In the rainy pen of Hanoi we settle and slow our pace in contradiction to this city that is anything but slow of pace, we’re seeing the sights before the food storm descends upon our lives, a calm before the storm. The Ngoc Son temple sits in a lake near our hotel, this gracious setting […]
Rain rain go away, come again another day; as the saying goes for children wanting to play outside, so it does for us: children wanting to play outside. It is the rainy season so there’s little to complain about really but our planned ride to the scenic highlands north of Hanoi is all but washed […]
You know that sensation when you know something’s a little wrong but you don’t want to admit it yet, don’t want to make it real by giving it a name? It’s the nagging sensation like a lover that has become a little distant or your own declining fitness; that concrete evidence staring you in the […]
We’re like kids on Christmas morning or maybe Easter Sunday, there’s something exciting happening today and although there’s no mistaking it, it’s a little hard to believe it’s actually happening. Leaving Ho Chi Minh city there were a million reasons that we would not make it and on the cusp of our triumphant ride we […]
Today there is no riding, there are no kilometres to count, no time to calculate, scooters to dodge or buses to run us off the road, today we’re staying put and indulging in being tourists for a bit. Tam Coc is only about 100km’s from Hanoi, a final skip to completion of this road trip […]
Vietnam wakes up and bustles into another busy day, early as usual ferrying huge quantities of food on scooters and in baskets loaded on backs. Usually we’re sleeping through this ritual but today Rob and Greg are sounding out a morning cry as we speed through the dramatic mountain scape from Phong Nha northward to […]
After our visit to paradise yesterday it’s off to the caves again, in this area that houses the worlds biggest caves it’s the thing to do. Today there’s no punishing steps to climb or heat to battle, in their place we slip smoothly along a river to the cave mouth surrounded by the giant bulges […]
I never thought that standing at the pearly gates would be such a sweaty ordeal; in fact I was pretty sure I was heading straight to the more fun side of the afterlife, being an abomination and all. But to my surprise more than anyone else’s here I am and Charlie’s here too. This all […]
5:30am and the alarm goes signalling a commencement to what we’ve taken to calling ‘the big day’, stocking up on bun mi’s (Vietnamese baguettes) and a cake in the bustling early hours of the morning. We wave to Ari and Jamie sitting at the cafe for Ari’s much needed morning coffee before it’s out of […]
The time has arrived, we’re fronting up to the mechanics dressed in black like a couple of grieving widows. As we approach there’s no solemn face with a serious brow, no empathetic tilt of the head to assure us that they did everything they could. Instead there’s Greg, or a bike that looks like Greg […]
Charlie and Steve's Excellent Adventure 