Boats, Books and Border Crossings

Today was the earliest start for a long time - up at 6, we had breakfast by 7 and were on a bus or the short journey to the pier in Chau Doc.

At the pier we left our packs and went in pairs into small rowing boats. We were then taken a short distance up the river to the floating villages. Similar to the floating bars and houses in Halong Bay, these villages are completely free floating at the side of the Mekong River. We stopped at one of the houses and watched a feeding at a fish farm that are set underneath the majority of the large houses. The fish swarmed for the food splashing water all over the platform outside the house, as they clearly struggled to get to the top of the packed cages to get their food.

After the fish farm we continued another 30mins or so up the Mekong to a small island, inhabited by the Cham people. Our guide showed us exactly why the houses in this region are built on stilts; on one stilt there were marks to show previous flood water levels; in 2000 they rose to around 3meters higher than the river level was today! That is some serious rain!

At the village our group split in two; those heading for Phnom Penh, and those heading back to Saigon. The Cambodia group boarded a larger boat and we started heading up the river towards the next country.
It took about 2hours to get to the Vietnam side border station. En-route we enjoyed the sights of trading and life on the Mekong. By coincidence we all finished our books on this stretch of the journey. Jack Kerouac's 'On The Road' was a fantastic read, making me eager to extend my travelling in future and experience new methods and ways to travel. I'm now reading Rosie's copy of 'The Killing Fields' - having seen the film I'm looking forward to recalling the history of Cambodia in the late 1970s under the Khmer Rouge, as we travel through.

We arrived at the first border station and were handed our passports, complete with Visas ready to be stamped. We waited about an hour at the first border check; before boarding another, smaller boat than the first, with even more people than were on the first! - only that kind of logic occurs in SE Asia!
That boat took us over the border to the Cambodian station, where we all had our visas stamped - all ready to proceed to Phnom Penh. Then it was back on the small noisy boat to do the next stage; 3hours by boat, before a final 1hour bus journey to Phnom Penh.

The boat made Wightlink look like a luxury liner! But we endured it and made the most of the cheering children shouting and waving from the river bank and the amazing golden pagodas as we sat and played cards with the Greek and some German girls.


The boat arrived in the small town of Neak Luong; which was a strange coincidence as it is the town that features in 'The Killing Fields' at the beginning: the town that is a accidentaly bombed by American B52s. So I was reading about the place that we were passing through!


We are on the minibus now for the last hour of the journey. Hopefully we will meet up with Andy when we get there, as he arrives sometime today. Then go out for a meal later on.

A long day of travelling today, but excited to be in a new country and to meet the others for the chairty work.

Mekong Adventures Day 2

Up early today, Ben and I made the most of the free breakfast at the hotel; breadrolls, fried rice, real jam and coffee were eagerly consumed to set us up for another day in the Mekong.

By 7:30 we were all on a small dragon boat back on the river. At first it was onto the main river to see a huge floating market, putting yesterday's to shame; this one was full of sellers and buyers in the early hours of the morning.

From there we passed into a tributary and then swung into an even smaller stream, only just wide enough for two dragon boats to pass. Apart from the single cylinder engine that powered the long prop shaft steering the boat, the small river was very quite. Just the sound of children screaming out "hello" and waving frantically from the river banks also broke the silence.

About an hour down the stream we pulled up on the bank and had the oppourtunity to walk through a series of fruit trees over small bamboo bridges; sampling the different fruits by cutting them open with our penknifes. At the end of the walk, the guide showed us to a sheltered hut, just as it started to rain, where we were given even more fresh fruit - the mango out here is fantastic! We got speaking to a mother and son from Greece; the majority of the conversation seemed to be about Greek based films; 'Troy' and '300' were Ben and my suggestions, 'Mumma Mia' and 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' were the girls - the Greeks seemed a little bothered by the last one!

On the river again we headed back to Cam Tho; a brief stop at a market, where Ben bought a duck shaped alarm clock! Then we went by bus back to the hotel. It was midday when we arrived there and we had to wait until 3 o'clock until our bus would arrive to take us to Chau Doc (the last town in Vietnam). So, as we all had a fair bit of Dong to use we went to a large supermarket nearby (the first we have found in the whole country) and bought various things. Then we also bought some bright orange ponchos to use in the villages.

As I write this we are on the bus going west into the sunset. The river beside the road is still busy with people swimming and boats taking every kind of cargo imaginable. Vietnam is quite
literally behind us; Cambodia lays ahead.

"Good Evening Vietnam" - You haven't failed to impress.

First Day In The Mekong

We were on the bus to the Mekong Delta at 8 this morning; heading out of the hustle of Saigon, into the rice paddies of the Mekong Region.

We had about 4hours on the bus, luckily we slept for most of the journey, then arrived at our first stop at the floating market. We all piled off the bus and onto a small boat, getting chatting to a nice Aussie family that we travelling the length of Vietnam as well. On the boat we passed the floating market - nothing overly dramatic, but a different way of life that we had not seen yet; people living their whole lives and conducting all their work on the small self-made boats. Then came the good part; we went ashore on one of the islands and went round sampling a load of foods from the region: honey, popped rice cakes, lemon tea, rice crackers and all sorts of other interesing things like banana toffee. Pepped up on sugar we got back on the boat and out onto the main Mekong River. We went a long way up the river then into a smaller tributary; whereafter about half an hour of watching people swimming, working and fishing in the river as we motored up it, we stopped for lunch.

Lunch was good, but then we found out that the place had alligators in one of the large enclosures at the back of the restaurant. They were cool, and a lot better than the Vietnamese singing that came afterwards - squealing is an understatement! - we went down to the river to watch the boats instead.

Back on the boat it was a short journey up the river before we stopped at another market - it was a lot more "local" than most of the markets that we have been to and it was amazing to see all the masses of motorbike parts and other things that were on sale there.

