PM2011

We were greeted when we got of the bus by a man waving a placard with our names on it - we had sort of arranged this but decided to find our own hotel rather than go with him, and we found a very good one for around $4 a night. A proper hotel. We arranged for tuk tuks to pick us up in the morning and take us on a tour of the Angor temples. It was stupidly hot and the grounds are massive, but the temples are incredible. Angkor Thom is more impressive than Angkor Wat to me - and between the two we found some monkeys! We fed them and ran from them when they thought we were getting a bit too close. We were confident they liked us but not too confident! ... read more

We left Dalat at night and got the sleeper bus to Saigon, arriving at 6amish. Very early but the whole place is alive already. Found a nice hotel to stay in, had a nap and then went and had a Subway. Even that tastes different out here, went to the Reunification Palace which was good but nothing special, then had a good night out around our area. Found a reasonably quiet bar which let us and other people put songs on from youtube which was cool. Next day we did the war remnants museum, strange ; lots of helicopters, tanks etc but not much inside. Mainly pictures of people attacked by napalm as well as the preserved foetuses which were damaged by napalm. Very strange. Also on the first day we mixed with the locals for ... read more

Nha Trang was nice, not alot of character to it but te weather and beach means that you can deal with it! Pretty much like a baking hot Blackpool or somewhere else in the UK. Hot enough to give us all sunburn. My lesson that I learnt : get someone else to lotion your back. I did my own and missed out huge bits meaning I had a ridiculous looking burn. Not alot to do apart from beach, there was a cable car to a five star resort on the island but given that we're on a budget. ... read more

We got back to Hanoi from Ha Long Bay by bus, after the staying the night on the bus. It was so hot the next day, we just sat and relaxed. The bus journey isn't the most pleasant but its survivable! We waited around for a few hours and then got the sleeper train to Hue, it was pretty easy and comfortable. Something we'd never done before! I think it would be much better than a sleeper bus but we're getting one of them tomorrow night so I'll let you all know... Hue is nice, half way between Hanoi and Hoi An in terms of views and the hustle and bustle really. The citadel is the only must see really, but it is really cool and picturesque. The next day we did a tour of the ... read more

Hanoi! The roads are 100% times more mental than Bangkok. Bikes everywhere! Same roads regarding crossing the roads apply. Much better than Bangkok, the people are less persistent and everything is less seedy, which is good. The hostel we're staying at is good, backpackerry so theres a few people to talk to. Also, all five of us in a dorm together is good fun. We arrived and went straight for a nap in our dorm, early morning had taken it out of us. On the taxi from the airport into Hanoi you get a good grasp of their culture - pigs on the back of bikes, paddy fields, all sorts. CONSTANT horn beeping! Tried finding a crashed B52 bomber which had been left from the Vietnam War in a river this evening, no luck with that. ... read more