Well.......how terrible have we been at keeping up to date!? Shocking!

The last entry was just before our night bus to Nha Trang...that was weeks ago! So will just do a brief update of the highlights and will hopefully be better at keeping this updated moving forward.

Nha Trang
We stayed in Nha Trang for 4 nights and were able to do our Scuba Diving course there. Nha Trang as a town is cool...quite laid back, has a lovely coast line and some good beaches. Nothing quite like ours at home, and we don't mean to compare...but hey, it's the truth :-) .

Diving was so much fun - we really really enjoyed it - and were able to see some very cool ocean life...including an octopus! We are already planning our next scuba trip....

Hoian
We did a night bus up to Hoian.....well, it was a sleeper bus and it was like they had made little coffins for everyone to lie down in! Andre could hardly move. To make the trip better - along with the fanastic driving, we had a drunken dude slotted on the floor between us - reaking of booze and snoaring away. When he wasn't snoaring, he was playing his music on his phone. Ah well, that's what makes it interesting, isn't it ! ?

So, early arrival in Hoian, and were picked up by our hotel. What a wonderful welcoming and gorgeous little hotel. We really did feel llike a part of the family. We had a "happy honeymoon cake" baked especially for us. We even got gifts when we left! Hoian was a gorgeous little town. Really relaxed and with the most beautiful architecture. Little lanterns every where lit up in the evening and old old buildings in the old town. We chilled out here for a few days, including a couple of days on the beach.

Hanoi
We flew from Hoian to Hanoi, flights was at 10pm. Late arrival - we had booked our selves in to a hotel based on the reviews...well, we checked out as soon as we could...since it was 1am by the time we got to the hotel (after the taxi didn't pitch to pick us up), we had to check out the next morning. Hanoi is a very busy, crowded city....not one of our favouritse, but it is a good spot to base yourself to see the North of Vietnam. We did go see the Water Puppet show, which was good fun. Got a few picks and videos to show you guys.

We sorted our selves out for the next weeks travel and trips etc.

Sapa
Over Night Train to Sapa. Supposed to be 4 in a cabin - we had 5. Always us. Although, it was a very sweet Vietnamese family - no one could speak a word of English, but we communicated in sign language :-) . Sapa is stunning. Very high up in the mountains and our veiw from our hotel room was amazing. Will post some pics. We did a bit of "trekking" by our selves to one of the surronding villiages. They call it trekking, but it was a perftetly paved walkway. he he. We hired a bike for two days and checked out the pass nearby...absolutely stunning. We got some great video footage and pics.

We were almost sold dog!!! We bought some roles and then went to tis lady selling little kebab things...we asked how much and then what it was...she slowly replied.. "dog"...we have never walked so quickly from a stall......we were pretty much running away while she screamed behind us " no, no...meat meat meat" trying deparately to get us to come back and buy her food!

Halong Bay
Sigh.....no words can explain how gorgeous this was. We treated ourselves to a 2 night 3 day trip with an excellent company. Our guide was fantastic and we had 5 star service. The views are absolutely stunning and our food on the boat was incredible...they make sure that their guests were not hungry, that's for sure! The Photo's will speak for themselves

Ayutthaya- Thailand
We flew back to Thailand, adn decided to do s 2 night stop over in this small little town. Felt like a university town - not too much going on, but has amazing temples/ruins. Laid back vibe, had some good cocktails and took some good pics.

Chiang Mai
Decided on a day train up to the North - this way we could see the countryside. Took us 11 hours to get to Chiang Mai, but with a good book and good company, it went by pretty fast. Was greeted at the station by our hotel, which is a little oasis in a very local neighbourhood, which is great. We can get Pad Thai around the corner for 20 Bhat, which is 35p/R4 - and it is excellent!

Been quite busy here, although, by busy, we mean chilling out, taking it easy and doing a cooking class! We also visisted the Nature Elephant Park which is a sanctuary for rescued elephants. It was probably one of our best days out. A real eye opener about what these poor elephants get put through! We there and then decided that we will not ride on an elephant in Thailand (we saw what the training programme is about.... not nice at all)...anyway - so with trekking out of our minds, we had a new plan....

Pai
We hired ourselves a bike and drove to Pai - high up in the mountians and a real hippie, reggae town. We signed up to River rafting and absolutely loved it. Spent the night in the jungle - slept on Bamboo sheets with the river a few meters away. This was the Thailand we imagined and wanted to see. We went right in to the thick of the Jungle!

Chiang Mai Again
So that was a very quick over view of what we have been up to...sorry so brief and that it took so long. Anwyway, we are back in Chiang Mai....we have sourced where we are watching the Rugby tomorrow night...very important! and have got our tickets for our Thai Boxing Match tonight....also had an excellent lunch at one of the local vegetarian restaurants! (bought our Malaysia book, so going to do some homework - very exciting)!!

Will write again soon!