We finished the day by getting on the bus that had followed us round by land. It took is on a one hour journey to Cam Tho where we are staying tonight.

In the room relaxing at the moment, before heading out for a meal and to check out the area later on. A great first day in the Mekong. Looking forward to more markets and boats tomorrow!

The Endless Saigon Walking Tour

Late start again today - none of us woke up until about 1030, and then ended up having a long breakfast of pancakes; so didn't actually get underway on finishing our walking tour that we started two days ago until about 1130.

We went back to the big market first and did a fair bit of browsing - Ben had to buy a new hat because he lost his one he bought two days ago already - Opps! The others bought a few things aswell. It's good fun just walking around and bartering for prices - especially when they drop their price to 10% of what they were originally asking! Also if you walk through the clothes section then you get pretty much mugged by all the women trying to drag you in to their stalls to look at their shirts etc. - Ben pretty much got kidnapped by one lady.

From the market we went to the Notre Dame style cathedral - quite interesting as it is almost a replica of Notre Dame (I went there last september on a cycling tour), but all of the ornate stain-glass windows have been holed or boarded over as they were all bombed out during the Second World War. After just passing past the cathedral (we couldn't get in) we went to the Re-Unification Palace.

At the palace we had an interesting tour by an english speaking guide - I'm pleased to say that it was alot more impresssive that the Summer Palace in Dalat, and it has a lot of significance as it was the household of the last ever president of South Vietnam, and the place that was "liberated" by the VietCong when the took control after the Americans left the country.

After the Palace we went through a few markets, including the War Remnants market - full of rusty dog tags and hammocks etc left behind from the war. It's debatable how many of them are genuine, but it was cool to see at least. All pretty shattered after our massive trek Ben and I stopped at a street side stall for some food then we all met back at the hotel. Still pretty wacked out; we are heading out for a meal later.

Off to the Mekong Delta tomorrow - just two days left in Vietnam!!

Cu Chi Tunnels and One Hell Of A Rainstorm

This morning we were all hanging a little bit. Rather too many Beer Hois last night - far too tempting for 25p a pint.

Anyway, we got on a bus to the Cu Chi Tunnels around 8 and settled down for the 60km to the outskirts of the city (it's a big city). Actually we couldn't settle down for long - we had a tour guide who was intent on welcoming us with a song - if you've heard Vietnamese singing, it's not great at the best of times, especially with a hangover. Luckily after she was done with her serenading, she told us some very interesting history of the city.

We stopped off at a factory that was set up for the people that were affected by Agent Orange and the genetic problems that the Dioxins caused. Although it was good that the people had some employment as we were able to watch them at work, it was debatable whether the items on sale were in fact their produce, as there was a warehouse of cardboard boxes that looked suspiciously like imported cargo. So, none of us bought anything, but we welcomed the stop at least.

We got to the Cu Chi Tunnels and were led into a short film cinema. What we were shown what was possibily the most anti-American propoganda film that I have ever seen; quote: "The crazy devil warmongers that bombed our innocent village". It wasn't exactly a balanced viewpoint, but would have made an interesting history source to show the hatred of the Americans caused by the war.

The tunnel network at Cu Chi is mindblowing: there are 200km of tunnels in total, that took 26years to build (started during the French occupation), at times there were 18,000people living in the tunnels! The entrances were so well concealed under leaves, and the airholes (made from hollow bamboo tubes) covered by termite mounds; that the Americans could barely find the complex despite it being only 5km away from the main South Vietnam/American Military base, with 15,000 Americans living there! The infastruture that the Vietcong had was tremendous and they were clearly well supported by the local South Vietnamese peoplel; suggesting that the south actually wanted Vietcong victory; so the USA were fighting against the whole country and not just the North Vietnamese!

However you have to see a balance in the argument when you look at the examples of the traps that the Vietcong left for the Americans: hidden trap doors that swing open when you step on them, sending the victim down into a hole full of barbed bamboo spears! In any other context I think that would be classified as torture, just as much as the use of napalm etc!
We looked a a few of the other graphic weapons - one of which was landmines made from unused TNT from stolen American bombs - talk about turning your weapons against you! Then we proceeded to the worlds most unsafe firing range - people could stand behind any stranger and watch them fire an AK47 or a semi automatic rail gun for about $10! It's pretty obvious that health and safety does not exist out here - in the CCF you have to be 400yards away, not 4yards!

The last thing that we did at the tunnels was actually getting down in them and crawling through a series of very dark (pitch black at times) and deep (10metres underground at times) network. Ben bailed after 120meters or so and Jess, Rosie and I after about another 60metres more - it was literally like a sweaty, dark Playzone underground...very crazy, but very cool, I don't understand how the Vietcong spent up to a week down there though; 5 minutes was enough for us!

Back in Saigon (the area at the centre of Ho Chi Minh City), Ben and I had the best Pho Noodle soup that we have had in the whole time that we have been out here - and they were huge portions; considering going back there for dinner! Then when we came to pay for the meal Rose realised that she had lost her money belt - passport and all! Very panicked she and Jess ran back to the tour operators - luckily they confirmed that it had been left at the shop at the tunnels and they can send it through to her on tomorrow's tour - thank god! Meanwhile, Ben and I were paying for the meal and got stranded in the restaurant by the biggest tropical storm that I have ever seen. We are talking bucketfulls - the street was flooded a foot deep within 5mins and was still rising. without waterproofs we decided that we had to make a frantic dash back to the hotel - Soaked!

This evening is going to be an early nighter I think - potentially meeting up with John from work who is in Saigon this evening.

One interesting morning and one crazy afternoon. More markets and monuments tomorrow as we finish off the walking tour of the city.

