WITH foreign lands, near misses and even a romance, McDonald's employees Courtney Cunningham and Kyle Nicholson's trip to Vietnam could be mistaken for an adventure novel.

"Words can't describe it," local boy Kyle said, grinning broadly as he described his working holiday.

"It was amazing, I always imagined Ho Chi Min City to be less developed, but it really was city, much cleaner than I thought," Stanthorpe local Courtney Cunningham said.

The pair returned earlier this month after helping establish the first McDonald's restaurant in Vietnam.

"It was a big McDonald's family," Kyle said.

Both Courtney and Kyle spent time outside of work mixing with the Vietnamese crews to experience the sights Ho Chi Min City first-hand.

Kyle even developed a romance with a local McDonald's worker.

"She had a boyfriend, but bought me a book on how to speak Vietnamese before I left," the 17-year-old said.

Constantly on scooters, the pair said the traffic took a lot of getting used to.

"They have about half the road rules," Kyle said. He was hit by a scooter on his very first night during the New Year's celebrations.

Courtney said the hardest part of the trip was not the language barrier, but dealing with drunk Americans.

"We had groups come in loud after a night out, and a lot of the Vietnamese workers couldn't understand them so we had to translate," Courtney said.

Some of the most popular meals on the Vietnamese menu were McPorks, Ice tea, and Milo.

"And Big Macs, they were something different for the people; Big Macs are just universal," Kyle said.

The McSpicy was also a big hit.

Though it was their first time overseas the Southern Downs duo claimed they hadn't been homesick at all.

"It was so easy to keep in touch," Courtney said.

Both hope to return to Vietnam one day.