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Vietnam proved to be the toughest time travelling for me yet, as i spent the majority of the time travelling alone. To be fair it was the first time since i got out here that i had to do that as i'd pretty much always been surrounded by loads of people. That said, i came out here alone and so it was inevitable that at some point i was going to get some quality 'Stuart Oliver Moss' time. It's fair to say too much time spent on your own lets the mind wander, which it did, don't get me wrong, however i've always been pretty good in my own company so i read alot, played with 'ms Jessica Rivers' (my guitar not a lady), and got involved in the real lonely planet travelling experience. To be honest i felt like Michael Palin.. without the Tv crew.. or the big budget.. or a compass.
Vietnam is a quality place, lots going on, with plenty to see. Theres quite a contrast between the big cities (which remind me of Bangkok, lots of hasstle, busy, bustling places), and the quiet, picturesque beach towns on the east coast, so theres a little bit for everyone depending on what you want. It's quiet season around the country at the minute, which resluted in me not meeting that many tourists, however i had to do the whole country in 8 days (which invloved alot of bus journeys.. 48 hours in total), so i was constantly moving around.
Ho Chi Min City (Saigon), was my first stop, the war museums taking up most of the daytime. At one there was a two headed baby in a jar which had been seriously f@cked up by the 'agent orange' chemical sh@t, the americans dropped on the villages. It effects the mothers, and then it passes to the baby whilst still growing inside the womb. There were loads of 4 legged men etc, the stuff you get in FHM but alot worse. I met a couple on the bus from Cambodia and drank with them on the second night.. on the street you can buy a litre of beer for 3,000 dong (10p!!!). Needless to say we made the most of it.. and felt rough the next day as i travelled for 14 hours to a beach town called Nah Trang. Got my camera fixed aswell which cost me 40 quid. So no pictures of Saigon.
Nah Trang: Not much to say about this place as its just a beach town.. Albeit supposedly the biggest in Vietnam, but it was dead as disco. Nice beach, thats pretty much it. 10 hours up the coast to a tiny place called Hoi An.
Hoi An: By far my favourite place in Vietnam, chilled, cultural little town: you can tell its an old french colony because some of it reminded me of the back streets in Paris. Tailors on every corner, the best food ive eaten since i've been away, and more cheap beer. Met a couple of Israli lads on the beach on the second day, and went for a few beers that night. They didnt have much crack, so i left them early on the last night and prepared for a mammoth 22 hour bus ride up to Hanoi (capital city).
Hanoi: The fact that the Vietnamese guy next to me on the bus stank of BO, and couldnt stop farting the entire journey didnt get me off to a great start.. but Hanoi's a wicked place. Similar to Saigon, theres a few bits to see, which i did in one day, and a busy night life. Last night i went to see some water puppet show which was class, i just couldnt understand a word of it, and then met up with our resident Swede mate from Thailand and caught up over a few beers. Also met two lads from Brahmall of all places. 6 degrees of separation, and we did it in 2 thanks to Matt Barker.. ( Ex Stockport Grammar- one called Alistar in your year.. big lad. They didnt have great things to say about you.., i straightened em out and told em i thought you were a cock, and still licked door k*** for mars bars.. Needless to say we got on well.. ha ha ).
Thats about all for now, i'm off to Loas in a few hours (22 hours on a bus again.. im getting good at this). Stay in touch, keep the emails coming, pictures will be on soon.
love you all me x
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