The Saigon Waterpark

Today we had a late start; recovering from the early start the day before. After having a pancake breakfast at a local American restaurant we got in a taxi to go the Damsen Waterpark on the outskirts of town: we had decided that we needed a day of pure amusement after the heat and education of yesterdays museums and galleries.

The waterpark was fantastic; a series of slides, pools and blow-up-boat flume rides. There were a couple of classic ones; a very long and very fast straight down flume; which gave you the worlds worst wedgie! A one where you sat in a three man boat and went up and down a huge u-shaped ramp at great speed and one that was an aerial runway over a huge pool under it, that suddenly stopped in the middle making you let go and go slamming into the water.

Actually, one of the most enjoyable and certainly the most tiring was what they called the "Lazy River" where you each sat in a rubber ring and were taken along by the current. However, it was far from "Lazy" as there were so many Vietnamese children in there that when the river bottlenecked and the rings bunched up, it turned into a huge waterfight! For some reason I swear that it seemed to be all the Vietnamese were against us as well!

We are all absolutely shattered now though; we made some quick peanut butter rolls as a late lunch, then collapsed in the hotel room. This evening we are meant to be going "out" but we all seem so tired that I'm not sure how that will work out. Anyway, a great day, even if we were bullied a little bit by 9year old Vietnamese kids!

Hoping to head to the Cu Chi Tunnels tomorrow, which should be interesting. Then one more day in Ho Chi Ming City before heading off on the Mekong River tour for three days finishing in Phnom Penh. Boy this month has gone quickly!

The Sights of Saigon

Just writing this and realized there is a Gecko crawling over my feet - that is what that tickling was! Anyway, down to business:

Last night was great; watching the football in a rooftop bar and very pleased with the England result. Through to the knockouts!
This morning was not so great - yesterday afternoon when we arrived we hadn't realized that we had picked a hotel right next to a covered over demolition site! So this morning's wake up call was an hydraulic drill meters away from our heads at 6:45 in the morning! Not great when we had had a late night watching the football. Ben and I promptly got up and spent an hour looking round for another reasonable hotel - there are so many, but also so many rip-offs. Eventually we found one, and went back to get the girls before checking in.

At about 10 we headed out on the walking tour around Saigon. First stop was the largest market in the city; and boy was it big! We spent an hour in there are still only saw about a quarter of it. I bought a Saigon branded Indiana Jones style hat - trying to keep the sun off! and a very nice collarless linen shirt - not bad when together they only cost me $5!
From the market we continued in the heat, getting a little bit lost down the back streets, to The Fine Arts Museum. That was surprisingly very interesting; with a mixture of contemporary, "politically correct" and wartime art. The displays showed the influence of the communist government on the paintings; with vast displays of similar style paintings and artifacts of Ho Chi Minh and other leaders that were prized as pieces of art (debatable when one of the artifacts is his water bottle and hat!).

After the art gallery we continued seeing a few sights; including the outside of the Ho Chi Minh Museum (lots of tanks etc) and a noodle bar where Bill Clinton ate. We eventually stopped at a fantastic restaurant where we grabbed a bite to eat and recovered a bit with cold drinks.

Full on our lunches we went round the corner to the War Remnants Museum. This was by far the most interesting display/museum that we have visited. With tanks, helicopters and planes outside only being the start of it. Inside revealed a whole side of the Vietnam War, which I had known little about, despite studying it for A-Level. The whole downstairs of the museum demonstrated the effects of the chemical warfare used by the USA in Vietnam, in particular Agent Orange. It showed the horrific after-effects of the chemicals, including genetic mutations and skin damage. Upstairs was a timeline of the Vietnam War with illustrations; it was interesting to see the "Then and Now" pictures of the Vietnamese towns and cities that we have visited. There was also an area of propaganda posters demonstrating the huge anti war movement and an area outside that showed the inhumane conditions that POWs were kept in by the French and later Americans on Phu Quoc island. Although the museum is hugely bias against the Americans, it was incredibly eye opening to see the effects on the infrastructure, people and psychology of Vietnam.

All feeling rather tired and a little silent after the museum, we headed back to the hotel via a cold drink stop in the central park, to get away from the noise: The number of motos here is crazy; don't think that we will be hiring ones as it looks like suicide!
This evening we're going to have a meal and an early night I expect, as we all had an unintentional early start. Tomorrow we are off to a water park!!

Another exciting day in an exciting city!

The Long Road To Saigon

Today was a big travelling day; up a 6, we were on the bus by 7:30, after grabbing a few last fresh bread rolls from the bakery.

The bus was thankfully quite empty and Ben and I could sprawl across the back seats to overcome the cronic lack of leg room that is built into most Vietnamese buses (they are all quite short I guess). The journey was pretty uneventful up to lunchtime, with just one unmade road with hairpins down the side of a mountain to add a little excitement. We had lunch when we pulled in at a nature reserve restaurant. We just ate peanut butter rolls though.

Back on the road in the afternoon things were a little more interesting; there was a huge downpour; serious tropical rain, coinciding with the rapidly rising temperatures. Reading Jack Kerouac at the time, and how he was scared out of his skin by Dean barreling across America at 110mph in a borrowed car, as he cowered in the back. It related rather strongly with my feelings as we hammered along passed overturned trucks in the waterlogged ditches.

We arrived in Saigon around 4 - very long journey. Seems like a great place though. We found a decent hotel in the heart of the backpacker area. Then went out and had an early dinner at a local restaurant. Tonight we are going to find a bar to watch the England game in and talk about the possibilties for the Mekong River Cruise.

A long journey - but looks like Saigon is well worth the wait. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Exploring the Centre of Dalat

We seem to struggle to get it together quickly in the mornings at the moment; despite the fact that we were all awake before 9, we didn't leave from the hotel for a day of sightseeing until past 11, which is a bit of a shame really as I certainly didn't fly all this way to sit in a hotel room waiting around.

