Well here we are back home after spending an unbelievable 2 1/2 months on tour in Asia, a marvellous experience and so many memories of people and places we would have not have been able to see without retirement and going travelling (our turn).
It's difficult to pick out any particular favourites as there have been so many great things we have seen and experienced that to single any out would be unfair on the rest of the brill places we have visited.  But a great holiday and good to get out of the country to miss the bad weather ( or at least most of it!!!! ) The plan was to come back in spring but the weather hasn't sprung yet and we are freezing!!.
It's a shame that Chris's guts and my leg marred the last couple of weeks, but we did make the best of a bad job and continued to see and enjoy as much as we could whilst we were there.  Thanks to Emma, Grace and cousin Richard for making the last leg (as it were!!!!) as good as it could be. Chris is settling down now we are back on a steady normal diet and my problem leg has been conformed as a DVT for which I am having treatment and will hopefully in a few months be back to normal and ready to plan the next trip.
Pictures included show the last bit of Vietnam (HCMC) with Emma and Grace and Kuala Lumpur with Richard.
My next blog will be to let you know where I have posted my best photos, once I have gone through them.
Quick Asia quiz before I go
If Siamese cats come from Siam - where is Siam?
When will Delhi ever be completed?
In India, Thailand and Veitman, when you come to traffic lights on red - what do you do?
In India if a cow or bull crosses the road how do you approach this problem?
Where has Saigon gone?
Is a Malaysian suffering from anything?
OK that will do they are all silly!!!!!

Farewell Vietnam - hello Kuala Lumpur

Having had a great time with Emma in Ho Chi Minh although recuperating in the process we did manage towards the end of our stay to get out and about in bursts of activity then rest time for my leg. Chris seems at last to have overcome her problems which has halved the issues we were having and staying with Emma was relaxed entertaining and informative as she knows much about the area so could guide us to the right places, we also had some great meals and a few drinkies together with her and her friend Grace who was fun to be with and very kind to us so a great stay - we will try and go back to finish what we started. As you will see from the first photo, our arrival in KL was accompanied by a tropical storm the likes of hitch we have not seen before but managed to stay dry!

Now in KL with Richard, Chris's cousin who has lived out here for a very long time, whilst my leg is improving it still needs resting and swells when I'm out so that's frustrating but we are getting out and visited the Patronas Twin Towers today, I don't like heights but managed to hang onto the structure when I needed support which I did as it does move!!! Eeeeek! But some great views although hazy and a great experience.  Went out last night with Richard to his club for drinks and eats and lived the ex pat and colonial lifestyle for a short but interesting time, will be out again tomorrow, and intending to visit Chinatown.

Getting back into the swing

After a frustrating few days in Hoi An with my leg, we then were hit by Chris getting a tummy bug which we thought would be OK in no time, but that was not to be as when she felt better we were suddenly back to square one, so with little food in her (the minimum to do any damage) we took the flight to Ho Chi Mhin City ( HCMC ) and the refuge that.  Emma Sheppard would provide to assist the he along process for us both.  Being the great host she is we were met at the airport and " shepherded" back to the ranch where the comforts of home were available (as opposed to hotels) and a warm and friendly atmosphere to aim to improve our health for the last leg.  All seemed to be going well with Chris's medication and then overnight we had another setback so Emma gave her some new French medication that she had recently successfully taken, so at that point Chris just went for it as we had been tied down in and around Emma's complex, just sunbathing and swimming and boring things like that, confinement was not as bad as it sounds eh!
Anyway with my leg improving ( as long as I could rest it regularly) and Chris on the mend we took a trip into HCMC to do the sights seeing that we should have already done as we were running out of time.  We will do the same tomorrow and then spend what time we have left here either in HCMC or with Emma hopefully enjoying some nice meals and drinkies..
Emma has a motorbike to get her round, the only way to travel here really, so she turned up from work the other night saying that there was something wrong as it wasn't steering right, so on her arrival back at the ranch we went to look and established that she had a puncture, the chap parked next to us saw this and said she should call the man to fix it, and then proceeded to take her across the road and started pointing at the fence, so I thought he was pointing through the cracks to guide her to Mr Fixer but no, apparently the local tyre repair man has his name and phone number on the fence so with our assistants help with the lingo on the phone the repair man was there within minutes and the tyre inner tube repaired and blown up, the other tyre inflated to the correct pressure and a quick adjustment of the chain, all done within half an hour and for a few quid, how good is that (photos included)

So we're on the way to Kuala Lumpur on Monday and will be staying with Chris's cousin Richard who has lived in foreign parts for many years, holiday amazingly nearly over, hard to believe, so will be reporting from KL next week and then uhhhhhh cold old blighty the following week rounding up  on our fantastic experience,  oh well got to go its pre dinner drinks time!!!! And it's all done in the best posssssible taste!!!!!

Well life's like that!

OK so 2 months into our trip with little problem is probably asking too much, sonot really unexpected that at some stage we would encounter some problem.  So we have!  Unfortunately both of us at the same time have hit the unhealthy wall,  Chris has developed Hoi An belly and has suffered quite vigorous attack of the runs, thanks to Dave Brook and his contact who gave him advice on a quick remedy she tried it out and things have improved fairly quickly, the tip was to boil up some coke, ( not the stuff you see on Miami vice) let it cool and drink, this apparently then clears out all the bugs in one go and then you can concentrate on getting better.  So it seems to have done the trick and she is now much better although wind has been an after affect so watch out, the results may hit Britain in about a week - take cover!

I developed a hurty leg after our flight from Samui and it got progressively worse until we arrived at Hoi An when I knew I needed attention, so after several trips to the docs and one trip to the hospital I now have enough tablets to supply the whole of Asia, and am having to rest my leg much of the day so that it improves,  we had to cancel our plans to visit Hue as I was advised not to travel till it had improved, so we moved hotels in Hoi An and are remaining here for another 3 days until we fly to ho chi Mhin city and stay with Emma Sheppard who is currently teaching there for a 2 year period, so that will be good to see her and to have a sort of home from home rather than living out of bags in hotels which is not always as relaxing as it sounds especially when your not 100%.  So I hope it continues to improve so we can see more than the inside of our hotel, we have been our for a couple of hours this morning and am resting before another session of sight seeing later, it is a pretty little place here, so all being well we move on Saturday and we will have to play it by ear from then on depending on my condition then, - getting old really is a bugger! Still onwards and upwards.