Sweltering in Saigon.
 

We are currently in our home from home of Ms Yangs Homestay in Saigon. This is our fourth stay here and it really does feel like home. Highly recommended for anyone seeking a budget option in Saigon location in District 3, 10 mins walk to the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum, 20 mins to Notre Dame. Plenty of good eating places close by. The Giang sisters have become good friends over the years and it is really great to see them again.

As it is a low season (very hot, wet and humid) here at the moment, the sisters, have been whizzing us around the city on their motorbikes seeking out new places to eat. We have had some stunning meals! We all decide what we want to eat and go find the best places in which to eat it. We usually end up in small local restaurants that have been run by the same family for generations, often deep in the suburbs of the city. We would never have found these places on our own! The food has been incredible and Carolyn will be posting details on our blog in due course.

We are here until the weekend when we head up through the country by train to Hanoi. This time a new destination for us will be the caves of Phong Nha Khe Be, allegedly the largest in the world.

After Vietnam the plan is:

Borneo - mainly based in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching
Taiwan (1st time)
Malaysia - arrive in Kota Bahru, maybe dive in the Perhentians before getting the "Jungle Railway" down to Taman Negara NP for a few days trekking before another train ride to KL for a flight to..
Indonesia - Flores & Komodo or Sulawesi
Malaysia - train up the west coast to..
Thailand

We will spend a week in Bangkok, mainlyfor some intensive massage therapy at Wat Po, before flying to Oz to visit son and his wife in Sydney before spending a couple of months wandering the South and North Islands of New Zealand in a campervan.

We plan to return to Asia in mid October for a month - no ideas where yet, before returning home in mid November.

It is not my intention to post a trip report as such, just a few posts now and then, which I feel may be of interest. We will however be continuing our blog at https://accidentalnomads.com which now has a new look.

bon voyage

Sounds like a great trip. Don't miss Tainan and Taroko Gorge on Taiwan. I've been following this blog, which is currently covering Taiwan:

https://lovetravellingallaroundtheworld.wordpress.com/

Envy you the food in Saigon but not the heat and humidity (don't need to travel for that, alas).

Wow! That's a great itinerary with so many adventures planned.

We go to Oz in Dec. for a few days in Sydney and Brisbane before a cruise out of Sydney to NZ.

Will be following along here and on your website. Sounds amazing.

Have a great time. I appreciate periodic updates.

The sisters sound wonderful. I pity your "hot and humid" as I had a small dose of that in Singapore on the way home...made Flores seem pleasantly cool (which it was in the hills). I'll be following your blog.

Have a great time Crellstons...I'm interested to hear about Kuching when you get there, and will also be following bloggy.

The title of your post made me sweat with memories of hot humid northern Vietnam in Sept/October--which apparently was relatively "mild" to the local folks!

Have a fantastic trip over these months.

How does "intensive message" differ from standard massage?

Thank you all for your good wishes.

Bob, aren't you coming to Vietnam sometime this year?

Thanks for the link Thursdaysd. I will have a look at that blog. With only 7 days in Taiwan, I think we may limit ourselves to Taipei and Tainan. Taroko will maybe have to wait for another time.

JW - have been following your posts on the Aus. forum. You will love Sydney. Son lives in Manly which is definitely worth a quick visit if only for the ferry ride. NZ is possibly my favourite country in the world.

Sartoric - Kuching is a great little city. We hope to get out and about the surrounding area this time as we were suffering for a little "Travel fatigue " when we got there a couple of years ago and pretty much just crashed out in a nice hotel During our time there. Just found out that we will miss the Rainforest World Music festival there by a couple of days.

CaliN - re intensive massage - no different to standard massage, just more of them. One a day if I have my way! We are staying in two places in Bangkok one the river and one close to Khao San, both of which have easy access to the Wat po massage school

The last couple of days have seen clearer skies and no rain in Saigon but the temperature has risen along with the humidity, just as I thought I couldn't sweat anymore!!! Just checked the weather sites and it seems it is even hotter in Hanoi where we are headed in a couple of weeks. Thankfully, the next few places we are staying have pools :-)

Anyway, breakfast awaits. Bahn Mi or Pho Bo???