Last night we found a good restaurant that did the best pancakes in Vietnam so far and served British food like apple crumble and bread and butter pudding! Although, it wasn't exactly the largest portions - I miss the oppourtunity for seconds that you get at home! Anyway we went back there for breakfast this morning; going back to the hotel to grab some stuff before heading out on the walking tour at 11.

The first sight on the self directed tour was "The Crazy House" - voted one of the top 25 strangest buildings in the world. The house that is now operated as a guest house, was very interesting; build in the shape of a mangled tree the rooms are dotted in random places, with tiny staircases leading all around. We explored the weird architecture; it seemed to us a bit like a giant climbing frame with the occasional bedroom in it's upmost reaches - quite amusing at bringing back childhood memories.

The second stop was the Bao Dai Summer Palace - this was built for the Bao Dai dynasty in the 1940s, and although it looks rather like a post WW2 bungalow in the furnishings - it is quite a grand building in size - remining us all of the hotel in 'The Shining'! It was interesting from a historical perspective as well; as it was abandoned in 1954 with the Geneva Convention, and it demonstrated the vast difference in attitude to architecture by the Vietnamese in comparison to say a British 'Summer House' like Osbourne House.

From the Palace, which is position high on the hill above Dalat, we headed back down towards town; intending to look at the Dalat Cathedral; however we got caught in a heavy shower and as the cathedral seemed to be closed, we just sheltered in the porch.

Then it was back into town to grab a late lunch and we headed back to the hotel again for a rest; we all seem to be a bit tired at the moment for some reason.

This evening we are going to head out to have a look at some more of the town and market and then go back to the restaurant that we went to last night; as we are keen to have a bit more of the good food; and as we left a tip last night, we are hoping for bigger portions if we ask for them - strange how stuff like that works our here!

Tomorrow we are heading off on the 8hr bus journey to Ho Chi Minh City: yet another big change again I am sure!

Dalat - The Roof of Vietnam

Dalat is certainly a different presentation of Vietnam. Today was all about exploring this new side.

We slept like logs last night after the lack of sleep the night before. Waking up around 9 we headed to the bakery; one result of the French influence in the area is fantastic cake stalls and bakeries. We bought fresh baguettes and fillings for lunch and cakes and pastries for breakfast. Scoffing down the pastries with much enjoyment, we were on the motos by 1030.

We headed south, and within 5km we came to the Tuyen Lam Lake - it was a fantastic sight - a mix that is rarely found: dragon boats floating around in a highland lake.

From there we headed down the huge mountain pass that leads up to Dalat and onto the highway that leads toward Ho Chi Minh City. We continued along this road for a while; looking for the "Chicken Village" - a village with a giant chicken statue in the middle of it. Sadly we never found it! That was a bit of a shame as it sounds pure comedy.

Instead of dwelling on the lost chicken search we went further down the road to the Gogah Ecopark. The main feature of the park is the impressive waterfall, and the canyon that you can climb down into. We had lunch at some tables overlooking the waterfall. Also in the park are a series of "Old Vietnamese Houses", these were slightly less impressive; more a series of shacks, we didn't dwell on them long and got back on the road.

Continuing further south we couldn't find the second waterfall that we were hoping to see and had to turn back as we were now 55km from Dalat. However, on the way back we saw a signpost to Bao Dai Falls that were 12km off the main highway.

The falls were well worth the detour and the precious petrol though. They were absolutely stunning. We were the only people there and it seemed like a hidden beauty. The falls must have been 100m high and 60m wide. The water seemed incredibly powerful and we took videos to demonstrate it. It was also possible to clamber a long way down towards the foot of the falls; which gave even more of an impressive angle. We left the falls feeling that it was well worth the 24km detour even if we were all looking a bit bow-legged by now and still had 45km to go back to Dalat.

We took it reasonably slow on the way back to the highway; it seemed that the falls had been a hidden beauty as the people working in the paddy fields around the road seemed shocked to see white people. Back on the Highway we stuck to a steady pace to try and conserve fuel - having to put 1/2 a litre in each bike to try and keep them going. As we ascended to Dalat the temperature fell dramatically and we urged our bikes up the 10km ascent, with the little fuel they had left.

Back at the hotel our minds and bums were grateful that we had finished the day - the concentration of riding 130km in Vietnam on a moped is intense! And the seats aren't exactly a feather cushions. It had been a very enjoyable day though, with some spectacular views again.

This evening we are going to find a good restaurant and perhaps sample some of the local wine and coffee.

Dalat certainly shows the amazing diversity in Vietnam.

Journey to Dalat

We had a very fun evening last night; went to a great restaurant where we were given free cocktails and then went to a bar next door where they were playing the number matching game (everyone is given a number and you have to find the person with the same number somewhere in the bar to get a free drink each); so we got another free drink! In the bar we also very weirdly bumped into some of Rosie's friends that went to Churches - so we had a good chat with them. There was also a group of three brothers from Florida who were a good laugh. We ended up going down to the sailing club beach party and sneaking in with the yanks. That was quite amusing although rather westernised to be honest. Finally we ended up going for a paddle in the sea before heading back to the hotel around 3 in the morning.

That late night seemed fine at the time, but the drinks and the small amount of sleep caught up with us when we had to be up at 6 in the morning to catch the bus to Dalat. Luckily it was one of the few times we were relieved to see it was a sleeper bus. So we all settled down for a well needed sleep catch up.

When I woke up we were well into the highlands - yet again we had a crazy driver - swinging the coach round hairpin bends while having a swing of water and overtaking other buses! Mental! I couldn't get back to sleep with that going on! But what also kept us all awake now was the absolutely spectacular views. The mountains and passes in the Alps seem nothing compared to this - huge green treecovered peaks up in the clouds - continuing for 75km down to the sea and Nha Trang, where we had come from. This really is an incredibly beautiful country.

