Theo and Grace Adventures..

Tomorrow we bus back to Ho Chi Minh City where we will be departing for San Francisco. So, I thought I'd put one last update of Vietnam before moving on to the USA. Today we hired a scooter and drove forty minutes to the amazing Mui Ne sand dunes. On the road! Fishing boats along Mui Nei beach We realized why so many people took tours to the sand dunes in buses rather than scooters. The wind was very strong so we were covered in sand, and it hurt!! :) Theo looking rather tired in the distance Happier here! My attempt at air jump...  :) We are looking forward to America! First stop to see Theo's Aunty Alice in Davis. It will be a relief to be able to speak English without having to get bring out the google translator!  Will update when we arrive in SF x Grace

Hi everyone!! We have been busy beavers making the most of our trip in South East Asia. With only two full days left here! Sapa was really cool. A small town in the mountains. Very misty and cold there..we met a local tribal lady who took us on a 6 hour trek into the mountains and to her village. We spent three nights in Sapa, from there it has been a lot of travels and delayed buses/planes! We are now in Mui Ne. A resort town known for its kitesurfing (Dad! :-) Tomorrow we will ride the bus back to Ho Chi Minh City. We fly to San Francisco at 5.30..be there at 3.30am..will be a long day!! Xx Grace

Hello! We have been on Cat Ba Island where we booked a day tour around Lan Ha Bay and Halong Bay. Unfortunately, the weather has been colder than usual and very foggy. But we still made the most of it! It really is a beautiful place! We paid just $23 each which got us a mini bus to and from the port, tickets to both the national parks, a whole day tour on the boat, a very large lunch, a trek up monkey island and free kayaks!  We hired a scooter for a day and explored the island. Hospital Cave - Used as a secret bomb-proof hospital and safe house during the American war. Very spooky! Very funny Theo... thought he'd leave me on the side of the road..  Tomorrow we are getting a bus to Sapa at 7am. Sapa is a town in the Hoang Lien Son Mountains of northwest Vietnam. It is full of rice fields and very popular for trekking ( hoping the weather holds out for us!) We are very much hoping that it all goes well after our last bus ...

Eight hours later and we have finally arrived at Cat Ba Island! It all started at 10am this morning when we were picked up by shuttle.We had booked transport to the island from a booking office. It was a 'bus-boat-bus' deal. Our shuttle van picked us up with many others and took us to a bus station where we were transferred onto a larger bus. Firstly, the shuttle bus picked up so many people on the way that people were literally on laps and squashed against the windows. We got to the larger bus, which was better. After a couple of hours driving, Theo noticed the driver had changed lanes and was driving on the wrong side of the road. There was a large divider in the middle of the road so there was no way for him to switch back. All of a sudden there werr massive trucks coming straight at us beeping their horns and swerving!! The passengers on the bus were very disgruntled, particularly a couple with two young children. The driver refused to turn the bus around even with everyone...

We arrived safely in Hanoi this morning:-) A very busy city, so many tooting scooters! Although we are getting very used to that by now. The most frustrating thing around South East Asia is that there are no footpaths, so you are constantly dodging vehicles!!  Here I am wearing long pants and a cardigan for the first time in months! It was only 17 degrees here today, and even slightly rained this afternoon. We went to a booking office and booked a bus and boat tomorrow to Cat Ba Island. We have been told it is cheaper to purchase Halong Bay tours from Cat Ba rather than here, as the booking offices often have scams. We will spend a couple of nights on Cat Ba and find a day tour around Halong Bay. We looked into Halong Bay cruises which are very popular but quite expensive to stay on the boat. I couldn't resist not taking a snap of this very cute entrance to a classroom right in the centre of the city! :-) Theo helping a short Vietnamese man to put up a bar to do his pull ups on 🙊?...

Well we are on our way back to Da Nang, just for the night, as we are flying tomorrow morning to Ha Noi. Hoi An has been lovely. We stayed a total of four days. Hoi An is well known for its tailor shops. Theo had some nice shirts and shorts made for him, which will be great for work when we arrive in London. I couldn't decide on anything to get made for myself!! Our lovely host cracked us up as we left..."Goodbye, see you soon! In a year or two maybe! With a baby maybe?!"..haha! Looking forward to seeing Ha Noi and especially Halong Bay! Will be in touch soon. Xx G

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well back in New Zealand, missing all of you heaps! We left Nha Trang on Tuesday to head towards Hoi An. Hoi An doesn't have a train station so we had to train to Da Nang which is a forty minute drive from Hoi An.The train was 10 hours long, but much nicer than the sleeper buses that take very windy roads! We arrived after 11pm so decided to stay and spend the next day in Da Nang. We hired a scooter and visited the Lady Buddha and the Marble Mountains, and drove right into the mountains which had spectacular views!  This morning, we took a bus to Hoi An and I have already fallen in love. This is the most beautiful place I have seen (on par, or perhaps even better than Pai, Thailand! )  Hoi An is a well-preserved Ancient Town, cut through with  canals. The architecture is stunning. A mix of eras and styles from wooden Chinese shophouses and temples to colourful French colonial buildings. We are staying in a very sweet guesthouse wit...

Nha Trang has been great! A beach resort town in Vietnam. We have been here for 3 days now and have been staying at a guesthouse with the kindest host we have met so far in South East Asia. She has let us use her kitchen, which has been soooo nice to finally have a kettle for tea and coffee! Day one in Nha Trang: We spent the day exploring the town and relaxing on the beach. There are lots of high rise apartment buildings across from the beach and plenty of Palm trees. Day two in Nha Trang: We hired a scooter today, with the idea of  heading out to a well known waterfall. We aborted that idea when we weren't sure the bike would make it there..;) Instead, we went to the mud baths. A very cool day!! First, we sat in a bath while mud was poured in around us, it was actually very nice! Then we had to walk through a hydrotherapy shower, which was so high pressure that it was painful!! Finally we soaked in a hot mineral bath before a dip in the swimming...

:-) We finally made Vietnam! After lines for visas, currency exchanges, SIM cards and finding transport to our accommodation we arrived fairly late lastnight, ate dinner and went to bed. We had a busy day exploring the city today, on foot. Ho Chi Minh is a bustling city, and I love it. The city is actually clean and modern! There are many gorgeous coffee shops and with nice prices! The Vietnamese drink coffee cold with ice. They also sit on mini little chairs and tables to eat their meals. We have fallen in love already with the fresh Vietnamese food. We visited the Notre Dame Cathedral today, along with the Saigon Central Post  Office and the Ben Thanh Market. The Post Office is a tourist attraction due to it being one of the oldest buildings in Ho Chi Minh City. A remnant of the French colonial times, when Vietnam was part of French Indochina. It was built between 1886-1891. Our next job is to find a good quality, backpackers price, tour of the Mekong Delta river! :-) All is good...