Hey guys..

It seems like forever since I checked in last time. I think I was in Cambodia and I'd just been to Angkor. So I'll fill you in since then.

After Angkor I headed west to Battambang, to visit Tara and the Cambodian Children's Trust she has set up. I really can't tell you in such a short space how amazing it was or how in awe I am of what Tara's achieved. She's amazing and I have so much respect for her. Anyway, the Kids were great and I had a great time. They made me feel so welcome, showed me around, played games with me etc. Some of the stories I heard about those poor kids… It's just unbelievable… I only spent a couple of days there but I'll definitely go back. Hopefully by then, Tara's dream of creating a self-sustainable eco village will be well underway. So yeah, I'll bore you all with more stories when I get home but for now I'll leave it at that or I'll just keep writing forever.

After Battambang, I headed back to Phnom Penh, my least favourite place of my entire trip and quickly headed down south to Serindipity Beach where I relaxed for a day before having to go back to Phnom Penh to get my flight to Vietnam on the Sunday. Serindipity Beach was nice but there were hundreds of people trying to sell you stuff and generally interupting the peace and quite. While I was playing with these kids on the beach (and sitting right next to my bag) I had all the money in my wallet (except for 25c) stolen.

Cambodia was good, but a lot of hard work, especially travelling by myself. I don't think I'd recommend it to a lone, female traveller but definatelly to a group of people.

I flew into Ho Chi Minh city (which was a supprisingly short flight) and met up with Sarah, Natalie, Jane, Wolfgang, Wilma and Bruce who I'm travelling with for the next 3 weeks. We spent 2 days exploring Ho Chi Minh city on foot and cyclo before heading off to the Cu Chi tunnels and to the Mekong Delta where we explored the floating market, went for a bike ride through the orchards, investigated all the local crafts and slept under mosquito nets in a riverside homestay.

From the Mekong Delta we headed back to Ho Chi Minh and then up to Dalat. Dalat is in the hills and much quieter and cooler than Saigon. Here we went on a city tour, visiting the Train station, The King's Palace, the crazy house, an embrodery place and in the afternoon the Monestry on top of a hill, waterfalls and the flower garden. After Dalat it was Nha Trang which has been my favourite place in Vietnam so far. Its right on the beach and we went out on a boat trip for the day which was great. I also experienced my first mud bath in Dalat which was great and so are the photos of us all gooeyand brownish green!

Today we headed off to Hoi An, stopping in a town who's name I can't pronounce or remember just for the night. It's Tet tonight, Lunar New Year so we've been busy celebrating the coming of the year of the rat, which symbolises prosperity according to some.

Tomorrow to we'll arrive in Hoi An, which is supposed to be the shopping and food capital of Vietnam. I think I'd better stock up on winter clothes because it's apparently 2 degrees in Hanoi at the moment…

Well, it's getting late and we're leaving at 7am tomorrow morning so I'm going to get some shut eye…

Good night all and

Chuk Mung Nah Moi (Happy New Year)