We arrived in Dalat at 11, an hour earlier than scheduled (that shows how ridiculously fast the driver was going!). We booked into a great hotel just where the bus dropped us off.

Dalat is very different from the rest of the places we have been to in Vietnam so far. At around 1500m it is far cooler and looks more like a French ski resort than an Asian city; dating back to the French influence in the area.

We went and had a great lunch at a local restaurant then retired to the hotel for a bit; feeling a lot better! The girls stayed in the hotel, catching up with diaries and sleep, while Ben and I went to scout round the market: it was interesting, but most of the highland attractions are in the area surrounding Dalat; so tomorrow we intend to hire motos and explore the area, with it's waterfalls and hillside villages.

This evening is going to be a relaxed one - another meal and an early night I think.

Today was yet another day of being impressed by the beauty and diversity that Vietnam has to offer.

The last beach day for a while

Lazy start to the day today. Ben and I went and bought bananas and bread to snack on while at the beach, after having a breakfast of eggs and toast.

We went back to the spot by the sailing club and grabbed a couple of sunloungers.

Pretty easy going day; I went for a couple of long swims in the beautifully clear water. Ben, Rose and I started playing catch with a tennis ball; an old Vietnamese guy got involved and then so did the whole of his extended family it seemed. One of Ben's balls deflected off a wave and hit a guy in the face - luckily they saw the funny side!

Apart from that we had a chilled out one; speeding through the "On the Road" and really enjoying the read.

A very enjoyable day; although I was rather wishing that I was at home doing the Round the Island Race. Still, I'm excited for this evening; we're going to a great restaurant and then down to a beach party at the sailing club. I'm also really looking forward to Dalat tomorrow - they say the mountain biking is great - result!

We've had a great time in Nha Trang and on the beach; big change again tomorrow; bring on the highlands!

Mudbaths and Markets in Nha Trang

We had a great evening last night; we bought some beers and went to the beach for a chat. Really nice without the crowds and being able to look out into the China sea and see all the ships offshore. Afterwards we went for a great meal at a local restaurant near the beach, we were still a little hungry though after dinner and spotted the most awesome Italian icecream parlour over the road - caramel icecream in a waffle cone has never tasted so good!

This morning we found a nice cafe and had omlette and fried eggs for breakfast. Then we rented pushbikes and headed off towards the mudbath spa.

On the way we stopped off at the famous Cham Towers on the outskirts of Nha Trang. The towers are ancient religious temples - some dating back to the 7th Century. They were very impressive to look at and interesting to watch the religious activities. It was also quite amusing when we found a headless statue and all had to have a go at posing behind it.

From the towers we went down a small winding track through the backstreets that after a while came to the Hot Mud Baths. We paid the $5 entrance fee and enjoyed a great morning. First was a mineral mud bath that was hilarious but also very relaxing and great for the sunburn. We then went into a hot mineral water bath - which was very relaxing despite being seriously hot!
From there it was down to the pool and jacuzzi - we chilled out there until around 3; talking about some random stuff. Then had a late lunch at the resort before heading back to Nha Trang.

On the way back we swung by the Cho Dam Market and had a quick browse; I didn't buy anything, but Ben and Rosie bought masses of Cream Os (like Oreos) because they are doing a day of just eating them tomorrow - think I will stick to the rice and omlettes, however boring they get!

We also had a ride around the city trying to find the place to confirm our bus to Dalat, which we have done successfully for the 20th June in the morning - we were pleased to hear that it is just 20'C there (it's in the highlands) - should be a relief!

This evening we are heading out for a meal again before having a wander round town to see a bit more. Another great day today - my first ever Spa - at least the mud fights made it seem a bit more masculine!

Another Nightbus and A Day At Nha Trang

It was unfortunately another sleepless nightbus journey last night. We had a nicer bus and a good group of people around us, apart from some odd Vietnamese guy on the bunk below who had a small bird clasped in his hand for the whole 12hour journey - weird! But I just seemed to have a job getting to sleep - probably the eratic driving. So I spent most of the night mulling things over and watching the lightning storms illuminating the highlands - it looked like something from a film.

This morning we arrived in Nha Trang at 6. As always when you get off the bus you are hassled by guys trying to take you to their hotel. We got in one taxi and asked to be taken to a specific hotel, only to be taken to a completely different one; which I'm sure he was on commission to take us to; we eventually got him to take us to the correct hotel - The Mai Huy hotel (which Ali had recommeded we go to), and settled in.

Ben and I went for a meal at a local restaurant while the girls had a brief nap. We found a place that did basically a full fri up for $1.70 - well worth it.

We went back to the hotel and picked up the girls then headed to the beach for a relaxed day. We found some nice sunloungers in front of the sailing club. The beach was fantastic - a lot more developed than Hoi An, but still a fantastic view with very clear water. It was a bit cooler than at Hoi An as well; we had a good day relaxing and sleeping to recover from the bus journey. Ben and I swam and played frisby and catch with some Vietnamese guys - they were loving it!

We are back at the hotel now, having done some washing; looking forward to heading out in a bit for drinks, a meal and a walk along the beach now it is a bit cooler.

A very relaxing and long day; going to sleep well tonight!

Hot Hot Hoi An

We had a good evening last night with Ali and the boys, showing them the town and the good places to eat.

Woke up late this morning and went for a large late breakfast at a new place that we hadn't been to before; but it was very nice. Then after wandering around for an hour or so in the heat of the day, we decided it was not the most desirable of acitivites in +40'C. So we headed over the river to Cam Nam island (a small island just over the delta from Hoi An) and the Sleepy Gecko bar - a really chilled out bar with big wicker sofas and ice cold beer, owned by an American. The eight of us are planning on hanging out here for the afternoon; playing a bit of pool and having a bit of food. Before we head back to the hotel to grab our stuff, clean up and get on the nightbus at 5:30.

