Ginger DJ Rob

Body clock still thought it was yesterday hence waking up at 5am though the cold draft may had something to do with it. Sorry to say that Kerry's illness has come back. Before returning back to port we had a tour around the Ha Long bay caves, a pleasant surprise as they were a lot bigger than expected. Lots of strange shaped rocks with different names. Shame we got stuck behind a French dude with bad B.O. ala Pepe Le Poo. The coach drive back to Hanoi had many eye-opening views. I saw a shop called 'Tit' - I think it was a women's clothes shop; two mopeds delivering a full sized fridge-freezer and a 40" LCD TV; saw what could have been a really nasty, freak accident as a cement truck had a flat on the opposite direction and the driver with mate let the spare wheel bounce a couple of times right in front of some heavy traffic; finally, I swear I saw a family of 4 on a moped with the mother at the back breastfeeding. Lunch was quite expensive at the roadside world...

It was a night of horns, rocking motion and strange dreams on the train. I managed about a couple of hours though Kerry got a lot less with the 5am wake up. Outside Hanoi 's train station it was still typically loud with taxi car horns as we bused it to our temporary hotel to store our main baggage and get some breakfast. There was added sleep deprived hassle of having to repack for the overnight boat trip. At 7.30am we left for our first tour destination of the Hanoi Hilton or the city's old prison. We were in there before the cleaners! The Communist slant on the 'fair' treatment on US POWs was interesting. Check out the unusual souvenirs above. Second was the Confucius temple which we'd just arrived at the same time with about 200 school kids. Lots of stone tablets on turtles being rubbed for luck. Hanoi seems a lot less intense than Ho Chi Min City but has more cars. The rest of the morning was a 4 hour journey by bus. It appears that the north of Vietnam ...

A slightly reasonable 8am to start for our 20 km bike ride through Hue (Pronounced 'Who-way') to the city outskirts to see the coliseum where the Vietnamese emperor would be entertained by elephants and tigers fight each other. This used to go on from about 1850 to 1945 until the French took over. The remains including the elephant tombstones were still in reasonable condition and you could still see the claw marks left by the tigers. It was just round the corner from the incense makers were located and a few kilometres away from our tour rep's own house. With the small issue of my bike's chain snapping (support team didn't seem to lubricate the chains at all over the holiday), we rode back to Long's for lunch of more spring rolls and noodles. Whilst following a moped back into Hue, we stopped off at two tourist places. The first was the Imperial Palace . Hue was Vietnam's capital before the war and the emperor lived here for a few generations. Some inte...

7.30am start for a gentle flat ride along China beach. Started at a marble factory and showroom with sales ladies persistently asking us to buy at every glance. Very grey skies and couldn't see the white Buddha statue in the distance. A few old US vets were visiting where they had landed for the war. Through Da Nang then an energy top up for the big 10km assent. It was a steady pace with really only a numb bum to complain about. Everyone made it but were welcomed by the most pushy-ist bracelet sales women ever. An iced coffee and a lot of peanuts later we rode downhill for another 10km enjoying the speed. Another 10ish km through some really idyllic fishing areas then on the bus for about 30mins through some tight back roads to our lunch destination. More baguettes and Laughing Cow cheese accompanied by a very noisy cat. The family house we stopped at had loads of pretty butterflies and some sort of bee/humming bird insect sucking out nectar. The lunch didn't really fuel ...

A nice lazy start at 9am, we decided on a selfish day alone to walk around the beautiful and accessible Hoi An. I had 2 servings of yoghurt museli whilst Kerry opted for full English. Next we found the tailor that our guide recommended for Kerry's Chinese style dress. Within 20 minutes she'd chosen the silk fabric, been measured and paid the deposit with a fitting time of 4:30pm. We then found the tourist office and paid about £3 for a city ticket to visit about 5 museums and landmarks. The Japanese Covered bridge was first then a very old family house all in the mixed styles of Vietnamese, Japanese and European. The guide led us round stopping at every opportunity to buy their embroidery or gift shop stuff. Had some retail therapy finding the best t-shirt shop yet with a Bruce Lee noodles picture. Otherwise we explored more interesting sites, drank coffee, drank cocktails, ate cake until the fitting. Tailor wasn't ready so had to come back in an hour. More coffee and ...

