This is a fascinating look at Vietnam at a time when it was just about to change. You come out with a tremendous admiration for Maria Coffey and her partner - they did not want a tourist experience, and they certainly didn't get one but at times the difficulties were almost overwhelming. It is not a journey most of us would want to take, but in the end it obviously had huge rewards. ( )

I picked this up at a book exchange as I had visited Vietnam a few years ago, and am interested in returning.

Coffey heads to Vietnam, the journey was a while in being realised as life got in the way, but here are her travels, with her husband.

As the title says, this is a journey done by boat and bicycle (as much as possible), which doesn't sound too adventurous until you see when the journey was done. When I visited the north in 2005, I found Hanoi very well geared towards tourism - hostels, tours, lots of people who spoke English. This trip was done a decade before, when Vietnam started opening its borders to more tourists and also they stray very much from the beaten track. This is what makes it a good read, the people they meet, the places they visit, the food they eat, even the actual travelling, all add to the flavour of the book.

I recommend this to anyone who has been or is planning to head to Vietnam. ( )