Saturday 29th March 2008

It was so hot last night that at about 11.30 I got out of bed and went and slept in one of the hammocks on the porch. I tried to shut the door as best I could, but woke up at just after 4am with it wide open. I went to check on Nikki and she said she was having trouble sleeping - not only because it was hot, but because the door kept creaking as it swung in the breeze. After that I came back inside and crashed out on the bed.

Nikki woke me up at just after 11am this morning and said she'd already been for breakfast. The sweetheart said I looked peaceful, so she left me where I was. I got myself ready and then went for something to eat myself. Straight away, we could tell it was going to be another hot one. After breakfast, me and Nikki went for another walk around the island - this time in the other direction from our guest house. We didn't get very far... we just moaned the whole way about how hot and sticky we were, and came back to lay in the hammocks instead.

We spent the whole afternoon doing nothing - just laying on our porch. The only times we got up were to use the toilet or when we went for a nice refreshing shower (three in Nikki's case). This evening we took a walk round to one of the nearby bars on the West side of the island, where we sat and watched the sun set. It was crazy - not only was the sky turning the usual shades of red, yellow and orange - but also green.

Man! We'd be lost without those hammocks!

Friday 28th March 2008

There was no reason to get up early this morning - we're in Four Thousand Islands for a spot of rest and relaxation. So, when we woke up at just after 9am with the sun coming through our windows, we were both feeling quite refreshed. We looked outside and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

We got ourselves ready and then went for some breakfast. Afterwards we thought, now that the tracks had all dried out, we'd go out exploring. Yesterday, Natasha had told us about an old railway bridge that connects this island to Don Khon island. She said it wasn't far, so we thought we go and check it out...

Poor Natasha had obviously gone a little crazy in the rain, because the bridge was MILES away - and it took us hours to get there. The walk was really nice though, because the island is really rural and it was lovely to see all the locals going about their business. Working really hard, but without a care in the world. When we got to Don Khon island we hired some bikes and went cycling to the Khone Phapheng waterfalls. These are supposed to be the biggest in the whole of South East Asia, (in terms of volume), so we thought it was worth a look.

When we got back to our guesthouse this evening, we were both exhausted, (so much for the r&r), and we were happy to lay in our hammocks and chill out. This evening we went for a meal at the other end of town before heading back before 10pm, because we'd forgot our torch... d'oh!

What a difference a day makes... one day it's horribly wet, the next it's exhaustingly hot!

Thursday 27th March 2008

We got up nice and early this morning and, after using the internet, walked round to the ticket office where we caught our bus South to Four Thousand Islands. When we boarded the bus, the weather didn't look too great, but when we got off at the other end it was absolutely horrendous! Four Thousand Islands is made up of land that comes out of the Mekong River (oh yeah, it's flowing ok here) - and although not far from the mainland, the only way to the islands is by boat. We had to carry our bags from the bus, through this muddy little village, to a boat that was... almost useless. The roof of ours was pathetic - it looked like it had been stolen from the back of an old deck-chair, it was so small and full of holes. It's safe to say, we'd have been just as wet had we decided to swim across to the island of Don Det. When we were safely on dry land, Nikki waited with the bags while I went off in search of accommodation.

Don Det Island isn't very big and most of the places to stay are all on one street. I walked around for about 20 minutes and then went back to get Nikki - i'd found a pretty cool place called Dalom Guest House. It was at the end of the street and was quite private - plus it had it's own restaurant and our room had an indoor bathroom - something a lot of the others didn't.

Once our bags were safely indoors, we sat out on the balcony and tried our best to dry off - we were soaked through. By now, it was after 12pm and we hadn't eaten - so we went to the restaurant for some food. We sat there for a few hours and got chatting to a girl from New York, called Natasha. She said she was supposed to be leaving this morning - but none of the boats could leave, the weather was so bad. She said the rain was actually lighter now and that during the night it was awful.

All the dirt track roads on the island had gotten pretty boggy in the rain, so we hung around our guest house for the rest of the day. Not long after lunch the rain stopped and the sun came out - so we lay in our hammocks on our porch, where we both fell asleep - although, not before i'd broken one of them. I got in one and it was fine, but Nikki said hers was uncomfortable - so I offered to swap. I'd been lying in it for about 20 seconds, when all of a sudden I tore a massive hole in it and fell through to the floor. It took me ages to climb out and both Nikki and the people in the restaurant were laughing at me. I managed to fix it, but there was NO WAY I was getting back in it - Nikki could have that one!

This evening we went to one of the local restaurants, where we had a great meal and a couple of beers. We came back to our room at just before 10pm, because we didn't want to be out in the dark... at 10.30pm ALL THE ELECTRICITY ON THE ISLAND WENT OFF. Night then!

Lights out at 10.30pm... Mum would LOVE it here!

Wednesday 26th March 2008

Apparently 5.45am is karaoke time in Laos. If it's not, then there must be some other reason why the driver thought it was necessary to BLAST OUT his dvd at this time of the morning. With everyone wide awake on the bus we all watched as he pulled up into the town of Paske. I didn't sleep too well last night. It was nice sharing a bed with Nikki, but the driver thought he was in some sort of rally race and was throwing us all over the road. We all climbed off safely at just after 6.30am and a group of us jumped onto the back of a tuk-tuk, who took us round to some guest houses. After finding somewhere to stay we went out for some breakfast and then wandered around the streets. Paske isn't a very big place, we just used it as a place to break up the journey between Vientiane and Four Thousand Islands.

While we were out and about, we spotted out tuk-tuk driver from earlier and he offered to take us out to the nearby waterfalls for a knock-down price. We had nothing better to do, so we went for it. Little did we know it, but boy did we have to earn that 'knock-down' price!

The first of the waterfalls was about an hour away and our driver forgot he had taken his tuk-tuk to work today and thought he was in his Porsche. He was driving at about 100mph (not really, but it seemed that way) and overtaking everything in sight, when all of a sudden there was a massive BANG! and something exploded. We rolled to a stop on the side of the road and he grabbed his tool kit and fixed the problem before we drove on... much slower. Further down the road, water started spitting everywhere and the driver looked worried so we pulled over... again. This time, the problem took longer to fix and he couldn't get it going again. Me and Nikki stepped out to let him do his thing when all of a sudden he looked at us and started nodding. We asked if he wanted a push and he got more and more excited. So, there we were trying to push this rickety old tuk-tuk down the road while the driver is sat on the front shouting 'SPEED, SPEED' at us - whatever the problem was, we obviously sorted it because he shot off down the road, before turning round and collecting us. After all the excitement, we'd forgot about the waterfalls and were surprised when we arrived. Because of 'pit stops', we only had about fifteen minutes at the first one - Tad Fane Falls. The next ones, Tad Yueang Waterfalls, were much better and we got to climb all the way down to the bottom.

