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Published: December 31st 2006
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Merry Christmas from Vietnam...well actually I'm in Singapore. Spent the last few weeks traveling through Vietnam, then to Bangkok and then my final stop Singapore.
Entered Vietnam on the 8th of December... the same day my Cambodian Visa ran out. Spent a few days in and around Saigon. Went to the American War Museum...some amazing photographic displays and very detailed accounts of the war. Also went to the Cu Chi tunnels which were home to the VietCong and part of the Ho Chi Minh trail. The tunnels were pretty tight and thats after they were increased in size for us fat foreigns. Met a bunch of Swedes on the Bus to Saigon...had some funny nights...all us boys bought Vietnamese Football kit and wore it out. From Saigon we headed up to Mui Ne and stayed there for a few days. It's a very popular place to go kite surfing and the beach was full of them. Jim and I went surfing on the main beach...there weren't great waves but it was still fun. On our last day we hired a Jeep and driver and went on a tour of the area which included two sets of sand dunes. The white sand
dunes were beautiful... there was a wedding on at the dunes and they gave us free beer! Next we headed up to Nha Trang... the bus follows the coast the whole way to Nha trang so we had a nice view. Our first day in Nha trang we went on the Mama Linh boat tour...this was wicked. It started off with Jim and I cracking a beer at 9 in the morning and from there it was downhill. We did some snorkeling then had a really nice lunch followed by some live entertainment. The crew had a homemade drum set and a microphone and started singing songs... pretty funny! After lunch they through the floating bar into the water with a bartender and a case of Vietnamese rice wine. I jumped off the roof of boat with a tube and was followed by the rest of the boat. We linked up and created a huge floating bar... the wine didn't last long but luckily the crew produced another couple of bottle. Half of the people on our tour where Vietnamese families... that didn't stop any of the parents from joining the fun. We had a good night out after the
The White dunes
Jim and I walking at the white dunes boat trip... started drinking at a Beer Toi bar... the beer was about $0.75 a little! We finished off at the famous Sailing Club, Jim and I where lucky enough not to get chased by prostitutes. Kay on the other had them grabbing at her bag the whole way home. Next stop was Hoi An and tailor made clothes. In Hoi An we met up with lots people we had traveled and/or met before. Stay there for about four days and had lots of fun. Jay, Jim, kay and I rented motos and headed up the highway to Danang. We stopped at China beach and Jay and I went for a surf. This was a very cold day of surfing... where was a big storm and the waves were a big mess. We had a good time but I broke a fin off the board. After a few days of having clothes made we headed up to Hue to check out the DMZ. We went on a tour to a few different important landmarks from the America War. The highlight was the Vinh Moc tunnels. These tunnels where used by the people of Vinh Moc during the America bombing and
Surfing at China beach
Jay and I surfing at china beach the tunnels were built a lot larger then Cu Chi. Because there are bigger these tunnels were lots of fun to explore... we climb down about 20m underground. We took the night bus up to Hanoi and arrived at about 5am. Only spent one day in Hanoi before headed to Halong bay for Christmas. Jay and I walked around Hanoi and went to Ho Chi Minh house. On our return to Hanoi we went to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum... he is dead! Our Christmas trip to Halong Bay was amazing, it was three days of beautiful scenery and lots of Christmas cheer ...ie lots of drinking! The boat and the hotel we stayed in were first class and our crew and guide were amazing. I had a Santa suit tailor made in Hoi An and Nigel and Dave also bought Santa suit. I wore my suit for all three days... I had a little trouble taking it off. Four of us from the boat trip flew to Bangkok on the 27th. I met back up with Conor for like the millionth time! We all went out to nice club in Bangkok dressed in shores and flip flops. The next days
some others from the boat flew into Bangkok. Ollie's and I stayed at the nicest hotel on Khao San Road... thank you Ollie's parents! We went to see a DJ called Milo at a club called Astro... I woke up still drunk and caught my flight to Singapore. I've just being relaxing the past two days... I picked up my surfboard and I already check in for my flight tomorrow morning. This afternoon a went with my friend's dad to the Mosque and witnessed the slaughtering of the lambs and then had lunch at her grandparent's house... It was a good cultural experience! Well that's it tomorrow I leave Singapore and have to come back to the real world... I hear it's scary! Hope everyone has a Happy New Year... hopefully I wont miss my plane!
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