Today we slept late after staying up talking to a new friend from Columbus Ohio by the name of Matthew. We sat talking till 2am and for those who know me, this is a miracle, I am in bed by 10! We are about to leave the warm weather and head into the cold, so it meant prioritizing the cold gear. We meandered around the town, sitting on the porch rocking chair, Deb being good writing postcards, then off to a local tourist dinner shack where we had mini hamburgers (Jyes, does this bring back memories) and I even had a local beer!!! We shared this with Matthew, then back to the hotel to change and our new other friend Kimo picked us up and brought us to the airport - we have arranged to meet ... read more

Back to Thailand and Pattaya. I decided to take a two day trip to the River Kwai. Mainly, I wanted to go to a tiger sanctuary run by monks for their preservation. It was a very early start. I was to be picked up at 5am, but the bus got lost, so I was sitting on the front step until 20 past 6, oh I could have done with the extra sleep! It was a stinker of a hot day, over 40 degrees and a poor airconditioner in the bus meant that the water consumption was high. On this trip, there was me (the aussie), an English guy, two Norwegian, two Finnish, one French policeman and his Thai girlfriend and the driver. We arrived at the town of Kanchanaburi, and went to a restaurant called the ... read more

Another day in Hoi An, found another tailor close to the hotel who was half the price of the one recommended, and her work we saw done was superb. Had a couple of skirts made and Sue had two traditional Vietnamese outfits made, the first tailor had said it wasn’t possible (turned out superbly). At the tailor, there was a group from Iceland. One of them a very keen Liverpool supporter had a picture of the club’s emblem and was going to have it embroidered on the back of the suit he was having made. I asked why Liverpool and he said there were no good Icelandic football clubs. We were there when he picked it up later. It looked great he was one very happy and proud fan. Now to the orphanage mentioned before, the ... read more

Today, traveled around HCMC (HoChi Min City) and saw how different things have become here since communism has taken over. A once architecturally beautiful palace has been modified to become a concrete block as the Reunification palace where the former president lived before he was executed. It was interesting to see the slant the information written on displays at the war museum definitely anti the west. I find I get angry about the things that happen in was and ended up outside talking to people (much rather meet the here and now), although you meet an assortment. One thing that struck me was the American helicopter out the front, my immediate reaction was to take a photo and call it the original from Miss Saigon. Talking about the here and now, I met some great people ... read more

last night Sue and I updated our blogs at the internet game shop around the corner from Nitya's. It is used exclusively by young Thai boys to play games. Really noisy and dark, I am sure they are quite confused at two foreign old ladies on computer. We certainly stood out in the crowd. We were trying to find flights and a hotel to Saigon. The flights were no problem but we still have to pick up the tickets at a travel agent as we have to produce our passports. Finding a hotel in Saigon has proved not to be so easy. We may just have to turn up and find somewhere to stay when we get, There are lots of street sellers who come down all the suburban streets each day . This is ... read more