Not the best night's sleep and a 6am wake up call. People were already playing on the beach. Breakfast had everything an Asian could want but my European stomach could only handle pineapple. We took the coach for about an hour then set off by bike through a small town to see their market. Talk about sticking out like a sore thumb, the locals were completely amused we were there and how we looked but still friendly. As well as the unusual fish on sale it was the frogs bound together in threes and the meat entrails that were an eye opener. Walking around the market and we'd picked the Vietnamese version of Frank Spencer who was equally fascinated by us. Shame that the surrounding area and drains were strewn with rubbish. The next few km were either flat like the Fens with strong headwind or hills whipping sand into us. At one point the wind was so strong we had to walk up the hill. The wind was quite demoralising so I made the (wrong) decision to stay on the bus for the secon...

Another 6am wake-up call thanks to the Commie propaganda tannoy. Quite a lot cooler than days before so cycling easier. First stint was hilly but had rewarding views. Lots of beautiful empty beaches, breaking waves and a lighthouse. We bused it for an hour and a half for second stint. It started off with a great downhill section into a rough, uneven road. More inland farm scenery but the headwind was bad. If it wasn't for the kids saying hello and giving us high fives along the way our motivation would have been shot. Lunch was basic ham and cheese baguettes with our second iced coffee of the day. The next leg by bus was really bumpy as the roads are so pot-holed and broken swinging us from side to side. The last leg by bike was hardwork against a constant head wind plus a lot hills to end the total of 82 km in darkness with a beer and wine celebration at the end at the hotel. To toast ourselves we use the Vietnamese version of 1, 2, 3 Go. The evening meal was disappointing as...

Our free, lazy day in Nha Trang was rudely started at 6am thanks to a tannoy broadcasting Communist propaganda then an hour later with the local school doing marching band practice. Not happy. The hotel room windows are thin and rattle with all traffic noise impossible to block out. Kerry was still feeling rough so I went to breakfast on my own. At least they had coco pops! Dressed in my Buddy the Elf t-shirt for 9am we headed for the docks for our boat trip around the islands. At the docks was a Vietnamese guy dressed in a Santa suit but the t-shirt didn't get any attention. On board were a couple of ladies for massage and manicures. Kerry took advantage of the snorkling opportunity but the tide was a little too strong for her. The rest of the time was sun bathing, chilling out and massage plus I had my nails done (though it felt like torture at times) as well as my nose and ear hair trimmed. The boat toured another island then we took the short distance by coracle, the tradit...

A nice sleep in until 8.45am then a very bare breakfast. Kerry was feeling better so we could feel more confident about rejoining the group. The coach for the next destination would leave at 1.30pm so we went for a massage at 11. I opted for the full works with cooling aloe vera all over. The masseur was still slightly grabby but very good value. Another good meal at the restaurant opposite our hotel for lunch with food almost tasting like home. Coach was very late so the 5 hours would mean arriving in the dark. It was a sleeper bus with a toilet as promised for £3 each. Sat/laid next to a non English speaking student who tried to teach me some Vietnamese language from our guidebook as well as writing in my journal. When she lost my pen she then moved away maybe out of embarrassment or to get some kip. The 5 hour journey consisted of a lot of pretty fishing villages and towns but it got boring after 5pm when it got dark. At least the neon Xmas lights amused us as well as the shiny, ...

Poor Kerry. The travelers sickness had taken hold so no cycling for us. Still the Dynasty hotel resort wasn't exactly the worst place on earth to be. We got up ready for the cycling start but made the decision to stay another night. Our rep, Long advised we could get a coach for around £3 and join the rest the next night at Nha Trang . At breakfast I met the three who braved it through the Heathrow snow and cancellations, the 7 hours stuck on a plane waiting for clearance, the 16 hour flight and the 7 hour bus ride to the resort. The rest of the day was some swimming, sun bathing, eating, sorting out some medication for Kerry and the coach tickets for the next day. You don't have to have a doctor's prescription to get drugs in Vietnam which was lucky as a doctor's appointment would have been about £70 and the advice of a drip. Instead I took a moped (there's always guys hanging around offering a ride for cash) down to the pharmacy with our internet researched re...

