In a rather full mini-bus we were picked-up from our hotel in Banlung and driven to the Vietnamese border. Crossing the border into Vietnam went by almost anonymously. On the other side of the border, in Pleiku, we had some trouble finding a bus to Kon Tum, but we found one, albeit with a very unfriendly driver (later we found out this is rather typical for Vietnamese bus drivers). We were charged 2,5 times the normal fare and we did not leave until his bus was more than full (luckily our bigger space requirements were respected to some extend). We headed for Kon Tum, a relatively large city in the central mountains of Vietnam. Rather off the beaten track, so little English was spoken anywhere. We soon found out that the people in the street were very friendly, as opposed to the people active in the business of transporting people. We did not do much but walk through the city, visit the market and every day a bit of school with Lasse and Sil. Guess we had to get used to the new country, its habits and its people first.

Next stop: Hoi An, a former French colonial town at the coast precisely mid-way between Hanoi in the north and Saigon in the south (Ho Chi Minh City). On this trip we definitely passed for our mini-bus exam: there were 30 people in the bus that had seats for 19. On the driver's seat were 2 passengers, one on each side of the driver! Hoi An was a lovely and picturesque little town, famous for its tailors and shoe makers. Claudia and Peter both had a nice business suit tailor-made and Lasse and Sil both had shoes made for them with their own names embroidered in them. They left the shop very, very proud, as you can imagine. Because of the Vietnamese New Year, or TET as it is called, which would be from February 2 - 4, we planned our trip ahead for the next 2 weeks, making hotel reservations and buying the necessary bus tickets. Less fun than the manner we travelled until now, but it beats ending up without a place to stay the night.

From Hoi An we took a night bus, a new experience. Two stories of narrow beds, with a foothold that didn't allow Peter to put his feet upright, but it did the trick. We switched buses in Nha Trang and headed to Dalat, a city in the mountains at 1,500 m altitude. Dalat was nice, it being a popular holiday destination for the Vietnamese. From Dalat we took a tour with a very friendly taxi driver to a silk spinning factory, a cricket farm, a mushroom farm, a tea plantation and a rice wine distillery. All very interesting; did you know that a typical cricket farm yields about 200 kg of crickets per year at 10 US$ per kg. Apparently these are considered a delicacy, as you pay about the same amount for a small plate as a starter in a restaurant. We politely declined the plate that was offered to us as part of our sight-seeing trip...... From Dalat we made a scenic trip by train and we hiked up Lang Biang Mountain (top 1 @ 1,950 m high), whose name was given by the Vietnamese Romeo (Lang) and Julia (Biang). The legend goes that these two lovers committed suicide when they were not allowed to marry, being from different tribes. The mountain grew from their graves.

From Dalat we went to Mui Ne, a very touristic place on the southern coast. Or rather, Mui Ne is a small fishers village completely off the beaten track, but the coastline south of it is completely covered with mini hotels and resorts, one can hardly imagine a greater contrast. We stayed in a small resort with swimming pool, and a stair case down to the sea. There was a big concrete wall along the backside of all the resorts to protect them from being washed away by the sea that made for a spectacular dip in the sea (timing was of the essence!). We spent much time swimming and relaxing, but also rented bicycles one day and explored the famous white and red dunes of Mui Ne on mopeds. It made us feel like being back in Sossusvlei, Namibia again! Lasse and Sil really had a great time surfing the dunes on a rented piece of plastic sheet.

We went on travelling south, as we wanted to visit the Mekong Delta still. On our way there we spent one night in Saigon and the next day directly through to Vinh Long. Lasse in the mean time had developed a serious ear infection, so we had to visit the hospital and get him some medicines. We spent two days in Vinh Long, watching the people get ready for TET; yellow flowers (pink for North Vietnam), water melons and little bonsai trees (to be dressed up like Christmas trees) everywhere on sale along the streets. On New Year 's Eve the streets were REALLY crowded with tens of thousands of people and as many mopeds. New Year 's Eve brought a festive atmosphere, and of course lots of fireworks, but we were not really able to enjoy it as Lasse was really sick.

From Vinh Long we booked two nights at a so-called ‘home-stay' right in the Mekong Delta. Here, you sleep and eat within someone's own house. A very old and very heavily vibrating boat took us first on a three-hour tour through the Mekong Delta. Once we arrived at the home-stay we immediately liked its friendly and relaxed atmosphere. The people living there were playing a game of 'bingo' for (small) money, and when we joined them spontaneously, the ice was broken and we had much fun together. Lasse and Sil walked away with a hefty profit from the first round of bingo, enough to last them for the rest of our stay. Originally we booked for 2 nights, but we decided to spend the rest of our Vietnam-days here and booked 4 more nights, rather than visiting another very crowded and busy city. We played lots of bingo and went to the vegetable garden of our host family to help them water the plants. Every morning we did school with the boys, then we went out on bicycles to explore the islands of the Mekong Delta. One day we visited the local zoo, where the strangest animals were put in the smallest of cages. Not a nice sight at all, and most of the animals were merely little heaps of misery and/or stressed out. The one thing that was perhaps still decent was feeding the alligators little pieces of raw meat with the aid of a fishing rod, which Lasse and Sil very much enjoyed. But we skipped the emu-riding.

After our very enjoyable stay in the Mekong Delta our last stop in Vietnam will be Saigon, were we catch a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. From our first stop-over in Saigon we knew what to expect: lots of people, noice, mopeds, tourists and very crowded streets. Very exciting but not with children.

So, how to summarise our experiences in Vietnam? That can be done in one word: moped. Or rather, millions of them. If you think that it is not possible to transport a full size refrigerator on the back of a moped, you clearly haven't been to Vietnam yet! Or a two-by-one (meter!) pane of glass. Or a couple of pick-nick tables? Or two bicycles? Or 50 living chickens? Or a whole family consisting of 6 people, sometimes an extra neighbour, thrown in for free? And the Vietnamese appear to be in a hurry always. They never slow down or brake. Instead they use their horns (rather annoyingly continuous) and it's up to you to step aside quickly enough. But, in all honesty, this does not fully summarise it. The Vietnamese are very friendly people, who offer a genuine smile, without feeling the need to constantly touch you. And they appear to be a hard-working people; the economy is booming. What really amazed us is how easy-going they are when it comes to their behavior in traffic. Governed by un-written rules, the tens of thousands of mopeds get around without much incidents or accidents. I hope they don't rent a moped on their holidays in Europe........

See you in Malaysia, our last country in southeast Asia, before we fly from Singapore to New Zealand.