If we'd thought the journey back was going to be any less eventful, then we were wrong. About half way back, our driver screeched to a halt and started speaking to a motorbike driver on the side of the road. The next thing we know, we've been told to get out so that they could get the rider AND HIS BIKE into the back! Poor old Nikki had to sit and hold onto the bike for the rest of the journey - doing her best to stop it falling out of the back, while I sat up front, next to the driver, on a cushion about 10cm square... with the petrol tank between my legs!

This evening we wandered around town and then on our way back to the guest house went for an Indian meal. The food was EXCELLENT and we left both full and extremely happy. When we got back to the room, we had showers, packed our bags and then crashed out on the bed.

After that, we'll never look at a tuk-tuk in the same way again!

Tuesday 25th March 2008

We've decided that we're going to start heading South now, so that we can move across into Cambodia - but first we want to visit a place we've heard about called Four Thousand Islands. It's right at the bottom of Laos - so we're going to break up our journey and make a stop in a small place called Pakse. We got up and then booked ourselves onto one of the sleeper buses for tonight. Then we spent the rest of the day just wandering around in the sunshine. First of all we went for breakfast in a really posh café, and both had bagels with cream cheese. Next, after wandering around town for a few hours, we stopped in a small café - where we sat for a few hours and wrote our postcards for the people at home.

At about 5.30pm this evening we walked round to the office where we'd bought our bus tickets and they drove us to the bus. We thought we were gonna be on our way straight away, but it turned out we had to wait in the bus station for a few hours. While we were there, we had the most suspect of pork sandwiches - it included about four different 'types' of pork - one of which was covered in fur! Nikki couldn't manage all of her half, but I did...

The bus left the bus station at just after 8pm and me and Nikki were well happy because, not only was the bed pretty comfy - but it was also a double - so we got to sleep together... woohoo!

Yippee! Double sleeper-bus bed... Rock On!

Monday 24th March 2008

We'd booked to go back to the Vientiane today - but rather than go on the VIP bus again, we paid a little bit extra and travelled by mini-bus. It came to collect us nice and early and we were back in the capital for lunch. The bus dropped us off and we walked back round to the Saysouly Guest House, where we checked in for the night. After the journey South, we were both starving so we went straight out for lunch and had noodle soup in one of the restaurants next to the Mekong River... or puddle as it should be known at this time of year - it's so dried up!

We spent the afternoon wandering around town, looking at loads of the old temples and also caught a tuk-tuk out to the Pha That Luang monument. It can be seen from miles away because it's a really bright gold colour and is really important to the people of Laos because, not only is it a sign of the Buddhist religion but also of Lao sovereignty. This evening, after consulting the Lonely Planet, we went out for a cracking Indian meal. It was really good food and was a bargain price - so we walked, well waddled, away extremely happy.

Mekong River... that isn't a river!

Sunday 23rd March 2008

Our alarm woke us up nice and early this morning and it was really hot again. We went for breakfast in the Organic Farm Café and then took some washing to one of the places that offer 'Laundry Services'. It's such a bargain here - they were offering it for 6,000 Kip / per kilo, which is about 30p! Afterwards we went and made some enquires about the real reason people come to Vang Vieng... Tubing!

Tubing is basically a bar crawl... along the Nam Song River... in a huge rubber ring. You can stop at as many of the bars as you like (or can handle). They're all playing really loud music and some of them have huge rope swings to keep you happy. We started at 12pm and had until 6pm to return our rubber rings back to the shop in town. The course of the river was only 4km - and it's said that it should take two hours... but that's if you're not drinking and acting silly!

The rope swings were brilliant and the first one we stopped at was huge! The bar was packed and was playing good music, so we thought it was a good a place as any to start drinking. We got chatting to two Canadian guys, Daniel and Wes, who had been at the bar for a while - but hadn't mustered up the courage to do the swing. I wasn't having any of that - and had dragged Daniel on within minutes of our arrival! I had a couple of goes and then Nikki got in on the act. I couldn't believe it - the little dare-devil just ran off and the next thing I knew she was at the top... brilliant!

We got back to town at just before 6pm this evening and we were absolutely exhausting. We had stopped at another bar en-route with another of the bigger swings, and bumped into Daniel and Wes again (great minds think alike). The last part of our journey was madness! We had no idea what the time was and how far we had to go, so we started paddling for our lives... thankfully we made it... just! This evening, we went back to the bar from last night and had pizzas and beer each whilst watching F•R•I•E•N•D•S.

Ha! Lazy River my arse!

Saturday 22nd March 2008

We got up nice and early this morning, went for some breakfast and then caught a bus North to a place called Vang Vieng. We'd booked ourselves onto the VIP bus, and were hoping that the journey was going to be a nice one - but it wasn't. I think the VIP stood for Vehicle Is Pathetic! We were told it was the best bus to catch and that, as well as being comfy, it had air con... air con my arse! After about 10 minutes, the driver realised it was doing nothing and instructed everyone to open their windows instead. The drive itself wasn't too bad though. It took about four hours and the last part was through spectacular scenery. Laos doesn't look like Thailand or Vietnam - there are lots of green hills and mountains but, instead of rice fields, has regular fields with animals grazing.

When we arrived in Vang Vieng it was really hot. The place wasn't very big and it looked really dusty in the hazy afternoon sun. We took a while to find somewhere to stay but, once we had, we went out exploring. There is one main street here, which is packed full of bars and restaurants - all of which are showing episodes of F•R•I•E•N•D•S. We walked around the streets and down to the Nam Song River, before going back to the guest house so Nikki could lie down. This evening we went to one of the bars, where we sat watching the TV, with everyone sprawled out on huge bed like sofas, and ate pizza and drank beer... heaven!

Note to self: VIP Buses aren't what they tell you they are!

Friday 21st March 2008

5am! Our alarm went off at 5am this morning so that we could get up and get ourselves to the airport... today we were flying to Vientiane in Laos! Our taxi was waiting for us when we checked out and we were soon on our way. Even at the (ridiculously) early hour, Hanoi was buzzing! There wasn't much traffic, but there were hundreds of people milling about - doing their thing. Had it not been dark I would've thought it was the middle of the afternoon, such was the hive of activity! The airport was pretty nice and we didn't have to wait long before we caught our flight.

