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Right so i guess i'll start by apologizing for the lack of blogs lately. Theres 2 reasons for this, the first being vietnams goverment doesnt encourage the use of social networking sites so on alot of the computers this site was blocked, the second reason being quite simply, ive been having far to much fun!
I last left by saying i was heading down south in vietnam, the first stop was phang nha farmstay. Its a very unknown destination but is set to make the top 5 things to do in next years lonely planet so definately had the potential to be a good stop. And it didnt let us down, what did was the weather.. Terrential thunderstorms and cyclones meant that pretty much every river was over flooded meaning bridges werent possible to cross, meaning alot of the trips were off limits. However we managed to get the main one done on our 3rd and final day of trying. This was a trip around the national park which was a key part in vietnams war and the transport of vechiles and weapons from one part of vietnam to the other. It was mainly a sight seeing tour but we ended up in what has just been named as the largest cave in the world, we were able to venture 1km in of a total of 34km. Even in this small section some of the rock formations were incredible, due to the lack of light down there though the photos just didnt do it justice!
After this tour we decided to head down to the next main city along which is hue, as we had now done near enough 6weeks of sight seeing we'd had enough of seeing temple after temple so had stopped appreciating them as much. Our main aim was now to get out of the rubbish weather and move south as quickly as possible. So after just one day in Hue we booked our way out and this is where we got excited. Our route down to Hoi an was what has now become known as the top gear route, motorcycles down the coastal path. If done properly it should take 6/7hours and should have plently of time to stop and view the view points on the way down. This however was not how it went, with alot of getting lost, stopping for photos and basically just messing around we took nearly 10hours and got there 5mins before our deadline. But it was well worth it, the views on the way down were amazing and just the general road rules in vietnam were crazy. Waiting at traffic lights with timers on with rows of 8 mopeds wide and 20 deep was a completly new experience for me!! Again Hoi An didnt have alot to offer and after less than 24hrs we were on our way to the next destination Nha Trang.
Nha Trang had a slightly better reputation for backpackers and things to do. On arrival after yet another night bus the weather looked promising and a beach that seemed to go on for miles it seemed that we had found a place to stay for a few days. After a day on the beach relaxing we went to vietnams only water/theme park on our second day to celebrate a friends birthday who we were traveling with. It was on its own little island and to get there we would have to get on the longest over water cable car. It didnt quite compare with thorpe park or alton towers but never the less it was a good day out. After a good night out to continue the celebrations we woke to find out the weather had caught up with us and the cyclone was heading south. This is when we found out that cambodia had also been hit with alot of rain and was pretty much completly covered in rain.
So we now had a big decision to make.. put up with the weather or just bit the bullet and head to the south islands of Thailand. This would mean missing out Hoi chi minh city, the whole of Cambodia and our 2nd visit to Bangkok. The appeal however was sun, sea, beaches and alot of partying..
I'll let you guess what we decided to do!
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