Xin Chao to all back home (meaning hello),

Well where can we start......

Vietnam is not the place for all people to go, especially those with a dicky heart or weak tummies!!!  But we are loving every minute of it...well nearly every minute, the constant harassment from the street sellers to buy for me, same same, very cheap does wear on you a bit but its what you have to put up with to be here!!

Our arrival in Hanoi was a baptism of fire, honestly you wont believe the taxi ride from the airport unless you come here and try it for yourself.  How can we describe it??  Think of no highway code or road rules that we can figure out, no traffic lights at junctions and (were not exaggerating here) thousands of motorbikes (all carrying a minimum of 3 passengers or as many goods as they can fit)!!  The experience is frightening at first but then you just enter a state of hysteria and laugh uncontrollably at their overtaking (usually on the other side of a busy road)....a near death experience wouldnt be an exaggeration!!

If you think about the above and then think of us poor souls trying to work out how to coss the you might have a giggle.....no-one stops, they just keep going...eventually you get the knack of it, just edge out into the road, the motorbikes will swerve you and keep te process going until you get to the other side of the road...green cross code is out the window here!

Apart from the above Hanoi was a great place for your first stay and as you can imagine we visited a number of different Temples and Pagodas around Hanoi on a city tour, all of which ae beautiful...but once you have seen as many as we have you eventually get over it, which Greg did much quicker than me.  The vietnamese food is awesome, loads of soups, noodles, spring rolls and veggie dishes...in our element! Although some of the smells can be a bit overbearing..we went to the local Asda which is a food market that sells anything from meat to fish to veggies to...well other things, use your imagination!!

We also went to the Ho Chi Minh Mosoleum Complex where their glorious leader is now entombed in a sarcophagus...and may we say against his will, he wanted to be cremated and his ashes placed in the North, Central and South Vietnam for everyone to feel his presence, however he is now entombed in the mosoleum and sent to Russia every year for maintenance!!!  We didnt get to see him though as it was a national day when we were there and the Q was around 3 hours long...not that desperate to see a dead man!

From Hanoi we went on a Junk Boat trip out to Halong Bay which is a series of around 3000+ islands, which are beautiful and its very peaceful floating through the fiords.  As you sail through there are numerous floating villages..have a look at the pics...we have no idea how they survive out there but they must have their means...we think its mainly selling goods to people on the Junk boats.  We also went to a cave called Hang Sung Sot with some amazing chambers with stalagtites and stalacmites...most interesting of all in the one they believe signifies fertility...you can have a look at the pics for that one, wont need to explain it!

We also went on a trip to the perfume pagoda, which sounded wonderful...a lazy trip up the perfume river to the perfume pagoda and temple, lunch and then the trip back.  However the journey was not quite as good as it sounds...have a look at the row boats we were on and you will see why...not eactly made for anyone over 4ft!  We also had our first taste of what the locals eat here and for some of you you may not want to look at the pics.....various pieces of meat were hanging outside the cafe's, some look like wild cat, some we couldnt make out and the other looked suspiciously like a small dog...maybe a Chihuahua???  For our lunhc we got served mainly veggie stuff however there was one meat dish that they said was something like beef...Greg was completely put off but Amanda gave it a go and it tasted just like Pork/Dog!

We headed to Hue after that on the overnight train, we had a sleeper train and a couple of lovely bunks for the night...you have to share with 2 other people so we glad to see a couple of faces from the Halong Bay trip when we entered our cabin.

Arrived in Hue, in the pouring rain, to be ripped off by a local taxi driver on the price...nothing unusual there!! It had been raining for 3 days and most of the streets were flooded...great! Then when we got to our hotel which we had reserved on the internet they advised us they had no information on our booking, not only that but the room price had unbelievably increased from $27 a night to $80!  As you can imagine we told them where to stuff it and dorned our hiking boots for a 5km walk into town with our rucksacks on our back in the puring rain.....smiling all the way of course!!

Alls well that ends well and we managed to get another hotel in town.  Decided then that some (well alot) of cheap beer was required to lighten our mood...we managed to complete that task and awoke at 11am the next day.

Decided to stay here only another day as the weather wasnt getting much better and spent the day we had wandering the Citidel...you guessed it another temple...but we were on our own this time and we could go at the pace we wanted so we actually enjoyed it.

Another bus journey took us to Hoi An, a picturesque riverside town but most importantly the place where from dawn til dusk the whirring of sewing machines can be heard...which means only one thing, tailor made clothes!!  We were both in our element here and we spent most of our time getting clothes made and going for fittings so not really much to tell apart from the fact that it is unbelievably cheap!

We did however decide to hire a motorbike for 1 day, Hoi An is a small town and no where near the traffic that Hanoi has...still some crazy drivers but you really do get used to it.  We spent the day driving around, going to the beach and lazing in a few cafes...just the pace of life we are looking for now, we need a rest before we return home!  We managed to have no accidents ont he bike and arrived back in the evening safe and sound.

We are now off to Nha Trang in the South, cant wait as it means beach time for us.

Well as always hope everyone back home is safe and well....and just a little reminder is case you need it....just over 2 weeks til we get home!!

Luv,

Maz and Flem xxxx