We arrived in Hanoi at midday, when we got off the train we got pestered for hotels & taxi's more than we had ever before. When we went to leave the station Claire was so annoyed that she didn't release that the two ladies stood by the door were checking tickets, (not pestering people offering hotels & taxis). She went to storm past them & they both blocked her way, she nearly floored them, I had to calm her down & explain to her that they only wanted to see her ticket, she laughed afterwards but they didn't look happy! We [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Hue at about 1pm, found somewhere to stay & went for lunch in a restaurant recommended in our footprints guidebook. It was run by a deaf & mute family & the food proofed to be delicious. One of the daughters of the owner, (who could speak perfect English), got talking to us & handed me her niece & just disappeared so I was sat with this cute little Vietnamese baby on lap wondering when they were coming back to get it! They said it was a girl called Mickey, they said named after Mickey Mouse?! But the baby [View Full Entry]

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We got the night bus to Hoi An from Nha Trang on Monday evening, arriving in Hoi An at 7am on Tuesday; we found somewhere to stay & caught up on some sleep. We got up & got ready then had lunch in a lovely cafe sat under a sun umbrella in the rain! We put on our very attractive waterproof jackets & went to explore. We visited the famous Japanese Friendship Bridge & as Hoi An is famous for its tailors we went for a fitting & decided to get a dress & a suit made, (jacket, skirt & trousers), [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Nha Trang on Sunday afternoon to rain & high winds. It is a seaside resort so I imagine I wold have liked it ore if the weather was better but there wasn't much going on really. Claire & I found somewhere to stay, had a look around, booked a bus to Hoi An for Monday night & a city tour for during the day on Monday. We checked our e-mails & went to meet our friend Adam. We spent Sunday evening in a Beer Ahoy place where beer is really cheap, 12,000 Dong for a litre, (about 40p), [View Full Entry]

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As usual the bus left HCMC an hour late & arrived in Dalat 2 hours later than we expected, I didn't mind though as it was still light when we arrived & managed to find a hotel to stay in with a double bed each, cable TV & a private bathroom, all for on 1 pound 25p each per night. It was a lot colder than I expected but we put on some warmer clothes & had a walk around, eating dinner in a French Restaurant with some home-made strawberry wine, (not the best I have ever tasted!) We just spent [View Full Entry]

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The Journey & border crossing from Cambodia to Vietnam was so much smoother than Thailand to Cambodia, I had heard lots of horror stories about the Vietnamese border & even witnessed one; luckily we had no problems. We did however have to pay to get a certificate to go through customs & as we didn't have any Vietnamese Dong, a foreign man offered to pay for us, Claire & I couldn't thank him enough. When we worked out how much he had paid it was about 12p each but I still thought it was really good of him. We met an [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Phnom Penh about midday on Tuesday & had already decided where we wanted to stay, (a hostel Steve had recommended to us that he'd stayed in), Number nine guesthouse. We got a tuk tuk from the bus station & the guesthouse was just down the road from where we had previously stayed on the lake. We spent the afternoon sitting in big comfortable chairs, enjoying the sun & reading our books. We managed to get a bus booked for Friday to Ho Chi Minh City & arranged a City Tour for Wednesday. On Wednesday after breakfast we went to [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Sihanoukville just before midday on Saturday 23rd, we found a place to stay & decided we were going to treat ourselves as it was Christmas. We got an apartment right on the top of a hill overlooking the beach & sea at Serendipity Beach. It had a big balcony, big room with a sofa & cable TV but best of all though it had warm water! We spent the afternoon on the beach in the sun & had a bit of a quiet night, ending up drinking on the balcony under the stars. On Sunday, (Christmas Eve), we [View Full Entry]

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We got to Bangkok & checked into the hostel our friend Robert had recommended, (he was arriving in Bangkok in the evening & was meeting us at 10pm). Claire & I went for a wander down Khao San Road & went for some food about 8.30pm. After half an hour our food hadn't arrived so we asked the waiter & he said he had forgotten, (no apology was given), he said he would get it to us in the next 15 minutes, (as we were meeting Robert). Another half an hour passed & there was still no food so we asked [View Full Entry]

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We got the bus to Ban Phe on Friday & met some people on the boat over to Ko Samet; Ashley & Justin from Bristol, Robert from The Netherlands & Marissa & Nick from Arizona, USA. We all decided to stay at the same place called Naga Bungalows in Ao Hin Khok. We literally dropped our bags & headed straight to the beach to catch the last few hours of sun & have a swim in the sea. We went out & as you can expect, (being a Friday night), we all got drunk. Marissa & Nick only stayed the one [View Full Entry]

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