Having so much enjoyed our travels in the Far East and South East Asia in 2008, we decided that we needed to fill the two major gaps - Laos and Vietnam.
We managed to find a travel company with an existing tour of all three major areas of Vietnam who were prepared to add a customised first part for us covering Laos. We spent one night in Bangkok this time (and were pleased to find an excellent restaurant specialising in Isaan cuisine as found in north eastern Thailand and Laos) before flying on to Luang Prabang. After Luang Prabang we spent a few nights in the capital Vientiane before flying to Hanoi. From here we travelled by coach to Halong Bay, where we spent a couple of nights on a boat, and then to Hoi An by air. After this, we flew on to Saigon from where we travelled to the Mekong Delta area where we spent a night on another boat. Finally, we flew to Hong Kong, where we met up with our son Mike who was living in Guangdong province at the time.
The links below present a short slideshow for each location: