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After reading my last entry, from last year!!!, I can write some new stuff down. I cant believe how long ago it was, but time is flying by. We have done so much in the last two and a half weeks it is hard to remember everything. The first thing that we did was we went on a hill tribe trek in Sapa. We went to some local villages and it was so awesome. The landscape is so amazing to look at. It was what I imagined Vietnam to be like, rice fields as far as you can see, small family farms the size of our gardens where chickens, a cow, and a pig lived. The first place we stayed in was literally a hut with a big fire in the middle to warm ourselves. The day had been so hot that I thought the evening would be ok but once the sun went in it was absoultely freezing. I really enjoyed it though and the next day after an even longer trek, we saw our next accomodation, ven better. It was a house, bult on stilts, made out of bamboo, the flooring anyway. Apparently they made the houses on stilts so that animals couldnt get in or if they came near they could kill them. We tried to go fishing in the local river with one of their nets but failed miserably so we just built a damn instead. When we got back we bought the local beer, big 2 litre bottles for 50 p or somehting like that and tried 'rice wine', nothing like wine at all, just a different name for vodka. Once we got back from the homestay, we travelled to ha long bay, which was given world heritage status. Absolutely amazing to be honest, it is loads of small islands, more like cliffs really, which are uninhabited. Look it up on the interent, that will show you everything you need to know. I will put some pictures up tomorrow. We went kayaking off the boat into small bays and the next day swam off it into warm waters. The locals were saying it is too cold but they have obviously never even heard of english water.
When we got back we had another free day in Hanoi. It is strange how a city that is different from your own can beocme so familiar to you. I didnt really want to spend too long there but I imaghine when I get home I will only want to go back. We went to the ethnology museum on our free day, seeing where and how all the local tribes came to existance. It was really interesting and quite an experience. Even more so because there was a class of about 50 kids walking round with their teacher but instead of making them be quiet, she simply pulled out a mega phone!! I don't think the london museum would be too happy.
We took the overnight train to Hue that evening. We had christmas day there and we were assured by our tour leader that it would be a nice place to be. The perfume river certainly sounds nice enough. Unfortunately it was a bit boring, we took a boat up the river but all the flowers which once gave it the 'perfume smell' had now gone and it was simply a river. Everyone was really tired form the overnight train and wasn't really up for visiting pagodas on a day when they should be eating roast turkey and getting merrily tipsy. As well as that the restaurant we went to for our 'delicious' meal was no more than an overpriced standard vietnamese cafe. We went to a bar called the DMZ bar which was good though. Playing poole, winner stays on, I won 4 games and only lost when potting the black. Our next destination was Hoi An. Mum, you would looove it. Infact everyone does. You can get anything you like made for you, tailor fitted and for such cheap prices. I got a shirt made for me for 9 dollars. If i wasnt travelling for long then I would have stocked up on everything. As well as that they had a beach near by, it was the local one which only we knew about really, (there is a tourist one as well) and the weather was hot, the beach was completely empty apart from us and the water was warm. Perfect. We spent all day there and then in the evening everyone wore their new clothes to dinner, looking lovely of course.
We were heading to this place called whale island, a place we had heard about and thought was going to be amazing, and it was. But first we stopped of at Nah Trang. We didnt get there till late and we just popped into this place for a quick bit of food and then to bed. It didnt really turn out like that though, we ordered these cocktails, you get them free when you enter which was a 20,000 fee. They were huge, and they were seriously strong. In hindsight now I know they were rice wine, which is cheaper than fruit juice to them, which is probably why it tasted in favour of the alcahol, but they were still quite nice. Before we knew it though, we were all absolutely out of it, I came home wet up to my knees and sand covering me where i had been on the beach and in the sea???!!! It was an amzing night though, but prostitutes are everywhere, it is the tourist place in viet nam so I guess thats why. So it was the next day that we left for whale island. We had a small bus journey and then a 15 minute boat journey over to this idyllic little island. You have to look up the pictures of it cos it is so beautiful. All there is is a beach, some huts, a bar and a restaurant. The food was amazing too. sods law had it that i should be ill during our stay but it could have been worse. We played volleyball(painful) and piggy in the midde in huge numbers in the sea. The next day we snorkelled around, others more than me, and saw some fish. I heard that the locals had blown up the coral with dynamite for fishing, unbelievable. and ridiculously short term. I cant really explan how beautiful it was, the only down point was the weather, it was a bit cludy, but on the plus side, really hot sun stops you doing stuff, and it was seriously hot. Sara got burnt in about 10 minutes or something like that on her back, and she is quite dark!
We have just got back from Mekon delta, whch is a river along which loads of people live. We did loads of stuff, visited a place where they make 'pop-rice', the same as pop corn but with rice, and yes I made up the name. We visted a huge python, about 40 kg, which i held. I dont know why but i felt I had too. As well as this we went to a small little village where they made sweets and rice paper. That is about all I can write at the moment, mainly because it has taken me so long and i am dying of heat exhaustion. I will write again soon. Pics tomorrow. Love to everyone.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
ps, I hope your new year was good, mine was spent on an overnight train.lol.
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