(8 October

Arrived into the airport, got through immigration no problem, just told them I didn't want to use my visa yet (that's for when I come back!) and they gave me my stamp. Headed for the train, passed a Dunkin' Donuts which was pretty epic haha. I still don't think I'm talking about food any more than is necessary...lol. Then got the train and subway to the hotel. Saw my first old White man and young Thai girl on the subway...definitely not the last! Was all easy enough! Hotel was a lot more posh than anywhere in china! The guy at the door carried my bag all the way to my room for me! In my room was Claire, my new roommate! She is from holland and is lovely. After a shower and sorting myself out a bit, we both went for a wee walk around the area near the hotel. Claire had already been there for a few days so kind of knew where we were! Went to check out the Chinese market but unfortunately it was closed, so just had a general wander, passed a nice temple! It was raining on and off and there was a bit of flooding but nothing too bad! Then we went back to the hotel to meet the rest of the new group!

Our new guide is Bom. He is Thai and very nice, went into loads of detail about what we were going to he doing! We also got a really detailed itinerary and a big booklet all about the places we go to!

There are four other nornirish...Lisa and Rory, a couple from Armagh/Tyrone and Ursula and Fiona, sisters from west Belfast. Then 3 English girls travelling on their own, Anna and Holly from the south, Laura from near Newcastle. Two Japanese girls called Hitomi and Mariko, and three Germans: Stephanie, Caro and Andy. Everyone was really nice! Holly didn't actually make it to the first night but I'll get to that later. The Belfast sisters have been travelling since February! A good few of them are doing a similar route to me after the trip which is cool.

Because this is such a long trip it's broken up into smaller ones, so only 8 of us are doing the whole 30 days. Some are leaving in Ho Chi Minh, some in Ha Noi I think, and then we get 3 new people at some point who leave us after Laos! Lots of changes. O was surprised how different it was already to my other tour!

After the welcome talk we went to dinner! I had pad Thai which was pretty good, and dirt cheap - I was convinced I was converting wrong! I thought china was cheap like! Then we hit bed because we were leaving at 7 the next day. It was a shame I didn't see more of Bangkok but hopefully I'll see it when I get back!