We landed in Vientiane at just before 10am and had no problems getting our visas and then through passport control... not like in Vietnam, where Nikki almost got us arrested! When we were walking into the departure area, we put our bags on the scanner and then walked through the metal detector. Nikki's bag went first when all of a sudden the guards stood up and started raising their voices. Someone tried translating but we still couldn't understand. The main guard indicated that he wanted Nikki to empty her bag onto the table - all the while, I was slowly backing away, trying to act like we weren't together. I didn't have a clue what was going on, but Nikki clicked and started giggling: remembering that she's been carrying one of the AK47 bullets we used at the Cu Chi Tunnels (outside Ho Chi Minh). Luckily, it was a USED bullet and we were allowed to continue through - even though I asked them to lock Nikki up.

A taxi bought us to the main area of Vientiane and we were lucky enough to find somewhere to stay pretty quickly. We checked into the Saysouly Guest House and then went out for a walk. For a capital city, Vientiane isn't very big! Something that really struck us straight away was how quiet it was. There were loads of motorbikes and cars about (not quite as many as in Vietnam), but nobody was driving round with their hands glued to the horn, so that made a nice surprise. We walked down to the centre, where we had a look around the shops and markets and then went and looked at a couple of the monuments in town. By now it had gone lunch time, so we caught a tuk tuk back to our guest house and then went for food. On first impressions, Laos is very similar to Thailand and Vietnam, (more like Thailand in terms of the food), so that's good. The restaurant was near part of the Mekong River, so we went for a look and were surprised to see that the water level was really low. It looked almost dried-up, unlike in Vietnam where it was really high!

I don't know if it's the early morning, or the traveling - but we were exhausted afterwards and we went back to our room where we both passed out on the bed. We woke up a couple of hours later and were still pretty tired, but made an effort to go out. We didn't really want any food, but found a bowling alley and had a couple of games of that instead.

A mix of Thailand and Vietnam... I think we'll like it here!

Thursday 20th March 2008

It was to be our last day in Hanoi and Vietnam today so we didn't bother setting any alarms and slept in until about 10.30am. We only woke then because there was someone outside our building singing songs on a really loud karaoke machine! We checked the time, agreed it was about time we did something and got ourselves ready. We took ages to get out and when we finally did, we decided that it was too late for breakfast - and went straight for lunch instead.

This afternoon we decided to walk over to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum - it was on the other side of the city, but figured that the walk would do us good. We probably should've done some research first because, not only was it further than we thought but, it's shut in the afternoons - and not open at all on Fridays... d'oh! We hung around the area and visited his palace and famous 'stilt house' before catching a cyclo back to our side of town. Our driver dropped us off at the Woman's Museum (which is all about the Vietnamese women during the war). The poor cyclo driver looked exhausted as he cycled off, but then he was carrying both of us - some Westerners have to get cyclos of their own and you see families being carried along in convoy.

We explored some more of the city and then headed back to our guest house. It was really humid and on the way we stopped at a tiny street bar to get some drinks (I say tiny, it was just a table, an umbrella and some stools on the pavement). The little old lady serving us was lovely and when we took a picture of her 'bar' she was well impressed - we don't think she'd ever seen a digital camera before and wanted to pose with Nikki for loads of pictures. When we'd finished our drinks, we said our goodbyes and walked round to a photo shop because we needed some passport photos. When we were there we printed off one of the photos and took it back to the old lady as a gift. She saw us coming and started waving. When we handed her the picture, we walked away and she started getting all excited - cooing and showing it to all her friends - bless her.

This evening we met up with some of the people from our Halong Bay trip. We went for drinks and then a meal with Grimey (Graham from Australia (but lives in London)), Sharpey (from Australia), and Sammy and Katie (from Kuala Lumpur). We all met at different times and while we were finishing our drinks, we got chatting to two other people who were on their own and invited them along. They were Anne (from America) and Zade (from England (Stoke City fan!!)). We went to a really great restaurant and the food was superb. We had an amazing time and it was the perfect way to say goodbye to Vietnam!

Honestly, Vietnam is one of the best places we've visited... WE LOVE IT!

Wednesday 19th March 2008

We were woken this morning by the light coming in through our window and looked out to see that the sun had not long risen on the peaceful waters of Halong Bay. We didn't have long to stay in bed though - pretty soon the staff were banging on our door telling us that breakfast was ready. After we'd all eaten the boat raised it's anchor and we set off. We sailed for about an hour or so and then we stopped at a fishing village. It was a really tiny place with about 20 buildings dotted about, all floating on the water. There was even a school, to which the children had to travel by boat!

We spent a couple more hours sailing in and out of the islands and at one point, changed into a smaller boat that allowed us to enter some caves. When we were ready to change back to our bigger boat, we were told that we had to pay 40,000VD for our little 'excursion'. Most people happily paid (it was only just over £1), but three guys refused, so they were stopped from getting off the smaller boat and were taken out into the middle of the water until they handed over their money... ha ha - stingey fools!

This afternoon we got back to Halong City and then were driven back to Hanoi. On the way we stopped for a smashing lunch. We got back to the capital at about 5.30pm and me and Nikki set off trying to find somewhere to stay. We found one place where we'd discussed staying and luckily they had a room, so it wasn't much trouble. We collected our big rucksacks from the travel agents and checked in. We were pretty exhausted from the traveling, but not very hungry because of the huge lunch we'd ate - but we didn't want to stay in, so we went out for a coffee instead. We found a really posh bistro place and treated ourselves. I had a hot chocolate and Niks had a coffee and then we had a slice of cake each. The total came to 200,000VD, which is the most we've paid for a meal in our whole time here... it was worth it though!

Mmmmm, can't beat a nice coffee and a cake!

Tuesday 18th March 2008

We got up nice and early this morning and, after helping ourselves to some of the free breakfast, we checked out and waited for our tour bus to pick us up. In true Vietnam fashion, I went to find out what was happening when the bus was over twenty minutes and nobody batted an eyelid! It eventually turned up and we were soon en-route to Halong Bay.

Halong Bay is a group of more than 3,000 islands that rise from the clear emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin and is a Unesco World Heritage site. We were driven to Halong City and then we boarded an old Vietnamese Junk Boat, where we were going to be sleeping tonight. At this time of year the weather is usually wet and drizzly around these parts and that was the way it was today - but it didn't make a difference, it was still stunning! We spent all day on the boat, eating lunch and then tea. In between we stopped at a floating fishing village where some people got off, but it was too cold to go swimming so we stayed onboard. Tonight, a group of us got together and spent the night chatting, drinking and playing cards. We all had a really good time and at just before midnight we all returned to our small cabins.

