It's a long way to fly from Europe to Vietnam! We chose Frankfurt - Singapore - Saigon

(Ho Chi Minh City)

Sigi and his 2 friends venture in good spirits; Austrians in Asia - what a trip!

Mr.Dadam takes us to the Airport in Munich

Andi wants a close shave - why not? Now he looks like a "pagoda" (a monk)

or a criminal?

We buy two old Russian motorbikes and our intention is to go to the

Mekong-Delta (My Tho)

first and then back to Saigon and further up all the long stretch right up to

Hanoi in the once communist North

Our friends near Kim Cafe help us to get things organized, find maps, find bike repair, spare parts, money exchange and all sorts of things around Saigon city

Trio Asiatico Vietnamese - in a southern rainy Saigon night

Inside Ben Thanh Market - the biggest indoor market in Saigon

...the children like Andy best!

Mekong river - the river of the 5 dragons... 

(Burma - Thailand - Laos - Cambodia - Vietnam)

Its estimated length is 4,350 km (2,703 miles)

a fruity invitation - pineapple - leechee -

coconut -

dragon friut -

all the exotic joys in taste

Our new old bikes

...and the most enjoyable noodle soup "Phoo"

American travellers sell the motorbikes to us for 350 Us dollars each

Tam, our guide shows us round on "Coconut-Island"; the "Coconut-Monk" who lives here is not allowed to get a better job, because he was on the wrong side in the war and therefore went to re-education camp.

Tam, in his hospitality, introduces us to his family after the day-trip in his My-Tho home.

are you afraid of snakes?  Andy and Sigi aren't.

we meet a Swiss couple on saying good bye to Mytho

setting out to the North - on our way - rainy and hot

Dalat is the stepping stone to the Central Highlands of Vietnam. This former French hill station with its own mini replica of the Eiffel Tower stands at 1475 meters. It is a breath of fresh air both literally and metaphorically after the mayhem and humidity of Saigon

over the mountains down to the plains

The Cham Towers of Po Nagar: tall arched forms are characteristic of these monuments built of brick and stone by ethnic Chams between the seventh and twelfth century A.D. Both Cham and Vietnamese worshippers still use this site where the remaining buildings are each dedicated to a different Hindu deity.

We meet our "French girls" - Laurence and Carolle, who join us for a few days

Laurence is a linguistic therapeut and a great fotographer; she shares immediate affection with both old women and children and gets on with them like a house on fire

Na Thrang sea offers clear waters in breathtaking purity and full of colourful water life for snorkeling as well as scuba diving (boat trip to bamboo islands)

Bike repair daily - fast and effectfully done till next morning's breakdown

San Huynh - the pristine Golden Beach 

Cua Dai beach in Hoi-An. No hotel for us - we sleep on the beach and are moved by a starry sky alien to us from the western hemisphere

We keep following  "Highway Nr.1" - going North all the time - now in Hoi-An

... a pleasant stroll in Hoi-An streets

Tan Ky House - built 2 centuries ago by a well-to-do ethnic Vietnamese merchant. The design shows evidence of Japanese and Chinese influence on local architecture

30km north of Da Nang, the Truong Son Range, the rugged mountains that run from north to south for much of Vietnam's length, send a steep spur east, towards the sea. This is the most scenic stretch of coastal road in Vietnam since, as Highway 1 snakes up over the pass at a height of 500 meters, it offers soul-filling views of the shimmering blue waters of Da Nang Bay to the south, rimmed by slivers of gold.

DMZ - demilitarized zone: the DMZ ran east-west near the center of present-day Vietnam (spanning more than a hundred kilometers) and was a couple of kilometers wide. It was nominally described as being at "the 17th parallel".

(One of the most controversial aspects of the U.S. military effort in Southeast Asia was the widespread use of agents of chemical warfare between 1961 and 1971. They were used to defoliate large parts of the countryside. These chemicals continue to change the landscape, cause diseases and birth defects, and poison the food chain.)

Minorities: Vietnam has a population of 83 million, of which 74 percent live in the countryside, giving Vietnam some of the highest rural population densities in Southeast Asia. Over half the people are under 25 years old and 13 percent belong to one of the many ethnic minority groups.

Do you like "dog" for lunch? 5 minutes ago this poor doggy was around our tablo in the lobby.

Hanoi at last! We arrived in Hanoi safely after a long trip and sold our motorbikes at the same price we had bought them in Saigon.

Good Bye Vietnam - we'll be back!