Helloooo!

I'm in Hanoi now, as you can see from the new & updated map! Very impressive!

We arrived here on an overnight train at 5 o clock this morning. We are so tired! They cant get us a room until 12 o clock. No rats on the overnight trains so far - phew! We did have one drop through the air conditioning when we were kareokeing in Siem Reap a while back though. Urgh!

Our last stop was Hue. Some men on motorbikes showed us round - motorbikes are now my favourite way to travel! I hope you're proud of me Judith : ) Don't worry mom - they made us wear some big gimpy helmets so I was safe as can be! By the way, to answer your question from ages ago the : ) that i sometimes use are smiley or sad faces when you turn your head sideways, not a weird symbol that I have invented.

We had such a nice day. Our drivers took us to the usual places (temples, palace ect.) then to a market in the middle of nowhere. A tiny old lady read my fortune. She says I will live until i'm 82, I will only have one husband who I will marry when i'm 28, I will have 3 children (two boys & a girl) & my parents will be very happy with me. I couldn't understand anything else she said, as her English wasnt the best.

We also went to visit a lady who makes triangular hats made from bamboo leaves that all the Asian people wear. Apparantly she's famous because she only has one arm and uses a tiny finger at the end of her stump to thread and make them. Amazing!

Our lunch was a beautiful vegetarian banquet prepared by Bhuddist nuns. They were gorgeous old ladies with shaved heads. Some people become monks or nuns as young as seven years old! They begin with all of their hair and as they progress in their career more and more is shaved off. So, when they are completely bald they are very respected. The young nun who served us had just one long streak left in the middle of her head, which she's eagerly awaiting to have lopped off.

Later we visited an orphanage, also run by nuns. It was sad, but they were all well cared for and seemed happy. There were 205 children who ranged from babies to 23. We really felt for them. It is poor and the nuns struggle to be able to supply them with enough food etc. So, the next day we took huge sacks of rice, books, pens & baby milk (again on motorbikes, which was a bit tricky). They were so grateful. The children sang a song for us to say thank you and we all started crying. I want to bring them all home!

I have to rush off now as i've just been informed that our rooms are ready and we can have showers. Woo hoo! We are excited by the smallest things these days!

Hope you are all ok.

Miss you

Love Nic xxxxx