It's a 90 minute drive from MyTho to Saigon. We say our farewells to Rosie and the crew and are taken by bus to Ho Chi Minh City. Our hotel is in a great position within walking distance to plenty of shops and restaurants. By 11am we are checked into our rooms and we have made plans with the help of Tinh to go to the Cu Chi Tunnels at 12.30 today. Just enough time to have a quick look around and some lunch before we meet with the other 5 people and our guide Mr S...

This morning we wake up moored in the middle of the Mekong near the village of Sa Dec. The meaning is sand and clay and that is the industry here. The river is alive with dredgers and barges digging and moving all the time. We take a local Sampan to the shore passing floating houses. Our first stop is a brick and tile factory. The clay is bought from the river and these days there is a conveyer belt that takes the clay to the mixer and press. Watching the tiles c...

Today we go by local boat to the shore of the village Tan Chau. We each climb onto a bicycle rickshaw for a ride to a silk weaving workshop. The rickshaw is fun, the road is busy busy and narrow children come from the houses to say hello or call out from the back of their parents motor bike. Our first stop is to see the silk thread being woven into fabric using these huge antiquated looms. They are powered by electricity but can also operate manually in the case ...

Today we are cruising all day. We leave Phnom Penh just after 9am and are heading towards the border between Cambodia and Vietnam. The actual border crossing will take about 2 hours due to the formalities involved. We have massages booked today, me at 10am and Glenn at 11am. The masseuse is a young Cambodian girl and although she is very slim, she has a lot of strength in her hands so the massage is very good. A bit too much for my liking but it did feel good onc...

An enlightening and emotionally draining day. We started at 8.30am and our first stop was the Royal Palace which is still the residence of the King on the rare occasions that he is in Phnom Penh. He spends a great deal of his time in France or China. The actual residence is not open to the public but the coronation hall can be viewed from the open doors and windows. One of the former waiting rooms, where the King would prepare before being taken by elephant to th...