A 6am start with Kerry recovering from her heat-stroke. Our rep told us that three more of the tour group were expected who'd been delayed by snow-effected Heathrow . At 7:30am we left the hotel on Highway 1 bound for our starting destination for cycling. Driving out of Ho Chi Minh City seemed never unending passing the port and industrial areas which featured truck world, digger world, earth-moving vehicle world, crane world - it seemed to be a positive sign of boom-time for construction. Slightly ironic that after passing all the places featuring construction equipment, the main road out of the city had some pretty bad potholes though there were some resurfacing going on. When we arrived at our cycling starting point, the tour mechanic provided me some superglue to fix my camera mount - bless. The country roads had very little traffic compared to the sea of Saigon scooters. The other good-feel factor was the friendliness of the local children as they waved at us, saying hello ...

Experienced the traffic of Ho Chi Minh City with what could very well have been a million mopeds battling each other to get to work. After about 30 minutes of bus transfer we met up with the support team to prepare our mountain bikes for the rest of the holiday. The Trek mountain bikes provided were surpisingly good with some hassle-free swapping for a bigger frame size. The day's ride lasted about 35km stopping off to see some rice pancake making (used for spring rolls) and to see a rubber tree forest. My handle-bar mount for the digital camera didn't last long due to the bumpiness of the roads. Our last destination for the day was the Cu Chi tunnels , a complex of Vietcom tunnels which were created right under the American forces own camp. There were hundreds of tourists already there but somehow it didn't feel that busy on the tour. As you can see I tried a hideout hole which I could only just fit through. After seeing some of the home-made traps we tried some of t...

Our rep and driver seemed a bit paranoid to get us to the airport on time as he wad waiting for us 30 mins early. Something about traffic on the main road but that non existent. Plus the early arrival meant even more time to wait as our flight was delayed for 2 hours. We started guessing that with UK airports struggling with snow we could be down on numbers for the main Vietnam holiday. Our short flight of an hour and a half landed but no rep to meet us no matter how many times we looked for our names or Exodus. it was a lot more hot and humid in Ho Chi Min than Cambodia . Taxi drivers were starting to hassle us so had to call the local agent to find out what transit was arranged. None was the response so got in a cab with a price of $23. No wonder the cab driver was in a smiley, chatty mood as this was an extortionate rate when we were refunded. Traffic consisted of swarms of crazy moped riders cutting in and out. As we approached the hotel the buildings and shops got grander. ...

Just a few clicks away from the YouTube video I found earlier and I found this and altogether more inspiring video of cycling through Vietnam with Exodus.

With August nearly over and summer ending like the start of winter, I'm suddenly realising our holiday in Vietnam is fast approaching. The weather has been very uninspiring to get out and train on the bike but hopefully this video below will remind me to do something about it. I would suggest muting the middle section of the video or provide your own soundtrack through the whole thing as there's no dialogue or background noises. All well as a flavour to the amount of miles we've got to cover (275 of them), you can also see the quality of the bikes, the support truck and some of Vietnam's scenery. A Welsh guy named Steven Flett took the same trip as us. I quite liked the sound of trying some old guns and firing live ammunition! Read more about Steven's Vietnam experience (pdf)

Its been a busy few weeks which have mainly consisted of stripping horrid lime/disabled car green paint the past house owners had. Slightly gutted we missed out on a surprise Pirate Paul's Disco Dungeon special guest of one half of the Filthy Dukes. A couple of nice highlights over the past few weeks were snowboarding at Xscape in Milton Keynes and finally mastering my technique without falling over. I'm desperate to update my 10 year old boots and bindings now. But the best highlight is booking our next big holiday which will be cycling in Vietnam ! We'll actually be taking it over Christmas and New Year flying out a few days after my birthday. We're using a company called Exodus and including their Cambodia extension to see Angkor Wat (see pic) and Phnom Penh . We'll be using rented cycles even though they allow you to bring your own and for about a week we'll be cycling between 60 and 90 kilometres a day! Ignoring the presenters, the Top Gear Vietnam...