Have a wonderful and safe trip. But please stop torturing with mentions of Chinese food. I am hungry for dumplings right now.

I look forward to hearing about where you decided to go in Indonesia. Sulawesi, as well as the Komodo dragons, are high on my list.

Is your grandchild in GB, or in Australia? New Zealand tops my list as the most beautiful destination ever.

Thanks for explaining, Crellston. I feared "intensive" meant with--as a onetime post-er recently mentioned --a "happy ending!"(J/k!)

Pho Ba or Banh MI---oh you poor things!! One of my VN friends calls it "Pho baaaaahhhhh!"

Re: hopes for more comfortable weather...be careful what you wish for. You could be back in your native UK's climate!

i hope some day you consider an eventual first India trip. I expect you'd love it, despite being as opposite as one get to NZ in terms of neat/clean/organized!

Hi! You helped me with some of my recent Thailand queries and just wanted to share a recommendation from our visit: if you consider alternatives to Wat Po, try seeking out Ruen Nuad for massages. It's like a little oasis with very intense massages and a nice atmosphere, but still very basic prices. We went back in 2007 and again this year and nothing had changed. Happy travels!

CaliLady - Somewhat bizarrely, I came to a compromise for breakfast and found a stall just around the corner serving dumplings in a Banh Mi roll - delicious!

CaliNurse - just after I posted, I feared the "intensive" might be misconstrued:-) . Happy endings would doubtless be frowned upon in the open plan massage areas of the Wat Po massage school!

Our grandchild is in the UK where, apparently, they have just been experiencing the hottest days in 75years! In typically English fashion, apparently everyone is moaning about the weather..

We did seriously consider India on this trip, but the timing didn't work for us, mainly because of the weather. See what I did there? Still English after all this time travelling!

Alovesa - thanks for the recommendation, I have searched for Ruen Nuad and it does sound good. We will pay it a visit.

Crellston,
I'm so enjoying following your travels! It's just a pleasure to read about your adventures with Carolyn! Someday, I hope to get to Vietnam, as it's definitely high up on my list - though that list is too long to contemplate!

I had to laugh when you wrote about the hot days in the UK! My first very big trip overseas was to the UK and Ireland (too many years ago!). I left NYC in mid-June, when the weather was 90+ degrees & humid - arrived in Ireland, it was mid-70s, and everyone I met was groaning on about the heat wave!

Again, thanks so much for giving us a taste of your travels -

Paule

yes, we will be in Hanoi and phu quoc from nov 28 to dec dec 8. maybe our paths will cross?

Hey at least you are not in Delhi. 113 today

I should add this was not noted at random. My in-laws live there. :(.

Hi Clive and Carolyn, happy travels to you. If you end up in Japan in October, let me know. Maybe our paths will cross again.

Thank you Paule , glad you are enjoying hearing about our travels. 70 is indeed a major heatwave in Ireland. The Irish like to talk about the weather even mor Ethan the English. I can always remember my late Irish Grandfather always talking about the "soft rain" in Ireland you post prompted me to google it. I came up with this http://www.dailyedge.ie/irish-rain-s...75040-Jan2014/

Bob I thought you were on your way. Sadly our paths won't cross as we will be back home by then. I have yet to visit Phu Quoc, but am told it is the best place in Vietnam for seafood.

JW - 113!! one of the reasons I decided against India for this trip. Just heard that Hanoi, where we are headed in a week or two is experiencing a heatwave with similar temps.

Thanks, Claudia, we did briefly consider Japan but then quickly realised how expensive it had become for us brits post BREXIT. It would have been great to catch up. Still not sure where in October. Regards to Bill