We'll all definitely have good memories of Hoi An - so far the chill out capital of Vietnam.

Another Day at Cau Dai Beach

Today it was back to the beach at Cau Dai; we grabbed some breakfast at the same cafe near the beach and returned to the sunloungers. I spent a majority of the day in the shade of the palm umbrella, not wanting to worsen the sunburn. I have started reading Jack Kerouac, which is making me very keen to travel across Americs sometime in the near future. Also, Ben and I had a long chat about the 1500mile cycle touring trip in France that we hope to do next summer.

Rosie, Ben and I had a good game of catch in the water with a tennis ball; and Ben and I went for a long swim.

Ali (a friend from work and Ben's neighbour) and his friends arrived in the late afternoon and we had a good chat sharing travelling experiences so far.
Ben and I headed back to the hotel around 5, the girls had gone back a bit earlier.

This evening we are going to show Ali and his guys what we have decided is the best restaurant in town, and undoutedly have a few drinks.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Hoi An - I think it is my favourite town in Vietnam so far.

A Day at Cau Dai Beach

Today we rented push bikes from the hotel and headed off northwest to the Cau Dai beach.
It was a 15min ride or so, and when we arrived it was stunning; a long stretch of white sand that runs north to south facing the South China sea and a few small offshore islands. We parked up the bikes, grabbed a couple of pancakes at a beachside cafe and went down to the sunloungers.

The heat was intense and we sat sweating for quite a while on the loungers before deciding that we had to try the water. The white sand between the sunbeds and the sea was seriously hot though; I actually got a blister on one of my toes from it's burn. But after sprinting across the frying pan of sand we were greated by wonderfully clear and warm water.

Back on the sunloungers again Ben and I couldn't last long in the heat, so we jogged a few kilometers along the seashore, using the sea to cool us down.

We spend the day on the beach until about 4o'clock. I got rather sunburnt on a few patches that a missed with the suncream, which was rather annoying, but nothing too severe I hope.

Afterwards we headed back into town, grabbing another pancake on the way; and changed our night bus to the 16th as we decided that we wanted more time in Hoi An. This evening we plan to find another restaurant down by the harbour, in our quest to find the best in Hoi An.

Another great day in Central Vietnam. More beach time tomorrow.

A Hot Day in Hoi An

Woke up with a leisurely start this morning. Met the girls and went down to "Emma's" tailors, where their jackets were being made. The very friendly family took us by taxi out to the house where they make the clothes so we could have a look at the work in progress; luckily the girls seemed pleased with how they were progressing. We then went back into town to grab a breakfast of pancakes and Cao Lau at the great little restaurant we found yesterday.

After that, we started the waking tour; we visited a few interesting sites and old places of worship. But by this time it was midday and after an hour or so we decided that we would skip the last two attractions and head for a cold beer on a balcony bar down by the harbour. We chilled out there for a while before Ben and I went in search of WiFi and the girls went to pick up their new clothes.
We then crashed out at the hotel for a few hours to avoid the heat and booked our nightbus to Nha Trang that leaves on the evening of the 15th. We are now heading out to the island of Cam Nam, to visit a book market and have a drink, before going down to the Old Town over the Japenese Bridge to have a meal.

This is such a chilled out place and it is very nice to have a small, local atmosphere. Looking forward to the beach tomorrow as well. Let's hope Ben doesn't get too sunburnt!

Journey to Hoi An

We got on a normal bus (not the dreaded sleeper) this morning at around 8:30 and headed off towards Hoi An. On the way we passed a huge area of paddy fields and onwards towards the region of mountains that encompasses the Hai Van pass. Unfortunately we weren't going to be able to go over the pass as it was too much of a long way round for the coach, however we still climbed to quite a height and on one side of the mountains we had a great view of the paddy plains and on the other we looked out to Danang and the Lang Co Beach - a very beautiful 12km strip of White sand.


We stopped briefly in Danang to drop off a few passangers, but we were relieved that we had avoided the town as it has been over-run with huge western beach resorts that are making the most of Lang Co.

We headed on to Hoi An and arrived there around midday. It is a far smaller town, which used to be a fishing village. It has a large number of visiting tourists, but it still holds it's large street markets and is close to a few small beaches that are known for their beauty.
We had a great lunch of Cao Lau (wide noodles with pork) and some amazing scotch pancakes with pineapple at a restaurant down near the fishing river. After lunch we went shopping round town; there were some great market stalls; we bought bracelets and a number of beer brand vests (which are everywhere out here in the backpacker community). Then we went to one of the tailors that line the streets in Hoi An and are one thing it is famous for. Although Ben and I didn't buy anything, as we decided that UK suits looked better even if they weren't tailored, but the girls are getting some jackets made that we'll pick up tomorrow.

Tonight we plan to find another good restaurant down by the quay and enjoy the relaxed feeling in this smaller, peaceful town.

Hué Citadel and the Moto Pagoda Tour

This morning after a leisurely start and a repeat breakfast of steak and omlette for Ben and I, we hire motos again and headed off through Hué to the Royal Citadel.

Hué was the home of the emperor's dynasty for hundreds of years until the first war in 1945. In both this war and the "Vietnam War" (or "The American War" as it is called here) the huge palace was bombed heavily. We paid a rather heafty 55,000Dong to enter the city and although it probably wasn't worth that much, it was an interesting experience. There was a great short movie showing a digital reconstruction of the city and as the Hué annual festival is currently in progress, the palace and it partly restored gardens were heavily decorated. It was an interesting place to visit and certainly demostrated the destruction caused by the wars with both the French and the Americans.

