Rare Adventures

Petrolhead tour: Wild Atlantic Way adventure in Ireland, Part 2 he OTR guys had another cool safety strategy, one of the cars acts as a pace car and warns the other cars of any oncoming traffic (there wasn’t much) or other things to be aware of. In fact I started to get a feel for the ability of our car that you would never discover on normal driving, the Porsche Cayman is reputed to be the best balanced sports car ever made, and we learned we could handle pretty much any bend at speed, we just lost out when it came to straight line speed. Somehow we managed to pass them all again somehow lose the convoy.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/08/04/petrolhead-tour-wild-atlantic-coast-of-ireland/

Arriving Cambodia We were expecting something quite similar to Vietnam, being as they are neighbours and share quite a lot of joint history, so it came as a bit of a surprise the level of difference, although if we had flown into Phnom Phen, we would have probably found it a lot more similarities than we did flying into Seip Reim.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/08/01/arriving-in-cambodia/

Coconut boats and Cham Islands from Hoi An However captivating the lanterns of Hoi An can be, ultimately there is only so much time you go can spend sat on the quay watching the boats go past, or sweating in the back alleys of the old town looking at shops, so it isn’t long before you are looking for something else to do. Staying out at An Bang beach really helps, as there are plenty of things to do, from jetskiing on some dodgy old boats to just marching along the beach in the heat, which is my favourite pastime for some reason.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/07/30/coconut-boats-and-cham-islands-from-hoi-an/

Petrolheads – West Coast of Ireland When my mate from Plymouth called and said he and Pompey Daz had signed up to a sports car tour of Ireland I wasn’t initially overwhelmed with enthusiasm. I did a round Ireland tour in my VW Camper back in 2010 as part of the Eireball Run, and I was still traumatised by the everchanging weather, slow progress and looking after 2 young kids on my own. However, the idea took hold and the thought of spending a week with my mates, wives, and the opportunity to meet new and interesting people who had a common love of sports cars began to appeal. My wife, Wooksie, took a bit of convincing, but eventually agreed to spend a week in the passenger seat of our Porsche, as the tour did look a lot of fun.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/07/28/petrolheads-west-coast-of-ireland/

secrets of Hoi an Very few people who consider a trip to Vietnam will miss out on the images offered by the romantic lights of Hoi Ann, but we nearly did.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/07/27/twinkling-hoi-an-and-its-secret-beaches/

Nim Binh adventures The trip to Nim Bin is one of those “must do” tours when you are in Hanoi. It is a long journey from Hanoi, about 3 hours to get there, and all the while the day is warming up. Nim Binh is the name of the area and there are a number of things going on, first activity involves climbing up a near vertical staircase to get to the top of a mountain and we assumed a temple of some sort. It was quite evident from the state of the people coming back down that this was going to be a hot and sweaty climb, and so it was.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/07/19/nim-bin-the-must-do-trip/

Vietnam rip off phone charges We have just received our phone bill from our trip to Vietnam. Despite having an eSim and our data mostly switched off, and doing all the blogs on wifi, the costs are absolutely horrendous.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/07/19/vietnam-roving-charges/

Ha Long Bay cruises Basically, the Ha Long Bay 2 day trips are 24 hours spent on a ship. There are dozens, probably hundreds of them, in all sorts of different shapes and sizes.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/07/19/ha-long-bay-luxury/

Ha Giant Loop Day 2 and 3. The Ha Giant loop was a lot of fun, a lot of driving and we were very grateful for the company and humour of Mr Happy who made the time go quickly. this blog covers the second and third days... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/07/19/ha-giant-loop-day-2-and-3/

Ha Gaing Loop – day 1 to Dong Van Before we could do the Ha Gaing Loop we had to get out of SaPa, and that proved more challenging than we expected.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/07/04/ha-gaing-loop-day-1-to-dong-van/

SaPa – spectacular attractions from Cat Cat to the Fansipan Cable Car Nobody comes to Sapa by accident, it isn’t on the way to somewhere else so there is a purpose, and is mostly to see some of those iconic photogenic places that make their way into Vietnamese marketing materials, or you are here for the trekking, which was established by the French in the last century, presumably they were bored of the Alps and the Pyrenees.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/06/23/sapa-spectacular-attractions-from-cat-cat-to-the-fansipan-cable-car/

Exploring Sapa and Vietnam victory celebrations xplore the vibrant charm of Sapa with our travel guide, from breathtaking treks to unique cultural events in this northern Vietnamese gem.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/06/22/exploring-sapa-and-vietnam-victory-celebrations/

Unforgettable Jeep Tour Experience in Hanoi We were told about the Jeep Tour and how much fun it was, so as we had a spare evening, we booked ourselves on to the tour. Evening was a good choice, as Hanoi is hot and steamy so to have the tour at dusk was great as it was a bit cooler and we could really enjoy the Vietnamese love of bright lights. We booked our tour with Back Street Tours  and were picked up about 4pm by our guide, DuyVu.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/06/18/unforgettable-jeep-tour-experience-in-hanoi/

Hanoi Travel Tips: From Train Street to Egg Coffee Once you have settled in Hanoi and adjusted to the crazy pace of traffic, the intense humidity and probably got wet, it is time to have a look around.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/06/15/hanoi-travel-tips-from-train-street-to-egg-coffee/

It’s hot in Hanoi – this is what to expect When you are planning your trip to Vietnam, Hanoi is bound to be in your list.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/06/11/its-hot-in-hanoi-this-is-what-to-expect/

Close encounter with the West Ham ICF hooligans I'd just walked up to the most feared hooligan gang in English football, the West Ham United Intercity Firm, and tried to have banter with people who only really want to hurt people and have no history of having a sense of humour.... https://rareadventures.uk/2026/06/04/close-encounter-with-the-west-ham-icf-hooligans/

Exploring Vietnam – 3 surprises I thought I would start with 3 things that I did really expect when we were doing our planning, and hopefully these will really help you with your plans....