive of activity with fisherfolk and families gathering after the catch to have breakfast. The town is flooded by windsurfers and kite surfers who spend weeks here soaking up the surf , wind in the afternoon so laze around all morning waiting for the conditions to be right! I decided to early morning Kayak which was just beautiful and calm and mixed it with the small coracle style fishing fleet. Bus in the afternoon to Ho Chi Minh City for the next phase of my trip

The last leg Ca Na to Mui Ne beach

The town that bottles nineral water, she tried to sell me 10 litre container ! Yikes.
Kids on the beach at ca Na ( see previous post) playing while mum sifts coral from the sand
Sugarcane drink vendor
the end of the ride from Hue- Teddy, Friday and I share a beer to celebrate
Just in case you think I made it all up! the turn off to Phan Tiet and Mui ne is just after this post


The last leg was the longest yet to go all the way to Mui Ne was going to take at least 136km of pedalling depending on where I chose to stay in Mui ne (as the accomodation stretches kms down the road).


I set off at dawn, yet another sunrise from handlebar height.


The number of drinks stops were getting closer together and more varied and included hot coffee ( Vietnamese drip style of course), iced coffee ( same but over ice) , sugar cane drinks with a dash of lime, softdrinks, mineral water from the factory town, and warm water from the drinl bottle as one strech ahd about 10km without a roadside stall
.The day did end with a beer of course.

Cam ranh - Ca Na Beach

Scenery between Cam Ranh and Ca Na
Locals hard at work
almost felt at home Grapevines!
Ca Na Bay from my bedroom window
Ca Na beach


Ca Na beach is a ten minute stop on theOpen Bus tour but a half day stop for me and it is a delightful little place, tiny beach, no tourists ot travellers but me it seemed. Guest house was sandwitched between the road and the beach with the railway line along side the road . A very narrow bit of land. My room overlooked the bay. Charles the owner spoke excellent English as was proud to show me that we could even access ABC Satelite TV, a rarity so far. A walk, a swim with the local kids and a beer completed my afternoon.

Southwards down the coast on highway 1

Scenery enroute to can ranh
A mid morning drinks stop and much amusement for locals
As the lady road off on my bike I thought I could always take possession of one of these hammocks and just stay put out of the sun for days!
The best room in the house at Cam Ranh (note the interior design)
Scene from restaurant window

Nha Trang to Cam Ranh, following highway one still with a reasonable distance between planned stops according to the lonely planet cycle guide. early starts to beat the heat meant getting somewhere early in the afternoon and in someplaces there was just not a lot to do and cable TV wasnt always in English!

Nha Trang

Von waiting for the second leg of the bus journey to Nha Trang (Vietnam). the bus waits till it is full, then drives round the block looking for more passengers, even hijacking them from bus stops for the public bus - all part of the adventure
Islands off Nha Trang
The "boy band" entertains us after lunch - no swimming for half an hour just like when we were kids! The crew of the boat doubled as everything and take a close look at the drum kit. Fivem minutes later everyone was up and dancing on the deck.
The floating bar ( Mulberry wine)
Von paragliding after a quick sprint to launch the short but beautiful ride was only marred by the number of plastic bags ( not jellyfish) you could see from up high but it was very scenic never the less.


Nha Trang was reached by two buses which appeared to be attempting the world record for number of people in a Ford transit bus. Ths whole day spent travelling with Bike Friday folded up in the luggage saved me three long days riding and gave me time to relax in Nha Trang. this is a beachside party city. heaps of hotels, beach, boat tours, a good base for diving ( we snorkled on the boat tour to the islands). I figured when in "rome" do what everyone else does so I went on a boat tour, parasailed over some spectacular coast.
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