Gill NY2HK

I had one day in Hanoi after arriving back from Sapa & saw Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum and palace as well as the temple of literature. I had my walking boots shined to get rid of the mud from Sapa so that I could put them back in my bag & enjoyed my last taste of vietnamese food. My bag, all packed, weighed in at 18.5kg at the airport, which I thought was quite impressive before settng off to Hong Kong. I was impressed with the bus that took me into Kowloon & I was able to find my hotel, looking smart compared to its surroundings. During the afternoon I wandered down Nathan road & saw Kowloon park before reaching the waterfront & the avenue of stars. It was valentine's day & I was the only ... read more

I enjoyed the night train so Sapa on Friday. It was much cleaner than my last night train, the beds were more comfortable & there was more space. Also 2 Aussie guys played a film, which passed the time, although it was about a runaway train!! Saturday morning I went for a hike to the Hmong village of Cat Cat & saw a waterfall & a traditional performance. I also tried some apple wine, which was quite sweet. I had a lazy afternoon & did some more shopping. It was cold in Sapa so I ended up wearing 2 t-shirts, a fleece, a waterproof jacket & a wolly hat for most of the time. There was no heating in my room but I was saved by the electric blanket, so I was toasty and got a ... read more

On my way up to Hanoi I had a 5 hour stop in Hue, where I hired a cylo to take me around the old town & see the citadel so I got to see everything that I wanted to. The night bus to Hanoi went smoothly & I found a really good hostel with friends for the night before booking myself on 2 tours for my last week of travelling. My first trip was to Halong Bay so I left early on Wednesday for a morning in the bus to Halong City & then out on the junk for lunch & a cruise out to the islands. That afternoon we saw the amazing cave, which is aptly named & really large, & then I went kayaking around the bay before it got dark & started ... read more

I have spent longer in Hoi An than expected. I have been caught up in the pretty lanterns & quaint old streets. The suit was made to perfection & I have also ordered another dress since my last blog. The food is amazing with my favourite dish being the Cao lau, which is made with thick noodles & bean sprouts. Yesterday I learnt how to make 2 dishes at a restuarant so I can try them at home. It was interesting going into the kitchen of a restuarant & watching them prepare all the food. On saturday I also spent the afternoon wandering around the old buildings of the town & watched a cultural performance of dance & music. Yesterday there was a festival for the beginning of the lunar new year & there was a ... read more

I left Dalat on a bus for Nha Trang. Although the journey was only meant to take 4 hours, the bus turned out to be a sleeper bus, which was actually more comfortable than I had anticipated. The journey was interesting! We were going down windy roads at a fast pace, overtaking on corners & the driver was having problems changing gears so the cluth began to smell. At one point we broke down & at another, a piece of metal fell off so that had to be collected before we continued our journey. It was nice to get toNha Trang in 1 piece. I enjoyed Nha Trang more than I thought I would. The beach was nice even though it wasn't beach weather. I met up with people that I met in Dalat & the ... read more

I spent my last day in Ho Chi Minh at the Chu Chi tunnels, which was very interesting with our tour guide who introduced himself as John Wayne so that tourists can remember his name. You could climb on an old tank & fire a gun & go down & walk through the tunnels. I went through the tunnels, which are really small & hot. The night before I ran into 2 guys from Bakers who will be joining with me in March. It was great to catch up with them & amazing to meet them unexpectedly in the street. After HCMC I went to Dalat, which is in the central highlands so it is not so hot & actually quite cool in the winter. It was hard to find accommodation because it is the public ... read more

My trip to Vietnam was interesting. It started off well with a mini-bus to the border but some other travellers were shocked when there was 1 less seat than passengers. However there was the seat up front between the driver & the passenger. Compared to other journeys I have been on where there have been 28 people for a 15 seater mini-van, it wasn't packed. The border crossing was surprisingly smooth as I had my visa already but once I had crossed the border I found that the bus had disappeared with my luggage leaving me & the other passengers in the midday heat. It turned out that it was taking the earlier group of passengers to the nearby town so they could get their connections & was coming back to get us but didn't think ... read more

When I first left Phnom Penh I wasn't sure what there was to do in Kampot so I wasn't sure how long I was going to stay. I have ended up staying here 6 nights & really enjoying it. The first day was relaxing & exploring the town. The second day was spent cycling, trekking, riding on an ox cart & swimming in waterfall. It was fun going through the jungle, finding new paths to get to the waterfall & once we arrived it was so refreshing to go in for a swim. The next day I went to Bokor national park, where there were nice views down from the mountain but the park is being turned into a development site so not much else to see. However the best part of the day was the ... read more

After Siem Reap I travelled to Battambang & went for a ride on the bamboo train, which is a sheet of bamboo on wheels, which can be easily dismantled if another train comes the other way. Quite a bumpy way to travel. I also saw the killing cave, where people where pushed off the ledge to their death. On a happier note I saw millions of bats leave their cave at dusk & snake out in a ribbon into the night to find food. From there a 6 hour bus ride took me to Phnom Penh where I had a relaxing day yesterday & a lovely curry for dinner. Today was a sombre day spent at S-21, the torture prison for the Khmer rouge, & the killing fields. It is amazing how the city of Phnom ... read more

My last morning in Laos was my birthday & thanks to the 2 boys that I had met on stray, there were candles in my breakfast pancake, which made my day. After that we travelled to the border & crossed into Cambodia. I parted from the boys in Strung Treng & made my way to Kratie with 2 other couples. The next day we travelled further to Siem Reap but had trouble finding a connecting bus in Skun so we were stuck for 4 hours waiting for a bus that was promised to come. Siem Reap is a lively town with great food. I tried a traditional dessert last night with coconut milk & bananas plus a lot of condensed milk. For the last 2 days I have hired a tul-tuk to take me to see ... read more