Vietnam Voyage Is A 23 minute excursion from Saigon to DaNang  by air, from DaNang to Hue by train and then from Hue to Hanoi by air. TotalAdventure explores the main sites of the 4 historic cities with culinary adventures ,such as cobra snake in Hanoi.

TotalAdventure is getting all caught up today in Bangkok, before we leave for Qatar tonight. Here’s a few more from Hanoi in June. Above, the Ho Chi Minh Tomb. Unfortunately Uncle Ho was off to Moscow to ” have a little work done ” , so we could not see him.

In the brutal Hanoi Hilton.

An injured John McCain.

The exterior.

Just before we left Hanoi on Saturday, we dined on King Cobra at the Hung Snake Restaurant.

As we can see in the video above, the snake is killed and the heart removed. The beating heart is offered to those who would like to partake. The snake is prepared in many different ways.

Red blood and green bile are infused into cheap vodka for a “snake wine” meant to improve virility.

Accompanies by excellent ice cold Hanoi Beer.

Cobra Soup.

While Hue remains a warlike image in the minds of many Americans, due to the 1968 Tet offensive, it is a city at peace .

Sampans glide the river.

Evil spirits are kept at bay.

Street Food is incredible !

The Pagoda.

Water Buffalo on their way home for the evening. 

Making honey at the Pagoda.

Dinner by the Pearl River.

After two days in Da Nang, TotalAdventure moved on to Hue on the Reunification Express. Unlike other things in Vietnam, the train has not changed at all, except that the French built cars we rode in in 1993 are now 25 years older. “Express” is a hopeful term, as it too nearly 3 hours to cover 43 miles( 70 km).Beautiful views.

Hue is the exact center of Vietnam and incredibly beautiful.

We’ll move this later , but our travelers will surely enjoy this beautiful videoof a bridge in Da Nag.

Like everywhere else in Vietnam , Da Nang has changed immensely since TotalAdventure’s first trip in 1993. 50 story buildings, many of them luxury hotels, dot the skyline in a city known as a large US Army base in a major combat zone, especially  in the late 60s.

We climbed to the top of the Marble Mountains ,where we took in the view of China Beach , an R&R spot for the US Troops, and the South China Sea.

While the Marble Mountains were surrounded by US Troops, the caves within them were major operating bases for the Viet Cong. This large cave was a hospital for the wounded. The Americans could not penetrate. Instead, they bombed the mountain from above, finally opening these holes after months of round the clock raids. By that time it had been vacated. The cave is now a Holy Shrine.

Da Nang restaurants have excellent seafood. This is apparently stonefish, which if stepped on means immediate death or loss of a leg.

On Sunday, June 10th, 12 hours ahead of US East coast time TotalAdventure explored the streets of Saigon. Above, is my langoustine lunch fighting, before being grilled.

Historical Museum.

US Army bulldozers, War Crimes Museum.

Utilized Often By France.

At Jade Emperor Temple.

Peaceful and Holy.

Mother and Baby.

TotalAdventure Returned to Vietnam for the first time since 1993, The younger member of our team was not born till 8 years later. Needless to say, Vietnam has transformed from a poor, war-torn agrarian country to a leading Asian Tiger.

Our First Meal – Bahn Mi and 333 Beer !

We started out our first full day, Saturday,June 9, visiting the Reunification palace, where NVA tanks smashed thought the gates on April 30,1975, ending the American puppet South Vietnamese regime.

Elaborate meeting lounges paid for and built by American taxpayers.

The more phones, the more important the official.

Benevolent Uncle Ho Oversees All.

In The Cao Dai Temple.

Tonight at 7:20 PM Miami time we board Qatar Airlines Flight 778 to Doha ,Qatar arriving there at 1620 tomorrow. During our 9 hour layover we will leave the airport to explore the city . As it is Ramadan we will break fast at sunset for the Iftar meal. At 0150 hours Friday we board Qatar  Flight  970 To Ho Chi Minh City ( Saigon), Vietnam arriving Friday afternoon about 1400. We will be traveling all over Vietnam,Laos ,Cambodia and Thailand ! Shooting with our beautiful new GoPro 6. Follow TotalAdventure Magazine every day to take part in this epic journey !

A word from a sponsor …………

All Points East has been offering exciting small group and family adventure holidays to South East Asia for over 10 years.  Whilst we recognise there are ‘must see places,’ we also realise that the modern day traveller has a desire to uncover each country’s best kept secrets – off the beaten track.

With exciting itineraries to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Yunnan, Malaysia, Borneo and Sri Lanka, All Points East has a proven philosophy – to provide small group tours that ensure genuine interaction with local people.

Winners of the 2010 Tourism Authority of Thailand Green Award, we have a commitment to local communities and to ensuring that our tours have respect for the people and places we visit.

As much as possible we stay in smaller, locally run hotels and guest houses, eat in local restaurants and use local style transport.  Guides and agencies used are considered friends rather than business contacts.  In keeping with our commitment to the communities we visit, our group sizes are usually a maximum of 10, very occasionally 12.

If this style of travel is for you and you want to get to know the real South East Asia, we would love to show it to you.