Vietnam

It was boiling and was sore from the burn the day before which rubbed on the leather seat so the 4hour bus ride to the Vietnam boarder was pretty horrible. Once there it was boiling!! I had a ridiculous number of bags and extra things to carry so it was all very slow, hot and horrible. Entering Vietnam you have to get heat scanned to show your not carrying any tropical diseases, here James, Mark and Greg had a problem. They all got stopped and the women was genuinely worried about letting them though until a man came out, laughed and ushered them though. They were all bright red from sun burn so must have been giving off a crazy heat like a fever. From the other side it was only an hour to Chau Doc. Here I stayed behind in some weirdly set up room while the others went off on a boat ride, just needed to sort some things out have a little snooze, I also found the most amazing Vietnamese soup from a very local street vender for about 60pense, was soo good. That night we ate on this awesome restaurant on the water, food was okish and I felt a little sea sick from some rocky waves from the river but the setting was pretty cool. After dinner we all got on our own little cycle tut tut things, just the ride was a bit of a laugh but we ended up at a restaurant Charley new that served some weird food. We had snake and rat. First they brought out the live snake and we all played with it as it wiggled between our hands, next time we saw it it was on a plate cook and cut up ready for us to eat. It wasn't very good 2bh, it was a thin snake so very boney and the little meat you literally had to rip off was really chewy with very little flavour. Thankfully they didn't bring out a live rat just it dead and gutted before they cooked it, yum. But it was actually really good, think it was marinated in barbecue sauce or something like that and was very good, Greg particularly liked it and finished the whole bowl.

The next day we had an 8 hr bus ride to Ho Chi Minh City. Charley gave us an orientation walk to show us the sights around the city and we continued to walk around other supposedly interesting buildings, if I'm honest I was paying that much attention, mainly because it was ridiculously, horrible and crazily hotttttt. But what you can't help but notice is the crazy roads! You have to literally just close your eyes and walk just to get across (the 3 rules of Ho Chi Minh City are when crossing the road don't run, don't stop, and don't look back) we went for a nice local meal and drank some funky greeny drink, ewww. Mark, Greg and Hailey were leaving the next day so we planned a big night... But for some reason I wasn't in the mood so headed back with Joy after just a couple of drinks. The next day we went to the Cu Chi tunnels, they were actually really interesting. It was the tunnels the Vietnamese hid in from the Americans. We saw how small the holes were and the very gruesome traps the Vietnamese left for the Americans and how they lived, ate and even went though one of the tunnels, it was tiny!! And so dark, must have been horrible. Was a fun day, the tour leader was realllyyyy enthusiastic again which was funny and Chris and Mark had a go with the guns on the shooting range. When we got back we met Carl and Susy who were to join the group just as the others were leaving it. Suzy and I went to the local market and did yet more shopping. We also found the most amazing bakery, it was soo nice to have just bread and croissant again. We brought some for our night train and said goodbye to Mark, Greg and Hailey.

The night train was actually pretty nice, I shared with Joy, Jess and Clair we had a few drinks a couple of chats and just slept for the most of it.

We got in to Nha Trang at about 6am dropped our bags off and headed to the beach. Here for just 15 US dollars we had a free barbecue all day and free alcohol. Was good fun we hang out swimming, sunbathing, drinking and eating. Another guy called Charley and Richard were also there who were on the tour a day ahead of us. Once full and a little peachy again and a little tipsy we headed back to town. Here we went for a meal at an ausy restaurant was pretty tasty but wasn't feeling to good so headed back as soon as I finished. The next day we had a bit of a lazy morning and Clair and I went to meet up with Hailey (who flew there herself once she finished the tour) and we went off to the mud baths. Sadly it was a bank holiday May Day so the place was packkedddd with Vietnamese tourists. Was still fun though, we got completely covered in what felt like just really dirty water, had a rinse, then a boiling hot bath and a couple of walkway thingys that squirted water at you then onto a nice pool where we did a little sunbathing. We ate there by a pretty pond thingy and then headed back. That night after dinner (which I think I only had pancakes and other deserts instead of a main) we got on another night train. This was much like the last and the time actually went by pretty quickly.

We took a short bus from the train station to Hoi An. This was my favorite Vietnamese city. It was beautiful. Cars weren't allowed in the centre and it was all set up around a river, which had the most beautiful lanterns and decorations on it. It was just very peaceful and calm. I got a suit made as did many of the others as well as dresses and other things. I sent this back home along with lots of presents and other shopping which I'm still nerves about it getting back. Also did a bit of other light shopping and ate one meal and this amazing western restaurant overlooking the river which was delicious and a nice change. The other was a little stall where they forgot half the food and didn't seam to understand a thing we were saying, also delicious and they had a speciality in Hoi An of this crispy wonton thing with some meat, tomato and onion thing on top soooo good. I did plenty of other shopping here and just chilled. The first night we had a random night out where we met Charley (guy from the tour ahead of ours) in a bar an ended up staying for a fair few drinks. They had this awesome big seating bed thing which was sooo comfy. We then took motorbike taxis to another quite quirky bar, with a pool table i lost at it quite a bit.

After two days in Hoi An we travelled to Hue. We took a bike tour where we all sat behind our own driver around all the sights and had lunch at a nunnery was pretty kl and fun. In the morning the next day Kate and I took a tut tut to the forbidden pink city, wasn't that great 2bh but was ok. Our train today left at 2.30 so we headed to the train station. This train again was much the same as the other except we played cards to fill the time and Clair and I ventured down to the end of the train were there was supposedly food and drinks but after a very long walk we saw the many classes, with 6beds in a carriage thing, to seats, to people sprawled across the floor, we also noticed a distinct difference in smell and the toilets that were literally holes to the fast moving ground beneath. The last carriage and eating area was full of army men, Clair and I felt very uncomfortable by their stares and as apparently they didn't sell anything we hurried back with a newly found appreciation for our 4 bed carriage.

We arrived in Hanoi but travelled straight to Halong Bay. We went straight to our included activity which was a boat ride to some caves. The water was discussing but the boat was nice it felt all piratey and they served delisious food. The sea sellers were pretty kl and climbed onto the side of the boat and clung there selling us souvenirs. After a quick sunbathe on top deck we arrived at the caves they were gorgeous and huggeeee. After and heavy climb we headed back.

The next day we got a transfer back to Hanoi, it was boiling. We had an orienteering walk to work out where to go but it was so hot it was hard to concentrate. We got come food in an air con cafe just to cool down and did a fair bit of shopping before heading back. That night we had our good bye dinner to the others who were leaving, Kate, joy, Reena, Catarina and Johanas. After a couple of drinks at dinner we headed to a bar that had two for one buckets. We all had a great night and a great laugh, it was a really good send off. The next day the others were still with us and Joy, Kate and I went to a temple on an island on the river. Was pretty cool but by this point I had seen soooo many temples so was a little samey. Kate and I then enjoyed the rest of our day going from cafe to cafe trying avoid the heat. We all went to a puppet show, not a standard one a weird Vietnamese one over water, it was pretty good. That night we had one last meal with the others but after we went for just one drink but we were all tiard front the night before so we headed back.

6.30am the next day we headed to the Loas border


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