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Published: January 5th 2007
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Hello everyone. Hope you all had a really lovely Christmas and New Years! Here's to a fantastic 2007!!
So we are now in Laos. We made our way from the south of Vietnam up to Hanoi in the north and from there headed over the border into Laos.
We bought a bus ticket in Saigon which allowed us to stop off in a few places on the way up, each different in many ways. Vietnam is so varied and diverse.
Saigon Now called Ho Chi Minh City after the popular leader, HCMC is an interesting city. Very crazy (yes even more so than Bangkok!!!) but nice. We spent a few days exploring. Also visited the War Remnants museum - a very one-sided but still harrowing account of the US war. Got a lot of hassle here though off locals trying to sell you stuff all the time. Also the traffic is unbelievable here! So many hundreds of motorbikes. Apparently 20 people die every day!
Mekong Delta From Saigon we did a two-day trip to the Mekong Delta - the very bottom section of the Mekong river where it meets the sea. It was
having a chat in saigon
they just sit on the side of the roads! also note zooming motorbikes going by!! really interesting seeing how people live alongside and in harmony with the river. We stayed overnight in a homestay. It was so funny cos it was in the middle of nowhere. We were on motorbikes going down tiny little tracks for ages to get there! It was so beautiful though and lovely family we stayed with. The dad had been taught how to read palms by a monk! Apparently I will live to my 80's!! We spent most of the time on the trip just floating around the river looking at amazing floating markets. Really lovely.
Muine Beach A long beach resort which has sprung up around a small pretty fishig village. Not fantastic but ok. Too many crabs in the sea for my liking!! There were beautiful sand dunes here though.
Dalat A gorgeous but cold town right up in the mountains. Its pretty funny as its known as the "honeymoon" town of Vietnam. All you see are vietnamese young newly-weds!! Its all very twee but beautiful. There are nice waterfalls and lakes. You can get your picture taken in a traditional costume at some - no no not a Vietnamese costume -
sweaty work
women making rice paper and noodles on mekong delta,not my idea of fun!altough they were wearing jumpers,maybe they just werent hot enough a Red Indian costume! So random!! Hehe!! We rented a motorbike here and had a little ride around. It was all going swimmingly until we got a flat tyre!! No problems though as the locals were soooo lovely and showed us the way to a little mechanic (well actually a man with a few spare tyres and dirty hands). The locals really were so friendly! There was also some mad architecture around the town! A funny place in all!
Nha Trang Another beach town but unfortunately the weather wasnt so good here. We did 2 dives though which were pretty good but visibility was definitly better in Thailand! We saw a huge puffa fish which was nice. Went on a very crazy night out here - it all started in an Irish bar, with lots of (can you guess) Irish lads!! Oh dear!!
Hoi An Stayed here for a few days because this is the place to get handmade clothes and shoes! As you can imagine i was in heaven! We both got some stuff made and shipped home! Lovely! Hoi An is also a very pretty town and probably the most french -
Video star
Zoe being interviewed for vietnamese in french on christmas eve,so random gorgeous patisseries and coffee! Lovely pretty old buildings too. We also got a motorbike here to have a look around. Again it was all going swimmingly (can you sense the bad news coming here....) until Rich tried to ride the bike up a huge curb onto the pavement. Now honestly thats not as bad as it sounds...everyone parks their bikes on the curb. The problem was that Rich revved a little too hard and instead of easing the bike into the small space available, he zoomed into the bike already parked there - totally knocking it over, onto an old man!! Yes as you can imagine we really were popular in their shop afterwards!! We gave them some money and the old man was ok really. We were both just happy as if he had been 1 inch to the right he would have knocked over a huge stand of liqour bottles! That would have cost a fortune!! Anyway we enjoyed Hoi An - would definitly like to come back here.
Hanoi Anoher crazy city - even more so than Saigon! It takes bloody ages to cross the road here! Its a nice city though and the
Coneheads
no not the 80's film with dan ackroyd backpacker bit is in the old quarter which is beautiful. Spent Xmas eve here which was hilarious! We went to the cathedral, met loads of very drunk italians in a meditteranean restaurant and I got interviewed for Vietnamese TV!! Not your average Xmas eve thats for sure!! Hehe!! Everyone just hung out on the main roundabout, and then bought these funny balloons. Then at around 12midnight they all let them go! Weird but quite cool to watch.
Halong Bay We spent Christmas cruising round Halong Bay (3 hours outside Hanoi). Its absolutely stunning here and soo peaceful! We had a lovely Christmas Day and crab for Christmas dinner!! Very unusual! (ok Rich wasn't too pleased to miss out on his roast but he got over it!!). Boxing Day we cruised round some more and then spent the night in a totally luxurious resort! Very nice indeed!! We had some really lovely people in our group too which made it all the more fun!
So we both really liked Vietnam. Definitly for its variety - you can do so much in that one country. Unfortunately we didn't get up into northern Vietnam which is supposed to be
magical but maybe next time. I think compared to Cambodia, Vietnam is definitly the kind of place you could come just for a holiday! You do get a lot of hassle off people trying to sell you anything and everything which really did our heads in by the end, but the majority of locals are lovely and friendly and helpful. You dont really notice the communism thing except for the flags everywhere, but it feels no different than anwhere else really!
So we have been in Laos for about a week and had a brilliant new years eve. We have had some funny times including Rich falling off a bus, meeting a Nigerian footballer and a crazy Korean lady - bet your all biting your nails now!).
So lots of love as ever
Zoe & Rich
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Mr Beer
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No Roast ? ? ? ? ?
I'm not surprised Pez was peeved, how could you have crab for your Christmas roast. Could you heathens not have found an Irish bar or something that would serve real food on that magical day? I bet Jesus is turning in his grave. Looks great there though. Merry Christmas / New Year and all that jazz to you both. Enjoy the rest of your trip and I am sure I will see you both soon.