Yippee! Another night on the ocean waves!

Monday 17th March 2008

At some point during the night we passed over the DMZ, which is the area which separated North and South Vietnam during the war, and entered into Northern Vietnam. We woke up at just before 6am to look out of the window and see the start of Hanoi. Even though it was really early - there were thousands of people about. There were older people in the park doing aerobics and it seemed like the city had been awake for hours! The bus stopped and, i'm not sure how, but we ended up being bundled into a taxi with two older women and taken to the guesthouse area of the Old Quarter of the City. We got out when the taxi stopped and some guy paid our fare - only for us to decide that we didn't want to stay in his place - so we walked away.

I'm not sure what the guesthouse managers of Vietnam thought of us, but each one we turned up at turfed us out. Some even told us that they had spaces at other guesthouses and when we got there told us it wasn't true - it was a nightmare. It got to about 8.30am and we still hadn't found anywhere. Finally, we found a little hotel, called the Camellia Hotel, which seemed ok so we checked in there. After finding our room we went back out and, to reward ourselves for our tough morning, treated ourselves to a full English breakfast.

We spent the rest of our day exploring the nations capital. We walked around the Hoan Kiem Lake and then did our own city walk - really getting into the hidden parts and mixing with the locals. I didn't really know what to think of Hanoi at first. Ho Chi Minh had a really good vibe - a real wheeler-dealer attitude about it, and Hanoi seemed... different - but that soon changed! We were walking down the streets and there were people selling fresh cuts of meat (so fresh that I saw the animals walk out to the chopping block) and all kinds of foods. One woman, who was selling fruit, approached us and handed Nikki her basket. She then started shouting 'picture, picture' at me. I took a picture of Nikki and she did the same to me. We offered the lady some money and she took it, and gave us a bag of fruit. When we said we didn't want it, she wouldn't have it back - even though we said she could keep the money for the pictures. The next thing I know, the lady has somehow managed to get the original 5,000VD I gave her, plus an extra 20,000VD from me for the fruit - and then she was gone! Talking of selling everything - we were approached by one guy who first offered us books for sales - to which we said 'no thank you' - he then went onto offer us weed and then opium! We said 'no thank you' to those too!

While we were out we booked a trip for tomorrow to Halong Bay and also some flight tickets to Laos for the 21st. This evening we went to this great little restaurant called 'Little Hanoi' and had the most amazing meal.

Yeah, I think we'll like Hanoi after all!

Sunday 16th March 2008

We set our alarm for 9.30am this morning and then, after breakfast, hung around our hotel. We checked out at the last possible minute and then went for a walk. We headed back across the Perfume River to the Northern part of the city and visited the Dong Ba Market. The markets sell pretty much all the same stuff, but this time we managed to find a really cool set of chopsticks - so we bought them for when we get home.

The rest of our afternoon was spent wandering around the city. When we got back to the area of our hotel we decided to go into the only 5 Star hotel in the area, the Imperial Palace, for a look around. When we were inside we found that there was a casino and went in for a 'flutter'. In true form - like every other casino we've visited on this trip - it didn't take long for us to start losing money. The worrying thing was, after just a couple of minutes we were already 100k down! Luckily it was only Dong - so was only just over £3 (phew). We cut our loses and returned to our hotel to hang about in the reception area.

Our bus turned up at about 6pm and we got on, found our 'beds' (it was a sleeper bus) and bedded in for the 13 hour journey to the Capital...

A 13 hour drive... oh joy!

Saturday 15th March 2008

As Hué is quite a large place, we booked ourselves onto a city tour to give us a good chance of seeing most of it. After breakfast, we ran round to the tourist office and caught our bus.

Hué used to be two separate cities - the South was where the 'people' lived and the North was where the Emperors stayed. Our first stop was at the Citadel - which was the Emperor's city, all inside a huge brick wall. Most of it was bombed during the war, but the buildings that are still standing are still pretty spectacular. When we left the Citadel, we were driven around the corner to the Garden Houses, which is where the Mandarin lived - these were much more humble. As Hué has been home to 13 Emperors, there are quite a few tombs dotted around and we visited Tu Duc Tomb and the Minh Mang Tomb. The Minh Mang one was set in the most beautiful gardens, with huge lakes and was very very peaceful. On our way back to the centre this afternoon we stopped at the Thien Mu Pagoda, where the Buddhist Monks live and then caught Dragon Boats back along the Perfume River (which is what divides the city).

When we got back to our hotel, we decided to try and find the travel agents for our bus ticket, so that we could book our seats on the bus to Hanoi. We got our ticket and asked some people for directions, they sent us to the other side of the city. After about an hours walking we arrived at the correct street - but we couldn't find 'Camel Travel' for love-nor-money. It was getting really frustrating, because we couldn't find anyone that understood us. Eventually, when we did find someone, he pointed out that the street address we were looking for was actually back in Hoi An... d'oh! Being smarter than us, he found the right address on the bottom of the ticket and sent us on our way. It turned out Camel Travel was actually just around the corner from our hotel... d'oh! d'oh!

This evening we went to a small café just outside our hotel and had the most amazing Vietnamese food for our tea. The walls of the café were absolutely covered in messages that other visitors had left - so we spent ages reading them long after we'd finished eating. Afterwards, we came back to the hotel and watched the footie on TV.

Only WE could be looking for an address in the wrong city - at the least the walking did us good!

Friday 14th March 2008

Yesterday we'd booked ourselves onto this afternoon's bus North to Hué, so this morning we woke up nice and late and then took our time in getting ready. After getting everything ready and eating our breakfast we just hung about the hotel using the internet and watching the EastEnders catch-ups on the BBC website. Our bus turned up at about 2pm and we were soon on our way.

The journey to Hué took about four and-a-half hours. As soon as we had stepped off of the bus we were surrounded by people touting their hotels, we had a quick walk around to decided for ourselves and found a nice one that was only $10 a night. The thing that sold it to us was that there was an Indian restaurant at the end of the road! We checked in as quickly as we could and then went back for a meal. It didn't disappoint... it was fantastic!

When we'd finished our meal it was still quite early so we decided to go for a walk. We didn't get very far when a guy approached us riding a cyclo (a bike with a big chair attached to the front). He said he'd give us a half an hour tour of the city for only 40,000VD (just over £1) - so we went for it. After about 10 minutes we started to feel sorry for him. He was being overtaken by all of his mates who were carrying small Vietnamese people - he was obviously struggling with the heavier (read: fatter) English passengers. Fair play to him, he managed it and dropped us back to our hotel after half an hour.

