Today I got the bus to Mui Ne. I didnt really like it on arrival - resorts and no real character. However it was great to spend an afternoon chilling with a few beers and a book. In the evening Alastair, Vicky, Em, James and some other couple whos names I forget went out for a pleasant dinner. The only disturbance was the cat sized rat we saw running across the floor, and the mob of locals beating a snake to death on the street outside! [View Full Entry]

---

---

Having read the fascinating 'Tunnels Of Cu Chi' I decided that a visit to this famous site was in order. I signed up for a trip out there, and way I went. Just to give a brief background to the tunnels - they form a network of over 200km in total, and sometimes are as deep as 3 levels underground. They allowed the Communist Viet Cong (in wars against both the French and the US) to move around undetected by their enemies, thus allowing them to fight even with their limited firepower. Entrances to the tiny tunnels were well hidden, and [View Full Entry]

---

---

Karaoke I met up with Mi and her cousin Han for a noodle breakfast, before they dragged me kicking and screaming to a Karaoke bar. Im not sure whether my attempts at singing Vietnamese songs were as funny as their (or my for that matter!) attempt to sing English songs, but there was laughter all round. I was actually awarded 86% for my rendition of Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' proving that the Karaoke machine understood me about as well as the two girls. I think I was in danger of offending the two girls innocence at the raunchier parts of [View Full Entry]

---

---

"I'm going to die in a half arsed attempt to weld a shopping trolley to a pushbike" was all I could think as the cyclo drove head on into the morning rush hour traffic. We were going the wrong way down a one way street through the busy Saigon streets, and my driver didnt seem to care. After a while though, the fear subsides and you realize that this is the way that things should be seen. Walking is too slow, too much like hard work. And motorcycles are too fast, not at all relaxing. Yes, cyclos are for me... The [View Full Entry]

---

---

Another early start, another poor and unwelcome attempt at a western breakfast. Soon we were out of the hotel and on to a bus to the boat that would take us around the rivers and canals of the Mekong Delta and show us what treats it has on offer. Cai Rang: A Bouyant Market Farmers and other traders travel from miles around the Mekong to sell their wares at the Cai Rang (and other) floating markets. They often travel weekly, only returning home when they have sold all of their stock. Their boats are large and contain all they need to [View Full Entry]

---

---

I'm always slightly dubious about tours. Short, forced and poorly chosen visits, cramped busses and fellow visitors who discuss the relative merits of various washing powder brands. I've seen it all. The good, the bad, and the hideously ugly. Actually today I'm lucky - the people are great. But the tours shit. We start the day ina small boat, and visit two sights (if you can call them that). A fish farm, and a weavers. The formers only interesting points are that its floating, and it has a huge vat of steaming fishfood on it. The latter is interesting if you've [View Full Entry]

---

---

Here I am on a boat chugging its way down the Mekong. The water is brown and muddy, and there is very little traffic. The odd boat goes past powered with a basic engine, or even just oar power - paddled in the curious backwards standing up way that the Vietnamese do. The pyjama and pointy had clad occupants tend to wave, but some choose to mind their own business. Not coincidentally 'The End' by The Doors is playing on my MP3 player. The boat chugs on. Mekong Life The delte living Vietnamese really do wear pointy hats. Once the main [View Full Entry]

---

---

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Tuol Sleng is not a fun or necessarily enjoyable day out. It's an old school which under Pol Pot's regime was turned into an interrogation centre and prison. 10,499 adults and numberable children were bought through this place, estimates put the true number closer to 20,000. 7 people survived. The museum has grim exhibits. One building contained 14 dead and tortured victims when the Vietnamese took hold. Save for cleaning the cells remain the same as the day they were found, and though the victims are buried photos of them the day they were found ador [View Full Entry]

---

---

Cooking up a treat After yesterdays annoying cookery course cancellation I was glad to find that the instructor was there when I arrived at 9 a.m. The course was fun and relaxed, and included a trip to the local market. Apart from being attached by two escaping snake headed fish all went without incident! We made three traditional Khymer dishes. * Amok Trey (Amok Fish) - A creamy cococunt and lemongrass curry. * Sgnor Chrouk (Beef out of pot) - A super quick beef soup. * Lok Lack Sach Moan (Chicken Lok Lak) - A peppery stir fried chicken. To The [View Full Entry]

---

---

Another temple... Today I went on another ride in the countryside around Battambang. First stop was the ????? temple, almost a ruin but with an exhausing, seemingly neverending, staircase to reach its highest point. Cottage Industries After the temple Ton took me on a tour of the countryside. We drove first along the rough roads we did yesterday, and then we hit the small roads, if you can call them that. They were only roads in that people drove motorbikes down them - infact there was no attempt at surfacing, no edges, nothing. Just tracks really. And at the end of [View Full Entry]

---

---