Vietnam, Cambodia and Hong Kong

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It's maybe a little late in updating this (as I am now home!) but it will save me telling you all what I did when I see you!

In Hanoi the first thing we went to see was Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum - a very bizarre experience! there were loads of security checks along the way (which is fair enough) but they then frog marched you around the grounds in silence, along with the hundreds of other people, to see his body. once inside the building the military prode you along without letting you get more than a glimce of him. To get out of the grounds you have to follow a set route (therefore having to pay entry into his house!) and again you're not allowed to stop to look or take photos. We also went to see a water puppet show which was really good, and took a cyclo around the old town (it's a much safer way to see the city as crossing the roads took a lot of nerves!).

From Hanoi we went down to Hoi An. We basically had a lovely few days on the beach and getting clothes made - I'd recommend going there! Next stop was Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Whilst there we saw the Chu Chu Tunnels that the Viet Cong lived in during the Vietnam war: they were amazingly well built - 3 levels underground ranging from 3-10m deep. We walked through about 30m of the tunnels and found that hardgoing (about 60cm wide, 90cm high), living in them must have been hell. We also went to see the War Remenants Museum which was very moving: it was focussed on the photo's taken by journalists out in the field, some of them were extremely horrific and it was amazing that they were taken atall.

Our final place in Vietnam was Dalat up in the mountains. It was a lovely cool temperature up there (24degrees - we were able to wear jumpers in the evening!) and we spent our days going around the countryside on the back of Easyrider guide's bikes. Saw loads of amazing things (silk worms through to silk factories; flower and vegetable farms; bamboo weaving etc).

In Cambodia we went to Phnom Penh first. This is possibly the saddest place I have ever been to. The people are amazing, but the things you see there really harrowing. Our first stop was at S21, one of the prisons used by the Khemer Rouge to torture those that were educated. There were photos in the rooms of how the victims were found when the Vietnamese arrived. That combined with the carefully documented photos of all the vicitms left us in a thoughtful mood. Of the 20,000 people that went through S-21 only 7 survived. On our second day in Phnom Penh we went out to the Killing Fields where the S-21 victims were taken to be killed. Bullets were too valuable, most of the skulls show signs of people being hit over the head - how many people were buried alive? As you walk round the killing fields you can see shards of bone and pieces of the victims clothing coming through the ground everywhere. Each time it rains more bones and clothes are revealed. It was at the Killing Fields, chatting to tuk tuk drivers that we realised that not one person in Cambodia was unaffected by Pol Pots regime. Our tuk tuk driver had been moved out of phnom penh, another had stories to tell of collecting dung for fertiliser. It was another emotional day.

We then headed up to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat. How can you go from such disaster to the incredible beauty of Angkor Wat in such a short distance? The Angkor temples are incredible. Angkor Wat itself, we felt was slightly over-rated, a couple of other temples appealed to us more, especially those partially over taken by tree roots (these temples have been used in Indianna Jones films and a few others). However it is all amazing. It's amazing how they able to build such impressive buildings 1000 years ago, most of which is still standing today. The shopping in the markets in Siem Reap was very good! you also get alot of kids selling things in the streets - their english in amazing: they could tell you the capital of countries, the population in the capital and country, name the prime minister and queen - all at the age of about 9!

We then made a quick stop back in Bangkok to shop and be pampered, and spent a night people-watching in the bars in the red light district - was fun trying to work out who were ladyboys and watching single male travellers being accosted by 5 Thai women.

Hong Kong was the final place in my travels. The buildings there were very impressive - hard to see an area of land not covered by an impressive skyscraper. We went up a few of the tallest buildlings for fews, went up my tram to the Peak where you get a 360 degree view of HK, and took a trip up the world's longest escalator (it's a series of many escalotors that travel up and down the hill: in the morning they are set to taking people downhill and during the day and night go up hill). We also went to see the big Buddha (one of the world's largest sitting Buddhas), the famous light show on the river (the buildings light up to the music) and enjoyed the food and the markets!

I've had a great last 9 months, but it is nice to be back home, having home cooked food, and a room to myself after 9 months of sharing with people!

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