The poor cyclo driver... he definitely earned the tip we gave him!

Thursday 13th March 2008

We got up nice and early this morning because we'd arranged to go on a trip to some temples just out of town, called My Son. We had our free breakfast, which was pretty good and then we waited for the bus.

My Son are a huge series of temples that date back to about the 7th Century. The site was massive and although some are in reasonable condition, a lot of them are ruins after they were bombed during the Vietnam War. Rather than catch the bus all the way back to town, we did half the journey by boat. On the way we stopped at a carpentry factory, where they make all the wooden souvenirs being sold about town - one worker was only 14 years old, bless him! When we got back to Hoi An, we had a look around the markets and then went into our tailors to collect our things. All the adjustments had been made and our clothes are great - especially Nikki's dress - she's gonna be the bell of any ball!

We chilled out around our hotel this afternoon and then this evening we went for a walk down towards the river. When we were there we went into a funky little café and had a nice meal. The food was pretty good (I had duck), but the beer was better - it was only 3,000VD a glass... 10p - woohoo!

10 pence a beer! I wonder how long the money from our house sale will last if we stay here forever?

Wednesday 12th March 2008

Although her bed was one of the most unco- mfortable on the entire bus, and she had some random guy sleeping in a hamock next to her for most of the journey, Nikki managed to fall asleep at about 8pm last night and slept almost the whole night through. We made a couple of stops, but we didn't bother getting off - we just lay where we were. We woke up just as we arrived in Hoi An, at just after 6.30am and no sooner had we stumbled from the bus - still wiping the sleep from our eyes - were we bundled onto the back of two motorbikes, which had been sent to collect us. I didn't have a clue what was going on and i'd only just collected my bag when Nikki and her rider shot off! Our hotel is actually pretty nice. It's located in the ancient part of town and is period looking. It has a nice pool and free breakfast - although they made us pay for our food this morning. We hung about in the reception and then checked into our room at just after 8am.

Hoi An looks like a really cool place, with some pretty historic looking architecture and it is absolutely PACKED with tailors - but, unlike Bangkok, most of them are geared towards women... Nikki was well happy! We found one tailor that seemed to have some quality stuff and Nikki bartered her little heart out to get her dress made. I don't know how she managed it, but we also came out having ordered a coat each (not that we need it, it's seems to be getting hotter every day now). With all that sorted we went for a nice walk and ended up exploring for hours! The staff told us that the beach was only about 15 minutes away and so, late this afternoon, we decided to check it out... almost an hour later we'd arrived. Granted, it was a nice beach and it was pretty big - but 15 minutes... is she having a laugh? We were way too lazy to walk back so we jumped on the back of two motorbikes instead - even they took about 10 minutes!

We got back to our hotel area and went into the tailors so that we could have fittings for our coats. Amazingly, Nikki's dress was finished too - and she LOOKED GORGEOUS! The tailors had done a really good job and I think Niks was really happy. A few minor adjustments were needed so we gave them back and went for some food and cheap beer.

Aww Nikki - not ANOTHER dress shop!

Tuesday 11th March 2008

We were moving on from Nha Trang today and heading for Hoi An, but our bus isn't until tonight so we took plenty of time getting ready and left at about 12pm. It seemed a little late for breakfast, but we still fancied food - so we went to the café over the road and ate there. Niks had egg and chips and I had egg, beans and mashed potatoes. Feeling absolutely stuffed, we decided to go for a long walk and headed back out to the Dam Market.

It was a beautiful day today and when we got back to town we were both really hot, so we treated ourselves to some ice-creams and went and relaxed on the beach. When it was almost time to leave we went to get some food and shared and an Indian meal.

The journey to Hoi An is through the night and we're not due to arrive until about 7am tomorrow morning. With this in mind we'd booked ourselves onto one of the sleeper buses. When we finally got on, it was absolutely ridiculous - some of the beds were really long and yet some were tiny. Also, most of them we're in a stupid position, so sleeping was going to be interesting!

Price of 'sleeper bus' upgrade: $6. Chance of a good nights sleep: NOT LIKELY!

Monday 10th March 2008

Our hotel gave us a wake up call this morning, because we'd booked to go on a tour of four of the islands that are just off the shore of Nha Trang. The girl on reception said that our bus would be picking us up about 8.45am, which left us loads of time to get some breakfast. Just to be on the safe side we went to a place just over the road and it was a good job we did, because they were the slowest cooks in the world! We finished just as the bus was arriving and were soon onboard and on our way down to the harbour.

The girl on reception sold us the more expensive ticket for this tour, because she said it was a more luxurious boat. I don't know if we've come to expect too much, but it wasn't... at all! It was an old rickety thing, but was good fun all the same - plus the staff were crazy! Our first stop was just off Mun Island. Once the boat had dropped it's anchor we were all able to jump into the beautiful bluey/green water and go snorkeling. Nikki didn't bother though, because she's still not feeling too good. When all the swimmers were back on the boat we moved onto the next island - Môt Island. When we were just off shore we were given our lunch... even though it was still only 11am!

Our next island was called Tam Island where we got off for some free time. On the way over the crew of the boat gave a karaoke performance. The main man was totally mental, dancing and singing at the top of his voice - he had everyone up dancing with him and it was all good fun. The final island of the day was called Mieu Island, where we got to visit the Trí Nguyên Aquarium. When we were back on dry land we came back to our hotel, where we had showers before going out for a Vietnamese meal. Afterwards we bought ourselves take-away coffees and a big bag of M&Ms to eat in our room while we watched The Da Vinci Code.

Typical, the olds leave... and so does the rain!

Sunday 9th March 2008

Our alarm woke us up at just after 5am this morning, so that we could make sure the olds were up and then wave them off. They were all packed and were soon banging on our door to say they were leaving. We walked them down to reception and the taxi turned up almost straight away. We said our goodbyes, gave Mum a cuddle to stop her crying (again) and then waved them off. With them safely on their way... we went back to bed!

Now that we're on our own again, we can return to getting up at a more respectable hour and slept until about 8am. Typically, the sun was shining today and there wasn't a cloud in the sky! We were going to try and go on a tour, but Nikki's cold seemed to be getting worse. Instead, we caught the bus out of town where we had a walk around before walking back. It was about 5km back to our hotel and it really took it out of poor Niks. At first she crashed out on the bed in our room and then when she woke up we went down to the beach, where she fell asleep again. This evening we went out for some food before coming back so that Nikki could get some (more) rest.

