Vietnam 1-15 November

Only 15 days to reach Saigon...
On the first day, we took a wrong bus and couldn't find the border but were brought to a beautiful each instead. In the end we reached the bridge Dongxing-Mong Cai and felt relieve: we got out of China without losing our baby boy!
From the beginning, Vietnam is so different and so delicious: green tropical vegetation, cafes with terrace everywhere and even hot chocolate, cute balconies on two-storey houses. All is a little more poor and falling apart than in China, communication is not easier but more people speak English.
The first day we take a sleeping bus, very comfortable. In Hai Phong we got invited to a girl's birthday in a small flat crowded with people. Elios proved he was no more a baby and go to sleep even when his bottle was lost. 
Next stop was in Thanh Hoa and Samson, on a nice beach, where we could swim and taste some delicious seafood, such as a crab - the first one for Filip. Our intention was then to buy a rickshaw to ride slowly southwards, but once we chose one the seller changed the price at the last minute. So we took a night train with a cabin special for foreigners, and arrived in DaNang with big rain. It rained for more than 24 hours so that the river came out and the streets became rivers. Taxis and scooters stopped working and we got stuck in the train station for the night, after crossing a street with our backpacks and the baby in our arms and water above the knees.
So we stayed 2 more days in DaNang, until everything could come back to order, it gave us time to visit touristic and beautiful HoiAn, to buy a new cheap telephone, to let Elios play for hours in a play room, swimming in plastic balls.
Next we stooped in Nha Trang, and the sun was back. This beautiful beach has big waves and deep water, white clean sand. For surfing the internet, we visited the slum which faced a 4 star hotel, kids were surrounding us and repeating Elios's words, or playing bear footed in sewer ground. On a rickshaw we made a small touristic tour to see a Buddhist temple and a cathedral: both religions are present here in a funny manner, you can find catholic churches with original decorations and Buddhas that look like Virgin Mary!
After that we had a hard day on a bus to reach DaLat, we were so frightened with that driver who was racing as much as he could horning loudly in the city, in the curves and in darkness. In DaLat, we met a couple of retired Germans who've lived on a boat for 15 years and already 4 years in Malaysia. One day we split, mama could walk in the mountains and tatus found 6 beetles and regulated their carburator, while Elios got a new haircut, so everyone was happy! Next day we rented a scooter and could see better and freely the beautiful surroundings.

Finally we got to Saigon, too noisy, too hot, we stayed in the tourists' street and visited only the playground of the park nearby, Elios appreciated it. In the end, the little one took his first flight, but he was more busy reading magazines than watching through the window.
So we made it by land in 4 months until Saigon and now, after jumping over the sea, we are on the other side of equator!