It all started so well. We were greeted early by an exceptionally friendly and well spoken Vietnamese lad. We we're joined on the tour by the usual dozen other tourists. The weather was poor but we were in a good mood. With a 4 hour journey ahead of us we settled into a game of cards. With about an hour left of the journey, we received the devastating news that the tour had been cancelled due to the bad weather and with that the bus began to turn around heading ...

Having made it through the night we awoke to minor devastation, the gentle hum of mopeds outside showed us signs of life and breakfast was served as planned. We donned our ponchos and mounted hotel bikes. The weather was much calmer than during the night but Nari's presence could still be felt. Within seconds we were surveying the damage, trees missing branches, gardens missing trees, houses missing roofs! Everyone and their dog was out in force already busy swee...

That evening the locals had begun preparations for the impending storm, hatches were being battened, trees were being tied down, electricity was being turned off and everything including the garden sink was being taken inside. We were on the hunt for a travel agent in order to book tickets for our continued journey to Hanoi. What started with a €15, 18 hour train from hell for the next day ended with a €56, 1 hour flight in 2 days time. By the time we ...

Our flight landed in Da Nang about lunch time, the attendant at the tourism information booth made us aware of the imminent typhoon Nari on its way as well as booking us a taxi. We shared a taxi to Hoi An with a young English girl and together we trawled the streets in search of a good deal, it was the kind of weather cows lie down in, light rain and a very still wind interspersed with sudden violet gushes. We needed to find shelter a storm was coming! With...

Up early we were whisked into the city centre to join the rest of our group. Our first stop was the big buddha temple, several enormous big buddhas and some practising monks were a welcoming chance to stretch our legs. Arriving at the Mekong Delta we boarded a small boat and made our way to the coconut candy island the first of many local industry based islands named after there end product we visited that day and the next. We visited crocodile farms, fruit plant...