Well Nikki, it's just the two of us again Kid!

Saturday 8th March 2008

It was still raining when we got up this morning so we decided that, rather than wasting money on trips that might not go ahead, we'd entertain ourselves. We had some breakfast and then took a walk across town to the Dam Market. The market was huge and absolutely packed! We spent a couple of hours walking around had a great time bartering with the locals. Mum and Nikki had fun trying to buy some material for clothes - the woman drove a really hard bargain, but in the end we still walked away paying loads less than at home.

When we left the market this afternoon the sun was shining, so we came back to the hotel and then went for some lunch. Afterwards we all went down to the beach and played frisbee. Nikki tried to join in but she seems to be coming down with a cold, so she just sat and cheered us on. Mum and Keith were pretty good at frisbee, although at one point Mum did disappear down a hole as she was running to catch it and ended up in a heap on the floor.

As it was the olds last night, after chilling out in their room, we all got ready and went out for a meal. We let them choose and the decided on a little Italian place (that also sold Vietnamese food). When it came to order Nikki and Keith ordered pasta dishes, I had a Vietnamese dish and then we sat and waited for Mum to order her pizza... but she didn't - she shocked us all when she went for one of the local dishes - ordering a mixed fried rice! Everyone loved their meals, especially Mum and it was a great way to end the day and their holiday!

9 days! What sort of holiday is that?

Friday 7th March 2008

It was a good job I was charging my iPod next to the bed last night because, at about 3.30am this morning, Mum and Keith decided to work on their syncronised snoring routine. I've never heard anything like it. Mum sounded like she was gargling something in a low droning tone and Keith was obviously the lead in this little group - absolutely belting it out! Thankfully, the iPod blocked it out and I was able to sleep until 6.30am when the alarm went off. The bus was leaving at just after 7.30am and we all had to get ready.

We were under the impression that the journey from Dalat to Nha Trang was only a short one, but it turns out that's not the case! It will be... once they finish building the big road that connects the two, but for now it stands at about 6 hours and meant driving back down the huge mountain. Our driver was just as bad as yesterday and at one point, one of the passengers staggered to the front to beg for his life - and for the driver to slow down. He did thankfully, but only until we reached the bottom - then he sped off again.

When we arrived in Nha Trang it was raining and because we didn't have anywhere to stay, we dumped Mum and Keith in a small café with the bags and went off in search of somewhere nice for them. We were under a bit of pressure because, although he's not said as much, Keith wasn't impressed with last nights place - and we wanted them to stay somewhere nice for their last two days in Vietnam. We walked around for a while and then found a lovely little place called The Sun Hotel, which was only $10 a night. We told the olds and when they saw it, they were more than happy to stay there. With that sorted, we had some lunch and then waited for the rain to stop. It did - but only for a couple of minutes, so we went out exploring anyway. Nha Trang is a pretty big place - and is also a seaside town. The beach looks really nice and it has some huge waves. We walked all along the front and then in and out of the shops on the way back to our hotel.

So, one full day left for the olds... what a bummer!

Thursday 6th March 2008

We were up early for the free breakfast this morning, but also because we were moving on - and someone had decided that 7.30am was a good time for our coach to be leaving. We'd packed our bags last night so we were in no rush and pretty soon we were all being loaded in to a minibus, which drove us North for a couple of hours before we changed to a proper coach.

Our next stop is a place called Dalat and it is more inland than Mui Né. The drive had some pretty spectacular scenery, all through the rice fields, and at one point we had to drive up some of the biggest mountains I have ever seen. It should've been a nice experience, but our driver was a nutter and insisted on throwing the coach around the sharp corners at high speeds and overtaking at every opportunity. When we'd safely reached the top, all the open fields disappeared and the city of Dalat came in to view - it was like a secret place, built behind the mountain.

When we got off the coach, we couldn't be bothered to look around for accommodation and so we booked into the first hotel by the bus stop - the Lam Son Hotel. As we were only staying one night, we decided that we would share a room, because they had two double beds. The hotel wasn't the best and was a bit of a dump compared to the Canary Resort we left this morning, but Mum was up for staying there... Keith didn't seem quite so keen, but didn't say anything and just went with it. No sooner had we checked in, we went for some lunch and then straight out on a city tour.

Our tour was pretty good. The guide, Viet, was EXCELLENT and really knew his stuff, so we could ask him anything about Vietnamese history. The tour included riding on some cable cars that took us high above the hills and countryside, down to a place called True Lam Meditation Centre, where the Monks live. That was a very tranquil and peaceful place and had some beautiful grounds for us to explore. Next, we drove to a place called Bao Dai's Summer Palace - which used to belong to the King but, since he moved to France in the 70's, now stands empty. Next, we were taken to a hand embroidery picture gallery, where a group of women are taught from a young age to sew. Then, as they get older, they start to work on pictures that can take months at a time. The final pieces are stunning and from a distance look like large paintings or even photographs. Mum and Keith were very impressed and I think had it not been for the price, they would've probably come out with some pictures!

The last stop of the tour was at a place called 'The Crazy House'. We weren't really sure what it was, but I think some lady has taken it upon herself to build the weirdest hotel in the world! We were able to explore and look in some of the bedrooms (some had guests in, and their doors were locked). Each of the rooms had a different theme - usually an animal like a bear or bird of some sort. The thing about each room that put me off was the bed - not only were they weird shapes and sizes, but they were FILTHY! If it's gonna be empty for people to look around, they could at least put some clean sheets on... well, that's what I think anyway!

Tonight, we went out onto the streets of Dalat to look for some food and ending up going into a restaurant full of locals. It was nothing to me and Nikki, but I didn't have a clue what my Mum was going to eat? Fair play to her - she did try some stuff and seemed to quite enjoy her rice meal. Keith had noodle soup (again) and loved it (again).

Please, please, please, please, please... don't let them snore tonight!?

Wednesday 5th March 2008

We still had to set the alarm this morning - but only so we could go to the restaurant and take advantage of the free breakfast - so it wasn't too bad. Once we were up and about we all sat around the pool and spent the rest of our morning swimming and chatting. This afternoon we went for some food in one of the restaurants before going out on a trip around the local area.

Our guide picked us up for our excursion in an old American war jeep. I'm not sure if it dated back to the Vietnam war, or even earlier - but it was in amazing condition, and great fun to race around in! The first stop was just down the road from our resort and was a walk along the Fairy River (or Suoi Tien). The walk was really pretty - along the stream, which ran through the red canyons. At the end of the walk was a small waterfall. On the way back we walked alongside the rice fields, which were also very pretty.

