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Bulgaria – Roses and Trains 2025
Day 1 – Stara Zagora Another week in Bulgaria beckons. This time to explore a couple of things that caught our eye last time we visited, namely Rose Valley and a train journey into the mountains. Due to a very busy week, my packing resembles a teenager’s cocktail made from the contents of his…
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Australia and Vietnam Revisited 2025 – postscript
Oma passed away today. It was a privilege being part of Oma’s 100th birthday celebrations with all her family in Adelaide. Oma, you inspired so much love and caring during your life. Time for a rest now. ❤️
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Australia and Vietnam Revisited 2025 -cat Ba/Hanoi
We spent our last full day in Cat Ba making use of the hotel facilities and wandering about in a leisurely manner. A welcome relief before hitting the chaos that is Hanoi. Should you decide to visit Cat Ba at this time of year I would definitely recommend the Flamingo. Go for a sea front…
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Australia and Vietnam Revisited 2025 -cat Ba/night kayaking
I have discovered that Vietnam does indeed produce its own wine. It started in French colonial times but had a boost when Australian wine companies got involved in the early 2000’s. Most grapes are grown between the Central Highlands and the coastal areas of Central Vietnam. So now we know. And it’s perfectly quaffable. Today…
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Australia and Vietnam Revisited 2025 -cat Ba/Lan Ha boat trip
Yesterday we pottered around, getting trips sorted, drinking coffee in the sunshine (we had a couple of hours of sunshine – hurrah!), using the onsen and generally relaxing. Today was the day of our cruise around Lan Ha bay. Lan Ha bay has now become a Unesco site alongside its more popular sister, Halong Bay.…
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Australia and Vietnam Revisited 2025 -Cat Ba
Our drive from Ninh Binh to Hai Phong (where we caught the ferry) confirmed my views that this part of Vietnam is a fairly unattractive part of the world. I know it was cloudy and wet and that doesn’t help matters at all, but the views were either row upon row of concrete service buildings,…
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Australia and Vietnam Revisited 2025 -Trang An
The temperature has warmed up considerably today. I still took my down jacket out with me though (didn’t need it) and forgot my sunglasses(did need them). We were a bit tardy getting ready today as we’d had such a good day yesterday, we were worried about doing a similar thing at Trang An and it…
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Australia and Vietnam Revisited 2025 -Tam Coc
We had very noisy neighbours last night, screeching away until 2am. Annoying but thank goodness for ear plugs and a white noise machine – we were able to get back to sleep. Today we decided to do everything that Tam Coc has to offer. Designated a UNESCO site, you can be rowed along a river…
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Australia and Vietnam Revisited 2025 – Cuc Phoung national park Ninh Binh
Breakfast was a bit of a mixed bag today. There were pancakes -hurrah- and horrible coffee -boo. Today was a trip to Cuc Phoung, the oldest national park in Vietnam. We’re not keen on tours, we much prefer to do stuff independently, but Vietnam is the Land of Tours so off we went. Also you…
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Australia and Vietnam Revisited 2025 – Hanoi/Ninh binh
Our gym plans were thwarted today as another couple were already in there. It’s a British thing I know, but it would have been too awkward squeezing round them, apologising, waiting politely for equipment etc. We decided instead to walk to the Uniqlo store down near the lake. Observation number 1 of the day –…
