A long and noisy 16 hour over-night bus journey from Nha Trang meant we arrived in Hoi An at 6.30am this morning. Have already suceeded in turning David into a honorary girlfriend as I dragged him round all the lovely silk shops, shoe shops and one beauty saloon!! Had my first experience of threading (not very pleasent at all but at least my eyebrows look neat now!). Its pretty nice here - we are staying in a seriously nice 4 star hotel with swimming pool....

Had a very realxing day today with a swim in the south china sea after breakfast and a visit to a spa for a hot mineral mud bath. Am gonna get a massage later for a whopping one pound sterling.... Before you get all jealous i should add that it is well deserved as saturday was hell...trekked up Mt Langbiang which is 2169m to the summit. It was a tough climb - just 5 out of 8 made it. And I had a s***ty cold to make it even worse! When the guide saw a snake a...

So here we are in Dalat - its wet and cold here in the mountains - a contrast to recent days - but its great! The place has a really nice relaxed atmosphere, quite colonial actually and.... our hostel has hot running water!!! Have just had a really nice lunch - completely stuffed on noodles, apple pie, tea and hot chocolate, all for two quid!!!! Will hopefully go on a trek tomorrow as the scenery here is really beautiful - lush green rice paddy fields ...

So here we are in Mui Ne - the place where nothing happens!!! Restaurants don't serve food and internet places don't do e-mail!! Its rained a lot since arriving last night and is showing no sign of stopping. Was woken up at 2,3 and 5 am this morning...twice by the rats eating the coconut candy I bought yesterday and finally by preaching singing over a tannoy!!!!!! Will head to Dalat tomrrow for a spot of civilsation (hopefully!?) p.s might jus...

Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! Thankyou very much for all the messages and e-mails - much appreciated. Have had the most fantastic day! Went down the Mekong river in Southern Vietnam today. Visited a coconut candy factory (very tasty indeed!), sampled some of the local snake wine, honey tea and some local fruits (mostly nice apart from one called Durian - stay away it is not nice at all!!). Then held a python and took a rowing boat back dow...