From leaving the Citadel we headed out of the city and got a bit lost; ending up with us getting stuck on the Ho Chi Minh highway again - we backtracked and found the correct road; finding some interesting Pagodas and Statues, all decorated for the festival.
Then at around 4, on looking to the south we saw the massive rain clouds and lightening that now seems to typify a late afternoon, so we made a dash back to the city, cutting our tour a little short; but pagodas all begin to look the same after a while anyway so we weren't too fussed.

We stopped off on the way back for a drink or ice cream by the riverside; I ordered Rum icecream, which turned out to be vanilla icecream with a glass of Rum to pour over it - Nice!
Back at the hotel we grabbed some snacks as we had missed lunch, and despite the massive breakfast were still pretty hungry. We are now sat in the hotel room listening to the torrential rain and thunder storm outside that makes a huge amount of noise on the corrugated roofs around the hotel; good job it only lasts an hour or so.

Heading out later for a meal at a nice family restaurant that we found and looking forward to the bus trip over the Hai Van Pass tomorrow on the way to Hoi An - good job we don't have to sleep on this one!

The Cramped Nightbus and An Afternoon in Huè

We eventually got on the nightbus at around 1030 last night; and boy was it full; we somehow managed to barter to get the four back bottom beds, with windows either side. However, with little to no aircon and only the highway blasting it horns through a small window to cool us down it wasn't exactly a great night sleep; it had been 38'C during the day and didn't drop much at night so it was a sweaty bus of mostly english, tired backpackers, when it arrived in Huè.

We jumped on the back of some scooters that volunteered to take us, bags and all, to a cheap, good hotel. They seemed faithful to their word and by midday we were booked into a nice room for the four of us.

We headed down the road towards the Perfume River and found a bargain restaurant where Ben and I managed to grab a brunch of steak and omlette with fresh bread - not bad for about £1.50 and it was a welcome break from the noodle soup that is a standard Vietnamese breakfast.
From there we continued into the city centre, as always having a laugh over the constant babble of sellers trying to flog anything and everything. We crossed over the river and found the Dong Ba market; it was far less tourist driven than most of the markets and we enjoyed a fair bit of browsing before Ben and I eventually managed to blag two huge, beautifully ripe mangoes for 7,000dong (28p). We went down to the nice park by the river and very messily ate them; much to the amusement of the girls. From there we walked slowly back across the river; had a bit of fun bartering for a boat trip, before deciding that really we were too tired to fully enjoy it. So, we headed back to the hotel. We're now looking forward to a nice meal out. Before hiring yet more motos to explore the citadel and pagodas of Hue tomorrow.

Today was certainly a day of experiencing a few different flavours of what Vietnam has to offer.

Cuc Phuong National Park and the Epic Moto Mission

Today we set an alarm for the first time in a few days as we were feeling well rested. After checking out of the rooms and having banana pancakes yet again for breakfast (they are so good!), we were back on the motos for a truly epic journey.

We headed north and then off the highway; as we went kilometer by kilometer further away from Ninh Binh the roads became increasingly more rural. After 40km of riding we reached the gates of the Cuc Phuong National Park, by this time we were on single track roads.
Stopping at the visitor centre to buy entry tickets and have a brief cold coke we then continued further into the national park; the roads were fantastic; deserted except for our two lone mopeds and a few buses that came through.

The first sight that we reached was a 7600year old cave/burial site. We paid a small 5,000dong (25p) entry charge and headed up some seriously steep steps to the cave. Initially the cave looked to be a bit dull; just one cavern, but after a bit of looking around we found a route out of the first cave into a whole maze of caverns and staircases, full of bats. We felt a bit like Indiana Jones with our torches and we enjoyed looking round the deserted ancient rock formations (and Ben and I enjoyed frightening the life out of the girls by hiding in the dark).

Back on the road we continued through the vast green scenery; on one hill we came very close to some small kind of cobra that was basking on the road; it actually spat out at rosie as they swerved to avoid it; rather scary.

We passed a huge tree that must have been hundreds of years old; the details weren't given, just a sign saying ancient tree. Finally we parked up to have a nice lunch in a small restaurant 19km into the park. Then because we wanted to get back to the hotel before rush hour on the highway we made a hasty retreat; bombing down the roads through the park and being careful to look out for snakes!

On the way back as we descended down onto the plains where the city lies, the views were breathtaking, it is hard to describe how amazing this country is; imagine a mixture of Jurassic Park and the plains of Africa.

We pelted back down the roads, Ben and I got a bit carried away with racing each other, but nothing dangerous. When we arrived back at the hotel it was around 4ish; in time for a shower to wash the copious amounts of dust and sweat off, and a meal. Before jumping on a night
bus later tonight to Hue.

Another epic day of exploring in Northern Vietnam.

A Unplanned Day In Ninh Binh

We were meant to take the nightbus to Hue this evening, but we didn't book it in time and it was full - rookie error (we'll know for next time I guess).
Because we thought we had exhausted what Ninh Binh had to offer we wanted to get out so Ben and I trekked to the train station to see if we could get a train down instead. That was fully booked except what seemed like an expensive hard sleeper option overnight - which we would have little or no sleep on, so we decided to have another day in Ninh Binh and catch the night bus tomorrow.

We made a plan to go to a national park tomorrow, as we thought that we didn't have enough time left in the day. So in the end today just turned out to be a chilled out day; found a nice restaurant and had a good meal and played cards for most of the afternoon.
Then we came back to the hotel and watched tv and planned some questionable bits for later in the trip.

We are now sat having a nice meal in the hotel and looking forward to more moto action and the national park tomorrow, before hitting the road on the nightbus.

