We left Saigon at the crack of dawn and headed, initially by bus, to the Mekong Delta and to a small fishing village with a floating market. The floating market consisted of dozens of boats each one crammed full of whatever it was they were selling. So thats one boat carrying a tonne of potatoes, another filled with rice, another overflowing with watermelons... multiplied by 100- it was pretty cool, but not very convenient for the people who have to do their weekly shopping this way! From there we visited a couple of houses where we received demonstrations on how to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Saigon is the biggest city I have ever seen in my life. It is a huge, sprawling and insanely busy metropolis that is completely different to hanoi and Northern Vietnam in so many ways. Arriving into Saigon in the evening we got our first taste of what this city was all about. With cars and bikes everywhere, neon lining every street, a plethora of bars, stalls, shops and people wherever you looked and a different, more industrial and more Western, vibe than Hanoi had had. We headed for the tourist center and booked into an expensive and grotty guesthouse, after having [View Full Entry]

---

---

The poor weather drove us into the hills where we settled in a town called Da Lat, about 6hrs north west of Nha Trang. We had heard and read that it was a funny little town and the Vietnamese claim it is the "Paris of Vietnam"..... Well, i don't know about that but it was a strangely enjoyable few days at a much more bearable climate. Da Lat has a lot of tourist attractions in the surrounding area and sees a lot of domestic tourists, who- we have come to learn- have different priorities when it comes to sight-seeing than your [View Full Entry]

---

---

So we left historical Hoi An and arrived in sunny Nha Trang later that afternoon. Unfortunately our arrival also saw the arrival of some bad weather and we spent our three days there watching the rain pour down on the golden stretch of beach. This didn't completely ruin our time here though, as the bad weather gave us ample opportunity to frequent the local bars and restaurants, of which there are many! We also decided to brave the waves and do a couple a scuba dives as we had planned and, with the wind and rain above the water I think [View Full Entry]

---

---

We enjoyed one last pint on "beer corner", Hanoi (beer- 15c!!), before departing on an overnight bus for Hue. Hue is another UNESCO listed heritage site because it has such a high concentration of historical remains and points of interest. The city is divided into two sections by the Perfume River and the two sides are very different. One side is very much the tourist epicentre while the other side appears to be where most of the Vietnamese people live, work and shop. The city has many tombs, pagodas and an amazing citadel and there was definitely a lot to see [View Full Entry]

---

---

We survived the bus journey and found ourselves checking into a really nice hotel (we deserved it!) in the Old Quarter of Hanoi near the Hoan Kiem Lake. Thank God. 28hrs on a bus is definitely about 20hrs too long but it wasn't actuallyas bad as i was expecting. Okay, so the bus conductor was illegally trafficking dozens of exotic reptiles over the border that were stashed in bags under our seats. And yes, a large snake did pee on my hand bag. There were sack loads of puppies in the overhead storage that were being transported to Vietnam to be [View Full Entry]

---

---

So from Vang Vieng we travelled east to a strange little town called Phonsavan that is famous for two reasons. The first is the Plain of Jars, which is a series of fields filled with enormous stone jars dating from the stone age that, as of yet, scientists have no idea what they were used for or why they are where they are. One theory (the most likely one) is that they were used in burial practices and were giant urns that held the cremated remains of important people. The other theory (and the one that most locals believe) is that [View Full Entry]

---

---

After a short bus journey we arrived in Vang Vieng and quickly discovered, to our delight, that is was a lot cheaper than Luang Prabang. It was this (and laziness) that saw us ultimately spend a lot longer is this tiny little town than we had originally intended, but for anyone who has been there before- you know that it is very easily done!! Vang Vieng consists of two streets, each one lined with countless bars and restaurants, all of which are pretty much empty! So drink is cheap and the atmosphere is very, very relaxed. A river running parallel to [View Full Entry]

---

---

So we decided to take the slow boat from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang in Northern Laos. (A) it was cheap and (B) it was/is supposedly an "experience". I have learned since arriving in Asia that the word 'experience' does not necessarily mean 'enjoyable'... We departed Chiang Mai in a minivan the morning of the 9th and spent that night in a small town just on the Laos border. It turns out that the border is actually a wide river, so the following morning we took our first boat trip (of three) and exited it minutes later onto Lao soil. From [View Full Entry]

---

---

From Chiang Mai we took a mini van over the mountains (gorgeous scenery) to- what we had been led to believe was- a small village called Pai. In actual fact (and much to my disappointment) Pai turned out to be quite a large and modern town that more resembled a tourist resort (i.e VERY gentrified) and was decidedly un-Thai. The huge plus side was that we booked into these amazing little bamboo huts accross a river and a little bit outside of town. We had to cross, literally, the most rickety bridge ever made to get there and back and the [View Full Entry]

---

---