Travelled up on the overnight train. Very comfortable berth, I was in soft class upper berth. Slept very well except when the women below me decided to have a text conversation in the middle of the night. Trip was 13 hours long and arrived 2 minutes late. Not bad.

Did the Museum of Cham sculpture this morning and pottered about by the river this afternoon. Hotel has a lovely pool so had a swim in that as well. Bit more relaxed up here as there are relatively few tourists staying in Danang.

Tomorrow head back south for about 30Km to stay in the old city of Hoi An.>

Arrived yesterday in the Beach capital of Vietnam, Nha Trang. Incredibly hot again especially after the relative cool temperatures of Dalat. Journey took about 5 hours by bus, with some stunning scenery on the way. Weather a bit muggy and overcast, it is the wet season so I can`t really complain. In fact I`ve chosen the only time of year when the turquoise blue waters around the bay turn a muddy brown with all the rain water that`s washed down river. Still amazing views anyhow. Climbed the hill to get a close view of the massive Buddha overlooking the city. Taking a boat trip out to the islands tomorrow and hoping to see some Coral Reefs

Hotels incredibly cheap. This one is costing a massive 120000 Dong per night, or about 3.18. It has a lovely roof terrace as well.

Today Spent the day cruising between some of the islands just of the coast here at Nha Trang. Gorgeous weather. Did some snorkeling for the first time. Didn`t really get the hang of it, just seamed to end up with a gogglefull of salt water. Got a brief glimpse of some wonderful fish though.

Just been for a walk along the promenade. Once you get used to the constant offer of a ride on a motorcycle it`s quite relaxing. Walked past the Hall of the People. And what were the guards outside the town hall of the Peoples Socialist Republic of Vietnam watching on the TV in their sentry box? Who wants to be a millionaire that`s what!

Catching the overnight train up to Dinang tomorrow. Couldn`t face an overnight bus full of backpackers, so will see how Viet Rail compares with China rail.

Travelled up from Ho Chi Minh City by bus. Not the normal Vietnamese buss but the special Open Tour Bus for travellers, so not to taxing. Getting out of the city took ages and the sprawl went on for ever. The population of the country is 80 Million and you can quite believe it. there are people everywhere.

Spent yesterday walking around Dalat. It`s nice to be out of the burning heat of Saigon, but this place makes up for it with hills. It`s an old resort area and full for tourists both Vietnamese ones and foreigners. Some nice scenery but most of the attractions I tried to go to were closed. I guess it`s the off season. The flower gardens are delightful according to The Lonely Planet, but when I got there there was just a lot of earth and some diggers.
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Today spent the day on a tour of the delights of Dalat. Lots of Pagodas, a couple of waterfalls and the Valley of Love, which was full of Cowgirls trying to entice couples into taking horse rides around the lake. Very peaceful spot though away form the noisy streets outside. There were a few unfortunate Monkeys kept in cages about the size of a normal car. Still at least they weren`t on the menu.

Was just sitting enjoying a piece of cake, thank the French for that, and some incredibly milky tea, admiring the lights of Dalat, when they all went out. Nice to have a decent power cut. Quite took me back to the three day week. better finish this before it goes again.

Day in City before moving onto Dalat tomorrow. Very hot. Saigon must be one of the most chaotic city`s I`ve visited. In China it was bicycles coming at you from every angle. Here it`s motorbikes. There are apparently 3 million in the city alone and they all seam to be heading directly for you when you cross the road. Visited a few museums and relaxed in the Botanical Gardens this afternoon. The war remnants museum, which has some horrific pictures of some of the things the Americans did while they were here. Some lovely deformed foetus pickled in jars which were the result of Agent Orange. Also some horrendous pictures of the massacres which took place in some villages, where Women children and even babies were brutally shot down by gung ho GI`s.The museum also contains an old Guillotine, a remembrance of the French rule!

Took a tour out to the CuChi Tunnels, about 50Km northwest of HCMC. Amazing place. It`s where the Viet Cong hid out while the Americans were carpet bombing the surrounding countryside. A series of tiny tunnels dug out of the clay in which the army lived slept and fought. Very claustrophobic even in the short 60m we were allowed in. Thank goodness they are all so slim. Also visited the temple at Tay Ninh, the headquarters of the Cao Dism sect. Very colourful. Trip took about 12 hours of which the last two were spent in a traffic jam attempting to get back into HCMC

Arrived at 7.30 this morning after a 12 hour flight from Paris. Very rapid transit through Customs and immigration. Not surprisingly as we were the only plane there.
Dramatic taxi ride to hotel on the banks of the Saigon river. Millions of motorcycles coming from every direction. How they avoid constant collisions is one of the wonders of the world.
Walked around the city this morning. Incredibly hot, 29C at present. My book says it always rains in the afternoon so I have my brolly handy. Hoping to visit the Reunification Palace, from where the Americans fled in 1975, and the Museum of American War Crimes and atrocities. It`s the city`s biggest attraction apparently. Should be fun.

Reached Sydney on Friday evening after my 2000Km trip from Adelaide. Saw some wonderful Scenery on the way including the 12 apostles and London Bridge, which fell down in 1990. Melbourne was a lovely city with a lot going on. It is Autumn here so everyone is getting very active before winter arrives. In Melbourne it was the Moombar Walter festival and here in Sydney the Easter show has just opened at the Olympic park.

Sydney is as wonderful as ever, even in the rain. Actually the sun has been out today which makes the harbour even more wonderful.

Did some shopping today and visited some museums. Will relax over the next few days and prepare myself for 22 hours on a plane.

In Melbourne now. Fantastic weather and predicted to be up to 34 tomorrow. Getting quite sunburnt. It's the river festival here this weekend so everyone is in holiday mood.

Will stay until Monday and then head through the snowy mountains towards Sydney

Finally escaped the searing heat of the centre and flew down to Adelaide where I was greeted by a torrential downpour.

Spend a couple of days in Adelaide enjoying the sights of the bay and the Lofty Mountain Range. Picked up the car and for the last few days have been travelling the Great Ocean Road where there is some stunning scenery. Visited the twelve apostles today, although you could only see seven of them from the road. Staying in Geelong before travelling into Melbourne tomorrow.

40 Centigrade here in Alice at the moment so rather warm. Been following in Charlies footsteps today, up to the desert park and the Flying Doctors centre. Never sweated so much in my life. Got back from Ayres Rock yesterday. It is a marvolous sight and one you should see sometime in your life. The stars at night were fantastic. You forget, living in coludy and poluted Europe, how wonderful the clear night sky is, with millions and millions of stars all around.

Get a flight to Adelaide tomorrow and then pick up my car to travel round the coast to Sydney