Best Day in Vietnam

Today involved a motorbike meander to the top left point of the island- to Bai Dai. And what a splendid day it was!

Okay, so I almost drove into a taxi after panicking and subsequently being unable to trust myself to turn, but after that I remembered to be confident and always look ahead. Successful tips once you've figured out how not to be a road hazard in a busy Vietnamese town and have figured how to get the bloody indicator to switch off and not just to signal the opposite direction.

The panic subsided to reveal long stretches of dirt road along almost deserted beaches, through a couple fishing villages and to the little harbour and village at the top. If you make it out of the 2km stretch of touristed Long Beach, with beach front resorts and restaurants, there is still ample authentic and almost uncorrupted Vietnam to discover. (Sadly, this won't be for long. The villagers of Bai Dai are to be moved in the next few years to make way for a mammoth development project...It's tragic and yet so unsurprising)

For me, this is the way to wind down a brilliant holiday (and get over slight loser complex after a mildly isolated New Year's Eve) and it is what I will remember: