Heading Home

So after a year of living life in Asia I am heading home, briefly, to catch up with family and hang out with friends. The last few days have been quite hectic getting everything organised because we have a cross country motorbike trip planned as soon as I get back.

I am leaving tomorrow, flying into Sydney around lunch time. My brother and my little nephew, who I haven't see grow over the past year, will pick me up from the airport. After a night on the town with friends I will head north-west over the Blue Mountains to my grandparents farm where I will relax, catch up with family and perhaps assist on the farm. It has been many many years since my hands have done any real work so I am sure my grandfather will be excited to get me doing some real man's work.

I fly back to Ho Chi Minh on the 31st of August where I will meet Celine and after a trip with friends to Phu Quoc Island we will ride a bike back towards Hanoi. I have had to organise a bike here in Hanoi, one that is reliable and can handle 1,000km + with two of us. The bike is getting shipped down on the train and we will collect it there. I have had to sort out visas and rent here and normal boring jobs I guess, but they require a different strategy in order to get them done.

Once we both meet in Ho Chi Minh we plan to head towards the coast to Mui Ne (beach town), followed by Dalat (mountain town) and then onto Nha Trang (beach again). We will head inland then and ride up through the Central Highlands through the towns of Buon Ma Thout, Pleiku and Kon Tum. From there we plan to ride across to the Hoi An (World heritage town, on the sea that seems to be most peoples favourite). At Hoi An we will hang out for a while, meet my brother Tim who is coming across for a holiday, and then up to Hue. We will probably end our bike trip there and head back to Hanoi on the train. We only have 3 and a half weeks so timing could be an issue.

We will fill you in with photos and our thoughts of all the places as we are there. We both can't wait for our Vietnam trip, something we have wanted to do since we arrived. I am also looking forward to my trip back to Oz. I will see some of you guys soon.