Settling in with Team Japan

Smooth travel with JAL to Tokyo. The number 10 bus worked a treat.

 After a lovely Christmas dinner and presents, we chilled on boxing day with a walk in the hood for some yakisoba.

 Featuring all of our gorgeous monkeys, big and small.

Onsen-ing in Shimodo-- the Stunning Izu Peninsula (Day 1)

The view from our very sweet pension

Private onsen, baby!

 
Yummy majurodon. Sadly joined by the guy who just won't quit with the peace sign (allowed while traveling in Japan, and ONLY while traveling in Japan).

 We had a great beach day

Ho Chi Minh City

We stayed at a wonderful guest house in District one on our way to the Delta, and before flying to Tokyo.

Here's the entrance to the Diep Anh Guest House: the conical rice hats, the leftover guide books, the coke machine, the moped...it says it all.

The couple who host the house are the sweetest and the lane the house is on is heaving with everything one needs, especially exquisite street food and atmosphere. I got a hair cut next door, and there was everything from a toy store, a laundromat, to an auto (moped) mechanic.

Yes, we found the Cambie Village of Saigon.

The adjacent street was bananas on Christmas Eve. Ba. Na. Nas. The kids enjoyed dinner out and a wee stroll through the madness.

The Floating Markets Near Cantho

 Life on the river

 The boats tell the buyers what they are selling by hanging sample from the top of a bamboo stick.

 Sav worked her magic with the camera for this day's trip

 Pineapple on a stick, coming up!

The Mekong Delta

We traveled through Saigon and down to Cantho. It was a long journey with lots of somewhat-touristy-but-still-cool stops along the way (coconut candy making, rice paper making, boating with pointy hats etc.). In Cantho, we hit the floating markets, and the bikes. Beautiful.

 Sav took a lot of these pics. Arty, no!?

 A very cool fishing contraption that lifts up a net from the river with a bamboo lever

 Watermelon farm

Mac Riding around Cantho

A very sweet cafe that our guide took us to for delicious coffee and a rest

Love the giant jackfruit growing behind Glen and Mac's bike.  In fact, the fruit in the delta was exquisite. Star fruit was Glen and my favourite.

I love the local kids photo bombing this pic

If Dob had two more kids, a basket of live chickens, and a stack of pipes on board, THEN he would start to be matching the style of a Vietnamese father.

From Hanoi to HCMC with adventures along the way: trains, boats, and buses

Some 3000 km traveled. It wasn't always pretty. There were some tantrums, there were some tears, but mostly there were smiles and snoozes and a lot of chess, I spy, kings, and hearts.

Lying back on the top deck of our sleeper bus

 Catching a little travel zzzzs

 Not feeling great on this train journey (poor Sav)

 This little bugger just keeps pulling kings out of his *ss. There's no point trying to win.

 Top train bunk drawing

 Making friends on a 14 hour overnight train

 Rest stops. The toilets were often lacking, but the hammocks rocked.

Mui Ne. It's all about the Boy.

With Savvy down for the count, Mui Ne and our sweet little bungalow on the beach are all about the boy, his power ranger kite, the sea, and the pool. (We swam in the morning before breakfast, after breakfast, before lunch, after lunch... you get the idea, right up until the night swim!). We enjoyed some amazing food too.

No waves. No life jacket.
No problem.

The little monkey was a joy to hang out with, but when Dob succumbed to the same fever/flu horridness as Sav, Mac was constantly underfoot (Ha! My late night joke, after a 5 hour bus ride to Ho Chi Man City. We leave tomorrow for the Mekong Delta.).