Next, we jumped back into the jeep and were driven to some sand dunes outside of town. The drive was fantastic - driving through local villages. Seeing farmers hearding their animals or riding carts being drawn by huge cows. When we got to our destination, we climbed out and began our walk across the sand. After about 20 minutes we'd walked a really long way and it seemed like we were in the middle of the desert. On our way in, we were approached by a small boy who offered us a sheet of plastic to ride down - we took him up on his offer and Keith paid 30,000VD for two sheets. After climbing to the top of the highest dune, me and Nikki found that they were ABSOLUTELY USELESS. All we did was sink into the sand, covering ourselves from head to toe. To make things worse, when we got back we found that the going rate was 1,000VD per slide... we were well and truly stitched up! We headed back towards our hotel next and stopped on the way at some more sand dunes to watch the sun set - but it was a bit cloudy, so we came back early.

This evening, we went out to our favourite restaurant for some food. The place was absolutely packed and they only had one waitress working. We ate and drank loads and at the end of a nice evening, made sure we gave the poor girl a nice tip. Because we've got another early start tomorrow, we came back to pack our bags and then went to sleep.

Hey look here come some Westerners... lets inflate the prices by 300%. Good on you kid!

Tuesday 4th March 2008

Poor Mum and Keith, they've been in Vietnam for 4 days and haven't had a lay-in yet. Actually no, we've been doing it for 10 months - they'll just have to put up with it (ha ha). We were booked onto a coach, headed North, which was leaving at 7.30am. At 7.15am the olds started panicking, saying we needed to get going... At 7.31am, me and Nikki slowly strolled over. At just after 8am we boarded the coach and it was like nothing we had ever seen before. Instead of seats, people had to sit on sun-lounger like beds and lay out.

We got to Mui Né, which is a little seaside village, at about 2pm and it was one of the most comfortable journeys ever. Nikki, Mum and Keith all slept at some point - so I guess they found it comfortable too. As Mum and Keith have come a long way for their holiday, we let them book a nice place for the next two days and we checked in to the Canary Beach Resort. We checked in to our separate rooms and then went out to find somewhere to eat. Afterwards we all sat by our lovely big pool and chilled out. Tonight, after a couple of hours of doing nothing we all went out for a meal (although Keith didn't eat) and spent the rest of the night chatting and drinking.

Hey Vietnam, nice beach!

Monday 3rd March 2008

This morning was one of the most eventful and memorable of our whole trip so far. First, when I was in the shower, Nikki managed to drop her engagement ring on to the floor of our room. Of course in a movie it would've bounced around for a bit - but not for her, nope - it went straight through one of the cracks in the floor and into the river below... d'oh! When I got out she was in a real state and yet, for some reason, the lady from the home-stay was in fits of laughter. Luckily, her husband had more sympathy for her and was soon stripped off and in the river. Like some sort of superman, after only two minutes he'd pulled it from the muddy water and returned it to my teary Wife. Afterwards he just sat on the side, dried his feet and then went back about his business.

After some sort of Vietnamese sausage sandwich for our breakfast, it was time to leave, so we thanked our hosts, gave the man a $20 'reward' for finding Nikki's engagement ring and then left. We were told that, because the water levels had dropped, we would have to walk for a bit before meeting up with the others. Mum and Keith seemed quite happy for that and even seemed to be enjoying themselves as they crossed the small tree-trunk bridge. Mum's face soon changed (in both look and colour) when she realised that we'd walked far enough - and the rest of the journey would be on the back of a moped... Rock on! For someone who was apparently terrified, i've never heard someone laugh as much as my Mum on the bike. Me, Nikki and Keith loved it! The ride wasn't far - just through all the back lanes of the small village and after about 10 minutes it was out on to the main roads, which was when the fun started. As we approached any junctions, instead of slowing to a stop (as the signs suggest) our drivers would just press the horn and seemingly hope for the best - weaving through the crossing traffic. We made it safely to the market, which was where we picked up another boat, and had to walk in amongst the locals. It was an AMAZING experience and somewhere we definitely wouldn't have seen had we stayed at the hotel. As well as all the lush fruit and veg', there were hundreds of animals (both dead and alive) up for sale - and we were the only Western looking people in sight.

We met the others on the boat and apparently the hotel they all stayed in last night wasn't up to much - so I think the olds made the right choice in 'roughing it'. We were taken out into the middle of the river, where we were boarded a smaller boat and were taken around the brilliant Cai Rang floating markets. It was a great way to take in the scenery and watch how the locals on this part of the Mekong River did their shopping. The rest of the morning was spent visiting a noodle and rice factory, which were both pretty impressive. Vietnam is one of the biggest exporters of rice in the world!

This afternoon we stopped back in Can Tho for some lunch. We decided to go to a small restaurant where Nikki and Keith both had prawn dishes. DareDevil Mum pushed the boat out and had an egg sarnie with chips and I ordered eel. I don't know what I was expecting, but was shocked when a whole crispy wiggly fish was bought out on a bed of leaves. I have to say, I was really impressed and it tasted lovely. I did feel a little bit bad though when I went to the toilet afterwards and saw some live ones in a big tank.

We drove back to Ho Chi Minh and arrived at almost 7pm this evening. We collected our bags from the Luan Vu guest house and then checked in to the Mi Mi, which is where me and Niks stayed on our first night. Mum and Keith's standards are obviously dropping because, even though it's nice and clean, it's not as nice as the Luan Vu - but I suppose after a night in the forest, any bed with a proper mattress looks lovely. We dumped our bags and then went out for the night - ending up in our little bar that serves the 12.5p beer.

WOW, what a day! I don't think any of our holidays will ever be the same again!

Sunday 2nd March 2008

We had internet in our room last night and i'm happy to say I was able to follow the progress of Bristol City storming to the top of the Championship. After waking up in a very good mood, we had some breakfast and then waited outside our guest house for our bus. We were going on another tour - to the Mekong Delta - and this time it was an overnight trip (I can't wait to see where Mum and Keith have to sleep).

The first part of the tour involved driving to a place called Cai Be, where we boarded a boat and sailed the Mekong River to a place called Vinh Long and the An Binh islands. Here we got to visit a coconut sweet factory and then moved onto another island where we had lunch. To get there, we had to get in small boats and locals rowed us through the maze of small canals. After lunch all four of us borrowed bikes and went for a cycle around the local village. We didn't go too far because the bikes weren't very safe and nor were the roads!