Ninh Binh and Tam Coc Caves

We hired scooters from the hotel for $6usd a day and headed off to Tam Coc for the cave tour. It was only a short drive and the scooters were awesome - felt just like the Top Gear guys. We left the scooters at Tam Coc and split girls and boys to get into our two person rowing boats with our Vietnamese crew. The trip down the river and through the caves was amazing - rice fields on each side and passing through some beautiful caves. It was 6km down the river and back, and despite our initially very friendly rower getting a bit annoyed when we didn't want to buy any of his rather tacky goods, it was an amazing trip, with stunning scenery.

We had lunch in Tam Coc at a very friendly family streetside restaurant, then headed down the road on the mopeds to the Bic Dong pagoda, we climbed up the steps and through the caves to find a great view from the hidden temple at the top.
Back on the road we headed back through Ninh Binh and north up the Ho Chi Minh Highway to Hoa Lu - it took a fair bit of finding, and a pretty scary ride up the highway, with the huge trucks with massive horns. But we enjoyed the riding through the paddy fields and the rural villages when we turned off the highway. When we did find the temple it was a long way up a single stairway and we were the only ones there - apart from the resident monk and his dog. But up at the top the temple the view was breathtaking; a panoramic view out over the fields and villages that we had enjoyed riding through.

Heading into the apparently legendary hotel restaurant now for a few drinks and a meal.

Return to Hanoi

After breakfast in Cat Ba we hit the road again in the sweatmobil and headed back to the harbour. There we met the same junk rig boat that we had stayed on and sailed back through Halong Bay to Halong City, sunbathing on deck - well I say sunbathing, Ben still got majorly sunburned despite it only being 9 in the morning -red belly!

Had lunch at a restaurant in the city before getting on another minibus (this one with aircon thank god!) 3.5 hour ride back to Hanoi; now sat in the hotel waiting for the nightbus to Ninh Binh - this bus has beds AND air con; they just keep getting better!!

Lots of travelling today; put plenty of stunning and very interesting scenery and sights.

5th June Cat Ba Island

Rather restless night initially on the junk last night, v.humid and only a fan in the small room with no opening window. Got used to the heat after a while though, and got a good 7 hours; jet lag seems to be wearing off now.

Then set off to Cat Ba island while having a breakfast of watermelon and omlette. Arrived on Cat Ba at 9 o'clock; very hot - 30+'C; got a very sweaty minibus journey to the national park and climbed the 220m ascent to an old watchtower at the centre of the island; with around 70% humidity this too proved to be a rather moist affair to say the least! But well worth it as after a rather sketchy climb in flipflops (not sure why PiPi our guide said they would be alright - bit of a little joker we think) the panormic views were absolutely stunning.

Back on the sweatmobil (aka minibus) we headed for the hotel on Cat Ba, only to be blocked by two men on motorbikes as the road ahead had demolition works going on - you don't get that in the uk! it seemed like we were in the Vietnam war with the explosions going off just a few hundred meters away, but they were over in about ten minutes and we continued down the newly widened road.

After lunch at the hotel we went by moto to the nearby beach - bit of R&R in the sun was great, before heading back to the hotel when the sun had gone to have dinner. Halong bay continues to impress!

4th June Hanoi and Halong Bay

Got up at 4:50 to see the Hoan Kiem Lake in the centre of Hanoi at sunrise as we were told that it was amazing to see all the people exercising in the cool morning. It wasn't that amazing, but was very amusing - lots of old men doing stretching. We caught a bus to Halong Bay with our Halong Pacific Junk Tour company and other backpackers.

After getting onto our junk we headed out into the stunning bay. First we saw some amazing caves with hundreds of stalagtites/mites. Then we headed to another place to do kayaking - ben broke a paddle and we lost one somehow, which promptly sunk - lots of laughs trying to explain it to the tour guides! Had a great seafood lunch onboard and continued round to a spot where we could swim - jumping off the top deck of the junk - lots of screaming from the girls!

Had a great evening meal as well and then talked with the fellow travellers - Aussies and Israelis (great fun) while drinking tequila, watching the sunset and listening to a strange mix of music, from the Lion King to destiny's child! Great day!

Water Puppets and Evening in Hanoi

Everyone else is blog or journal writing so I feel like I should too.

An eventful afternoon with ben losing his debit card, then finding several hours later (after running round Hanoi trying to find it) in the trouser pocket of the clothes he wore yesterday. Massive laughs at that!

Then this evening we went to watch the water puppet theatre; it was interesting and learnt a fair bit about Vietnamese culture from it. Also quite amusing when a puppet lost it's leg while doing some odd dance - definitely not meant to happen!
Had a great meal at a rooftop terrace, lots of catching up and reminising about school. Very friendly people everywhere, and very respectful.
Even if the roads are a bit mental - scooters everywhere!

Hello from Hanoi

Arrived in Hanoi yesterday evening, went out for a walk, but everywhere was closed due to the cerfew that is imposed in the city. So came back to the hotel and crashed. Staying in the Hanoi Sports Hotel, great value; $30 a night for the four bed air con room with free breakfast and Internet.

Today started to explore a bit. Visited a pagoda in the middle of the lake and wandered round the town to see the sights. It's a stunning place, so many scooters, very humid and very busy. Did a bit of Market browsing, some very interesting products, bought a bright yellow Casio watch and Jessie bought a bag.

Going to the water puppets tonight. Then heading off to Halong Bay early tomorrow morning after seeing the central lake at dawn.

Seoul Airport

Arrived at Seoul Airport - definite lack of sleep. Starbucks and fruit bringing us back on track though. Just another three hour flight to Hanoi now. I'm guessing more slightly iffy Korean plane food to come.
But fine as had large fish and chips in gatwick before we left so didn't really to be woken up at 11 and 5 to eat rice ;-). V. Excited though. Looking forward to seeing ben and rosie!!! And non plane food.
Loving the alpen bars right now.