Vietnam is a fascinating country, but it does make a huge effort to keep us "furners" on the perhaps aptly named "Sinh Cafe Trail" - a coastal route that links 6 major tourist areas. Each area comes complete with all of the cheap tours and such that you might want, and there is no wanting for things to do. BUT, its damn hard to get off this trail, especially during Tet, when the Vietnamese are travelling as well. We've tried, and got knocked down more times than we can count.

It has happened on a big scale (we tried to get into the central highlands but couldn't do it for anything less than a $200 per day car and driver rental), and on a small scale ("no foreigners are allowed on that local ferry, but we can certainly set you up with a private boat for $25. But if you wait until tomorrow there is a tour you know"). Its really an amazing system - much more subtle than the minders of old communism, but almost as effective. We wish we had our bikes.

But despite the frustration of travelling here it is truly a beautiful and fascinating land, completely different from the almost passive composure of thaialnd and laos. since we haven't been able to do much independent adventuring in Vietnam, we've taken to the next best thing: Crossing roads. Thats right. Here in Vietnam, crossing roads is about as much adventure as we can handle, and after just a few attempts we are ready to get back to the backpacker ghettos and find a pizza joint. check this out.

Tomorrow we are on to Siam Reap in Cambodia...

Ian