Vietnam, Laos and Thailand

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Hi!

I have no excuse for how long it has taken me to update this blog... other than I've been having too much fun! Sorry! As it's been so long I won't bore you all with all the small details!

I think the last time I updated this we were heading up to the coast in Vietnam. A place called Nha Trang to be exact! The place was very nice and me, Gita, Jasmine and Maud visited the pagoda followed by the mud spa! The others didn't come as the night before had been a big one and we ended up at the sailing club where Top Gear had actually stopped during their Vietnam tour. I had also gone rouge on the beach the day before so a good smathering of cooling mud was just what I needed!
We left there and got an overnight train to Hoi An. When we arrived the heavens opened and we were greeted with rain! Grr! Wazza (our lovely tour guide) gave us a tour around the the amazing town of Hoi An in the rain. It looked like Europe and China had merged with the style of the buildings. Really lovely place. If you ever want a dress/ suit made this is the place to come! While most of the group frantically ran around getting their outfits made me, Mic and Gez rented bikes and explored the town and surrounding area by cycling in the rain (perhaps a few stops in bars along the way helped to ease the pain). The second night we headed up to Hue which was also raining! We waded in water knee deep to take a look at the town and go to the restaurant owned by a photographer. I managed to nearly fall over in the water and realised I had cut my foot pretty bad which wasn't fun. Glad I didn't fall in as had my camera and white shorts on! Must admit I didn't do much here as the rain put me off so I'm going to skip forward a bit...

We left Hue at lunchtime to get another overnight train to Hanoi and Halong Bay! On the way to the station we saw a poor Vietnamese girl come off her motorbike. It looked pretty bad and shocked most of us. Sadly, I think she was dead. That's the reason I'm never riding one!

Arriving in Hanoi from the overnight train in dry weather we scampered joyfully to the bus to go to Halong Bay! Absolutely amazing place! We took a boat ride round the small, jaggered islands dotting the bay whilst having lunch and stopped to explore a cave. It was very touristy though and the blue, purple and red lighting made it look more like a place to pick up hookers than a natural cave full of stallegmites and tites!

We left Halong Bay the next day to go back to Hanoi where we stayed fr two nights. It was also the last stop for the people on the 20 day tour =0( We had a big night out in hanoi and danced the night away at a club called Funky Monkey! The next day we went and visited the Masoleum where Ho Chi Minh's body has been perfectly preserved fr about 40 years (yeah right, wax work!!) we had to walk in single file round the cabinet and not make a sound or smile - hard to do when you're told not to!) I also dyed Michaela's hair a very even and well timed (by Sarah) dark brown! It wasn't patchy at all... promise! We also went to a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show which was great!

The next day (Christmas Eve) we had a tearful goodbye to the rest of the group as we headed to Lao! 15 hours later we finished our journey just over border in Lok Sao and had our Christmas Eve meal in a restaurant apptly named 'The Only One' (as it was). Felt like a 2009 Bethlehem! We then partied with the locals in a village hall down t' road which was funny! Also, the weather was getting hot again!

Christmas day - we spent getting to Vientaine which is the capital of Lao. This place was taken over by the French at one point so the place looked like Cannes but without the sea, sand and high prices! Me, Jasmine and Maud had a bike ride round the city ad bumped into another temple and another market!

The next day we ventured to Vang Vieng - OMG what a place! It's like a backpackers haven and some people haven't left for years! Me, Jasmine and Maud spent the next couple of days tubing on the river which involves drinking, getting on a rubber tube and floating down to the next bar for another bucket , going down zip lines and slides and praying we down land on a rock! The evenings were spent bar crawling! Great fun! We sadly had to leave to visit Luang Prabang the day after which was like Vientaine but nicer. We fed monks at 5AM (clearly they haven't heard of a lie in), went round the morning market, went to a gorgeous waterfall and then went to an evening market! The three amigos (Me, jasmine and Maud) decided to quit the tour a few days early and go back to Vang Vieng for NYE (it was either that or spend it on a slow boat to Thailand). I'll put photos on facebook soon so you can see the tomfoolery of V V.

Me and Maud left our third amigos (Jasmine) in Vang Vieng a few days later to venture to Bangkok for our flight to Phuket. Bangkok was a hoot as we met some Swedish guys who we went to a ping pong show with. Then went cubbing and we almost slept through Maud's alarm to get up for our flight to Phuket!

From Phuket we went straight to Koh Phi Phi which was exactly like V V but without the river! Mad parties every night on the beach. We met a load of travellers in The Rock which is a hostel on the island. Great people who welcomed us with open arms! We swung by their's every night for a 'family bucket' before partying on the beach with the rest of the island - busy place! We also rented a boat with the Rock people during te day and visited various other islands and beaches around the area!

From Phi Phi me and Maud went to Ton Sai which is a rock climbing haven mainly but very chilled out! We seemed to be amongst hippies young and old! We bumped into John and Marcel from the Rock again which was great! After a few days there we decided to go back to the mainland for a hot shower so went to Krabi. Nice place but very quiet!

The following day Maud left for Phuket to get a flight to Singapore and I left for Koh Lanta which is where I am now! It's very much like Ton sai but without the rock climbing! First time I've been properly on my own too - weep! My hut is like a teepee made of straw but met loads of people last night! Me and a guy called Abe went to a Reggae bar in the jungle last night and played drums and a frog like instrument to Bob Marley!

Think I'll have another day on the beach tomorrow with a yoga class thrown in too! Think i've almost reached my most tanned ever!! NICE! Need to start planning my trip to malaysia too as my visa runs out soon!

Sorry if I've missed loads out but that's the general idea of what I've been up to! Promise I won't leave the next update quite so long!!

Lots of love xxx

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