Painful isn't the main adjective I was expecting to use to describe the famous Hanoi Water Puppet show, but painful it was! The seating was made for short people, very short people, no make that exceedingly short people! As soon as I sat down, I just laughed at the leg room (I've taken a photo - and will upload - it's hilarious). Funny, that is, until I had to sit sideways, painfullly, for the next 50 minutes watching a strange watery (and I have to be honest) pretty rubbish puppet show. The saving grace for the experience was watching the accompanying band playing some unusual instruments, one being a one-stringed ban lau that was pretty weird sounding - a bit like someone playing a saw with a bow! There was also a hammered dulcimer, a kind ... read more

After a good night's sleep, on very hard mattresses, interrupted once by my phone reminder going off at stupid o'clock telling me to put my bins out (I have a crap memory, it wouldn't happen otherwise!), we tucked into a massive breakfast, which if you had wanted could have included spaghetti bolognaise, I kid you not! I spied a newspaper in English so nabbed myself a copy of the Viet Nam News, a National English Language Daily as it was described. Front page news was all about the steadily increasing inflation, predicted to rise 0.5% every month with the reason given as hikes in energy prices and rising health care costs. There had also just been an ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh intended to help raise their profile. The challenges listed at the conference sounded pretty ... read more

I woke up and my fuddled brain slowly worked out - I'm in Vietnam! Yes I finally made it! After very little sleep the night before pre-travel nerves, I set off a silly o'clock from Norwich train station on my adventure to Vietnam. What a stress free way of getting to the airport - 3 hours off my journey time (if I'd gone by coach) or 3 years onto my life (by avoiding the hellish tail-backs on the M25) and there I was checking in for the first leg of my flight, to Bangkok. And mighty glad I was to be leaving London! Just crossing it, admittedly in morning commuter rush hour, had reminded me what a dreadful, souless place it is with the self-inflicted anonymity of strangers - don't make eye contact! This made worse ... read more

Finally it was time to set off to meet up with my group again and I was packed off into a taxi to take the ride from Cusco to the place the trains leave for Machu Pichu. After a slight hitch, finding the usual road was shut for repairs, entailing a long winding down the hillside and back up the hillside via a different route detour, we got on our way. I was then clock watching the whole way hoping this unexpected detour wouldn't make me miss the train. I was feeling a strange mix of relieved to be out of Cusco and getting back to my holiday proper, but also anxious about meeting up with the group again and hoping it wouldn't make me too sad about having missed the Inca Trail. Along the way ... read more

And so back to the hotel in Cusco, this time with a balcony overlooking the street. Noisy but more interesting while on my own. With no idea what to do for two whole days on my own I set off first to find a supermarket. After two days in hospital hooked up to a drip, no way was I risking my poor digestive system with anything other than 'safe' foods. I was soon stocked up with pringles, brazil nuts, bread, jam, biscuits and the like and plonked myself in the main square to do a spot of people watching. The sun was really hot but there were only about 3 benches in the shade and the grass police were out in force blowing their whistles at anyone who had the affrontory to try and sit on ... read more