Vietnam

---

Again sorry for the delay in posts but its been crazy busy recently with a lot of long travel days. So we left the beach in cambodia after the best meal in cambodia- beautiful chicken amok curry cooked in a coconut, the journeyto the border took about 4 hours but we were all severly hung over from another late night in one of the beach bars. The border was literally a barrier across the road with paddy fields either side and a small office to sort out visa's etc. Once the formalities were done with we arrived in our hotel in the border town and after dumping our stuff we headed out for a boat trip along the mekong delta for an hour or so. Compared to the other boat trips we've done this wasnt the best as there was little to see and once you've seen a few floating villages you've kinda seen them all. Quick turnaround after getting back to the hotel and headed out on mototaxis to the top of a mountain for the sunset and a few beers in hammocks to take in the view before heading back to the hotel for an early night. Another early start the next day for the 7 hour journer to Saigon, which was going nicely until our bus decided to destroy its own transmission. Took around two hours for a new one to come, which gave Paul and Fredrick (crazy swedish guy) plently of time to get completely drunk at the roadside bar to the extent that paul fell over trying to get to the bus when it finally arrived. Was funny for the rest of us though and provided good entertainment. The hotel in Saigon was way to nice (again) and we definately felt out of place. Wondered round the town the next day to take in the post office and the war museum before heading out for a few casual drinks. The Vietcon tunnels just outside the town were pretty cool, especially as our guide was a war veteran who had fought with the americans in that area. Although when it came time to actually go in i managed to get about 50 metres down until claustophobia set in and headed for the exit. First sleeper train of the tour would've been alright if it hadnt been for jeremy (mad frenchman) and Fred getting hammered. But we arrived at 5am in Na Trang for a few days on the beach. Few hours sleep then onto the beach where we all got horribly sunburnt, George leading the way whose body is now completely peeling about a week or so later, not a pretty sight. A lot of aloe vera and a horrificaly painful massage later and the we swore never to go back in the sun. Second day in Na Trang a few of us went on a booze cruise to do some snorkeling and see some of the islands around Na Trang. Luckily it was cloudy so the sunburn wasnt made worse but the snorkeling wasnt great. The day was made interesting when I bumped into one of the guys from my hostel in Koh Phangan on another boat, small world, turns out he's been doing the same route as me just a little bit ahead. Bumped into him in Hanoi yesterday as well. A very cringing session of karaoke when i was forced to try and sing "hey jude" on the boat ended the cruise and we headed back to the hotel for a chilled evening, before getting the sleeper train up the coast to Hoi An. As soon as we dumped our bags in the hotel we all headed straight to the tailor shop, as Hoi An is known for producing quality suits very quickly. I decided to splash out and got a tux and a suit for $200 total. Took several fittings to get it perfect but was definately worth it. The evening of first night was a cookery course with most of the others- when i get back I've gotta try and find some obscure ingredients and see if i can pull it off. But the food was really good and decent value. That evening we found the only bar that was open and full of westerns and continued to get a tad merry. Maybe a little bit too much as we somehow got a job for the next night (no pay but as much alcohol as we wanted) seemed like a brilliant idea at the time but the morning after we had no intention of drinking ever again so didnt go back (thank god). The next day was dominated by suit fittings and when we finally had some time me george and Archie rented a bike each and went to explore the beach and countryside. Sods law i got the slow one that only managed 65kpm on the country roads whereas Archies and Georges got to 100, was not impressed. a few narrow escapes later and we headed for dinner then an early night, as we were still fragile from night before. A shortish bus ride (3hours) brought us to Hue along the most beautiful mountain road that we wished we'd done on our mopeds and was done in the top gear episode. Immediately hired mopeds again in Hue and went to try and find the kings tombs ourselves rather than do the organised tour. Accidently stumbled across the oldest catholic monastery in Vietnam before finally finding the tombs just before they closed. Archie managed to get a puncture on the way back but luckily we werent far from a little garage so got it fixed and headed back for dinner and a few rounds of pool. Used the most of our mopeds, to our guides dislike, to explore more of Hue the next morning before heading to the train station to get a 13 hour train to Hanoi then a 3 hour bus to Halong bay. This actually wasnt too bad a journey although buying dirt cheap beer ($6 for a 24pack) and drinking on the train probably wasnt the best idea in the world. We had our own private Junk boat to explore Halong bay and an amazing meal was included so that was good, and it didnt dissappoint at all. There are around 1000 islands and it is one of the most stunning sites i think ive seen so far. Unfortunatley we weren't allowed to swim because of the tourist boat that had sunk killing 12 people but we were allowed to hire kayaks to explore up close which we jumped at. As usual i had to do all the work as Hayley was useless but it was still pretty cool. Unfortunately the town of Halong Bay was dead that night so we wondered round a pretty crap night market before heading back to play some cards and drink in the hotel. Back to Hanoi yesterday after only one night in Halong Bay, and the city is very different to the other big cities ive seen so far. Driving through the nice parts to our hotel and its very easy to get lost. Mopeds everywhere but decided not to hire them ourselves as it seemed a tad too chaotic in the cities. Vietnam has actually been really cold since we left Na Trong and its been jeans and jumpers the whole way up. Today it decided to pour with rain for most of the day so we havent actually done much. George and Archie are leaving tomorrow and we're getting 7 swedish girls joining our group. Means im going to be the only english guy surrounded by scandinavians but am sure ill survive. So far Vietnam is much more beautiful than Cambodia but the people are no where near as friendly. Cambodia was full of smiles everywhere you looked and the people were genuinely happy to see you. They havent been unfriendly in Vietnam, just a lot of rude locals pushing past you in the markets or not apologising for bumping into you etc. Looking forward to getting into Laos, mainly because its a lot warmer (around 32 degrees as opposed to 19 in hanoi at the moment). Also another culture and way of life that i know nothing about. Only problem is the lack of trains in Laos that means we have 24 hours of bus journeys to get to Vietianne, starting tomorrow at 6am.

---