Hanoi has a very similar feel to the majority of the south east asian cities; very busy, hundreds of bikes and communities of people sitting outside, eating, talking and drinking at all hours. As soon as we arrived, we knew it was not going to be one of the most exciting places on our travels, but the main intention was to visit Halong Bay; a cluster of beautiful islands in the North East. On the second day we did the cultural thing and visited The museum of Ethnology, along with Paul and Grenata. It was very interesting at first, talking [View Full Entry]

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Its now 430am and we leave in an hour for Cambodia. (We'll be a shame to say goodbye to the Vietnam (land of the crazy streets and lovely people). Just to let you know we have added some text to the previos journal in vietnam along with some new photos. We'll put up the new blog for Halong Bay ASAP. Hope everyone is well and not missing us too much. Actually hope you are missing us loads and pining for us. Take Care Brad and Rich xxx [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 - Landing at Ho Chi Minh City Airport (Saigon) we were once again on unfamiliar territory. After a brief moment’s panic when Brad left his passport on the desk at immigration (that’s right folks - not me for once!!), we jumped into a cab and made our way to the backpacker’s part of town. As the cabbie picked his way through the mass crowd of mopeds and motorbikes that rule every street in Saigon it struck us…what a crazy, crazy place!! Yet crazy in such a refreshing way, there’s a feel of honesty wrapped up in the madness [View Full Entry]

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Ok this is just short a sweet for the minute, just to keep you all updated but we will expand i promise. The internet connections in some places are not so good, but when the photos go up we'll write some more. Xi'an is another crazy place in china, like most...Really busy, and a bit dirty, not my cup of tea. We met a Canadian couple; Annie and Paul, who went with us to the warriors, which was awesome. I took so many photos, as I’m sure you can see on facebook, as I just couldn’t get to grips with [View Full Entry]

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So today was the culture day... we got up about 7:45, well actually woken up as we had to be at reception to begin our tour. We visited a few Jade factories, where they talk about the different forms, how it is made and you can see them in the workshop carving, which is pretty cool. Then they take you into a massive shop and try and sell you everything, so i bought a little something...rude not to. We then went to ming tombs, which was a bit on the dull side for me, although parts of their history are [View Full Entry]

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Boys enter Beijing Asia » China » Beijing By Brad and Rich May 20th 2007 Brad Frankel & Rich Darwin So we are now in Beijing. We arrived yesterday morning and as normal were absolutley shattered. We got to the hostel without getting mugged off, so we are learning...slowly but surely. We met up with Jonathan (lorraine's brother) who showed us arou [View Full Entry]

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first stop Brad Frankel & Rich Darwinfirstly thank you for all your comments...please keep them coming. Han... wear all the clothes you want, but dont get them dirty like your dad. Sam...wink wink nudge nudge, keep me updated Rus...i think it was better that way, not good with the goodbyes as i'm sure some of the boys will tell you. Danny...i will never move on. A quick note before i forget; for many years i have always thought that i would settle elsewhere, and there is still so much of the world for me too [View Full Entry]

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..that i said hello to our readers! so, brads kept you updated on most of our activities...and rest assured the photos are coming. all 250 odd of them from the last 3 interesting days and 2 mental nights! i guess that just leaves thoughts and feelings...well, i was smiley-faced saying goodbye to mum, dad, claire and alex (rob, i know you werent there but u were in my thoughts and it was good to speak to u just before boarding). it was only about 2-3 hours into the flight that it hit me how long it wuld be till i [View Full Entry]

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so this is the second time i'm writing this as the first time i went to save it and the computer kicked me out. we're pretty much settled in shanghai, its crazy how quickly you can acclimatize. We have booked our tickets to beijing, which leaves tom night...its a 12 hr train ride, but we have beds in a dorm and they are meant to be really good out here. We went for a stroll the first night, got a bite to eat and hasssled by loads of chinese ladies wanting to be our friends...some of them are lovely, but i've [View Full Entry]

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So no pictures for you just yet but trust me there will be plenty to come. It has been over 24hrs now and we are definately adjusting to living out of a bag and being the minority. we had a stroll around yesterday as soon as we got here, which felt really weird, a few mixed emotions, wasnt quite sure. but after a nap, a bite to eat and a long walk we got our senses and began to feel more comfortable. today we bought our ticket to Beijing, which leaves friday night, arrives sat morning, we're travelling with Dianna, a [View Full Entry]

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