'Nam!

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Friday 19th December: We've moved on from Cambodia to Vietnam. We got the Mekong delta express boat down the river into Chau Doc and the bus from there to Can Tho. The journey started off as normal with the constant beeping of horns and terrible speeding. The speed limit here is 15km an hour which is a little ambitious but the bus driver was going way over that and often overtaking trucks into on coming traffic. It's not unknown for head-on collisions to happen along the Vietnamese roads. However, the most interesting part of our bus journey was the bus pulling off onto some dodgy little back street. There was a lot of headlight flashing with another truck in the darkness then the bus pulled over and a truck pulled up behind. A load of unlabelled sacks were tossed into the back of the truck then we pulled away back onto the main road. A minute later we were pulled over by the police and after much kerfuffle, the bus driver was instructed to drive to the police station. We were shut into a military compound by large iron gates and had to wait while the police searched for illegal cigarrette smuggling. They found what they were looking for and another bus was sent for us and we finally got the Can Tho town. After a quick bowl of Pho, we wandered around the streets before heading to bed with a beer.

Saturday 20th December:
We caught the first bus to Saigon which took 6 hours and arrived around midday. Since we were going to travel by night train to Nha Trang, we had to carry our bags around with us all day. We used this as a good excuse to sit in the pub all afternoon drinking cheap Saigon beer. The service in the restaurants is terrible but worth the wait for the local street food. It was a shame not to see more of Saignon but heaving our bags around all day in the sun wasn't a pleasant prospect! We caught the night train at 7 and heaved our stuff onto the top bunk of the cabins. It was a little like sleeping in a coffin as there was very little space. And the beds weren't even long enough for us! However, we managed to doze the night away and arrived in Nha Trang for 5.30am.


Sunday 21st December:
We headed straight for the hotel but had to wait for our rooms to be ready so dumped our stuff and headed out for breakfast. We spent the rest of the day walking the length of the golden sand beach. It's very sunny here but the wind is very strong and the water is crazily powerful and will knock you off your feet in the surf! We ended up having a beer in the Louisianne Brewery where they brew all their own beer. In the evening we went to a local street restaurant where they make you sit at low tables on plastic chairs designed for children. They had a lovely christmas display of fake snowmen which the local kids were fascinated by!

Monday 22nd December:
This morning we were up early to go Scuba diving. We headed out on an enormous boat with only the staff and us and another couple! We wanted to do the PADI course here but decided that we didn't have enough time so just did the 'discover scuba diving' course which consisted of 2 dives with an instructor. The visibility wasn't that great and we ended up being dragged around by the air tank by the instructor as we couldn't really see where we were going. I was constantly worried I was going to impale myself on the coral so probably didn't enjoy it as much as I should have. We saw loads of fish and the coral was beautiful. Quite glad we didn't commit ourself to the PADI with the water quality as it was. In the afternoon we went to the Mud Baths where we sat in a big vat of mineral mud for 15 minutes, baked ourselved dry in the sun then washed off the mud and sat in a 45 degree mineral pool. It was incredibly hot and we were glad that the afternoon air was quite cool otherwise we'd probably have passed out in the heat! We then went on to the waterfall which pummeled your back and shoulders with a lovely hydro massage and then finished off with a swim in the pool. The pool was also incredibly warm so we couldn't spend too long in there! Our skin felt lovely afterwards! We spent the evening drinking Bia Hoi - cheapest beer in the world aparently - which was pretty weak but cheap as chips!

Tuesday 23rd December:
With a lack of inexpensive things to do, we decided to have a more relaxing day today. There were a variety of boat tours on offer but they all seemed rather tacky and were aimed more at the drunk tourist. We decided to forgo Monkey Island (where monkeys ride little wooden bicycles.... should be in the jungle with the rest of their family don't you think?) and spent the morning on the beach in a baking sun. We didn't feel the whole intensity of the sun as there was a strong wind which completely sand-blasted us, filling our ears and hair with sand. I'm blaming the wind for allowing me to get sunburnt, not the fact I clearly didn't apply the suncream to the edges of my swimsuit! I have finger marks and everything... guh! In the afternoon we hired a motorbike and went a few kilometers down the coast to the Oceanographic Centre where there were a variety of sad looking creatures in leaking tanks. I think they probably had the most enormous population of Japanese school-child I've ever seen! It was a lovely quiet afternoon at the aquarium until, I think we counted 8 coaches, of kids bombarded through the centre! They had a particularly bored looking seal and some ENORMOUS sea turtles! They also had an aeroplane hanger FULL, wall to wall, floor to ceiling, of specimen jars with rather revolting looking specimens! And some antiquated scientific equipment, including a hand powered centrifuge (those at GSK will appreciate that one!) We spent the evening drinking more Sai Gon and Bia Hoi with our Danish friends!

Wednesday 24th December:
We left Nha Trang this morning for Da Lat. The rumours were true, it IS cold up here! It's lovely to have a cool breeze on my sunburn!! The bus ride up was very bumpy and noisy. The drivers round here beep CONSTANTLY. They beep to let you know they're behind you, they beep to tell you they're going to over take you, they beep to let you know they're overtaking, they beep to let you know they've overtaken. It's insane. This bus however, seemed to completely out-beep any vehicle we'd been in and the beep seemed to be broadcasting inside the bus as well as outside the bus! Snoozing proved difficult... We spent the dying parts of the afternoon looking round the market. It was a proper locals market with fresh fruit and veg, and fresh meat. Very fresh in some cases.They had bowls and bowls live frogs and fish.We saw a woman put a frog in a bag, cosh it over the head with a wooden block before taking a pair of scissors and snipping off it's face! Nice crunchy creatures. She then skinned it, gutted it and nipped off its hands and feet. It made me think twice about eating meat, perhaps I'll become vegetarian. This evening we went for a couple of drinks in a streetside bar, overlooking the main town square. We thought maybe the waiters in Da Lat liked to run around the restaurant to keep fit until we realised they were trying to serve customers as well as watch the football. Vietnam vs Thailand. They won 2-1 and the streets became mayhem, I've never seen so many motorbikes! The roads were crammed full of them, wheel to wheel, shoulder to shoulder through the whole of the town square! I'm now sitting in an INCREDIBLY posh hotel - not ours of course! We met up with the musicians we met in Phnom Pehn and Toby has joined them on-stage for a few numbers. I thought I came to Vietnam to avoid being a band widow... Bored, alone, not knowing anyone I decided to escape to the solitude of the 'Business Centre' (!) until I can have my boyfriend back. The toilets in this hotel are lovely!

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