At about 3pm we got back on our boat and traveled back to the mainland, where we had to catch a bus for a three-hour journey to a place called Can Tho. This was where everyone was going to be staying, but the four of us had paid extra to stay in a local village on a home-stay. When everyone else walked to their hotel, we were bundled into a taxi and driven to this tiny little port area where we got on a small boat, driven by a little old man who didn't seem to care when he kept smashing it in to the pillars on a rickety old bridge. The sun was setting now and we had a lovely peaceful cruise down the river before arriving in our village.

No sooner had we got out of our boat, the family were all over us. Their place seems like it's in the middle of nowhere and I don't think they get many visitors. They had prepared a great spread of food for us and were really excited about our company - fussing over us and offering us more rice or pumpkin soup. We had a great time and even Mum tried some of the Vietnamese food. After tea, we sat around chatting under the stars before asking to be shown to our 'rooms'. Ours was just a hut above the river and our bed a pile of wafer thin mattresses on the floor, with just a mosquito net for company. Mum and Keith had more walls than us - they had four, and they even had a bed, although I think we got the better deal because they didn't have the thin mattresses - so for them it was like sleeping on a table - ha ha.

Night night Mum and Keith... Sweet dreams!

Saturday 1st March 2008

Before going to bed last night we booked ourselves on a tour for today, which took us to the Cu Chi Tunnels, just North of Ho Chi Minh, in a place called Ben Dinh. We arranged to meet the parents down in reception at about 7am. As their room was on the floor above, they said they'd knock on our door as they passed - and at 7.03am we were starting to worry (not really, but if it had been the other way round, Mum would have been frantic). It turned out, the reason they were late was because they'd set their alarm wrong and had overslept. Stupid olds, I don't know how they'd get by without us!

After breakfast, we walked round to meet the coach and were soon on our way. The journey took about an hour or so and I think Mum and Keith had now accepted the standard of driving over here... not! Thankfully though, we arrived safely. On the way, scattered randomly around the city, we spotted things left from the Vietnam War (or American War as it's called here) - including a tank and some missiles!

The Cu Chi Tunnels are what the Viet Cong built when they were hiding from the Americans during the Vietnam War. After watching a short video we were taken out into the forest and shown around. We didn't really know where we were going when all of sudden we came to a stop. The next thing we knew was a man dressed in an army uniform uncovered a tiny hole in the ground, called a Spider Hole (it was about 6 x 15 inches) and climbed in, before covering himself up again... of course - I had to have a go and, i'm happy to say, I fitted in quite snugly! The rest of the tour involved coming across an old tank, which has become stranded because it's sat on a land-mine(!) and then crawling through the network of tunnels, some of which are about 8 meters underground. They're only tiny and Mum climbed down and then straight back out again. The Vietnamese used to spend up to 5 hours in the tunnels - traveling as far as 10km. Keith made it 40 meters and me and Nikki 60 - and THAT was hard going. After catching our breath, we were taken to a shooting range, where me and Keith got to fire live bullets from a real AK47 - the standards of safety were incredibly relaxed, but it was AMAZING fun! Rather than travel back to Ho Chi Minh by bus, the four of us jumped in a boat which took us on a lovely cruise down the river.

When we got back to the city, we stopped for some lunch. Me, Nikki and Keith all ate some of the local cuisine, but sadly Mum wasn't quite as adventurous - instead tucking into a nice Vietnamese pizza and chips. After finishing our meals, we sat and watched the hustle & bustle on the streets of Ho Chi Minh and the took the 'Olds' to the Ben Thanh Markets. We didn't get back until quite late and when we did Mum and Keith went off to bed but me and Niks went out for food, coming back later.

Good ol' Mum - comes to Vietnam and eats Italian food... you gotta love her!

Friday 29th February 2008

We woke up at about 7am this morning, because the guest house which we're booked into for tonight said that we could come round for breakfast this morning. We checked out of our place and crossed over the busy road before dumping our bags and tucking in to our egg sarnies.

After breakfast we went for a wander to try and get our bearings. On first impressions (well, in the light anyway), are that Vietnam seems very cool! There are millions of motorbikes on the roads - each carrying anything from 1-4 people! We've also learnt that the rules of the road are: The vehicle with the loudest horn rules and ignore everything else ever learned about driving - plus, ANYTHING goes At one point we saw a man riding along on his motorbike, with a huge tower fridge-freezer strapped to the back! After much traffic dodging, we made it to the Ben Thanh Markets, which was definitely a new experience. No sooner had we walked through the doors, we were grabbed by small Vietnamese women, trying to sell us something - some even separated me from Nikki and started asking me if I was happy?

This afternoon, we hung around the area of our guest house before catching the bus out to the airport. After paying 200,000VD for a taxi last night, we were much happier to pay only 3,000VD each this time. We got to the airport nice and early and had a coffee and slice of cake while we waited for Mum and Keith to arrive from Hong Kong. They didn't take long to come through customs and when they did we were waiting right outside the doors for them. They didn't see us at first, but as soon as they did my Mum did a cute little skip before running over (in tears of course). We found a cheaper taxi and soon had them back to the Luan Vu guest house to check in. We didn't stay in long, we soon were back at the small bar where we drank last night and the beer was flowing! After a few short hours, we'd drank 17 beers, Mum had had a diet coke and all we'd spent was £2.50!

12.5 pence a beer... I think Keith is gonna like it here!

Thursday 28th February 2008

We got up this morning, but didn't need to check out until 12pm, so we went to the Seven11 and bought ourselves some breakfast before going back and sitting by one of the hotel pools. At just before 12pm we walked round to the Khao San road and caught a bus to the airport. We were able to check straight in for our flight and managed to get the Emergency Exit seats, which was good. Afterwards, we went and got some lunch - but Nikki's wasn't very nice, her meat was a bit dodgy. It didn't matter though, she had a Burger King for her afters!

The flight to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam only took just over an hour and we were soon in a taxi heading for the city. We were a bit annoyed, because we asked before we left how much we could expect to pay and were told one should cost no more that 100,000 Vietnamese Dong... but ours did! When the meter cranked up to about 92,000VD, we asked if we were close? Our driver said no, and when we started questioning it - he got terrified and started showing us the sights - the wally, it was pitch black outside!

Our ride cost us 200,000VD in the end, and when we got out we had to try and find somewhere to stay. It turned out pretty easy and we got a nice cheap room right on the main road with all the bars. With our bags safely locked away we went out for a drink and found a nice little place that was selling beer (about 3/4 pints) for 4,000VD... which is about 12.5 pence - woohoo. Our rip-off taxi ride was long forgotten.

Gooooooood Morning... I mean Evening, Vietnam!