Dec 2006

Hello all,

Apologies for any typos...keyboard is bad, can't see letters and they stick!

Spent 3 days in Hanoi. The city was buzzing, it appears each street is dedicated to one type of good, there is shoe street, cabinet street, christmas shop street, you name it there is a street full of that product crammed into many 2m wide x 5m long shops! I checked out the water puppet shows, I saw an embalmed tortiose and of course the dead body of Ho Chi Minh! He looked very white! I also went to the womens museum. It showed the emancipation of women in Vietnam, how they were involved in the war, tribal dress, politics and then modern day life including being involved in miss world!

By the third day i had mastered the traffic and felt safe enough to get in a cyclo (rickshaw type thing you sit in attached to a man on a bike). Being among all the traffic was one hell of an experience.

We sailed on a boat from Hanoi to Halong Bay on the 10th December. The first day we just took in the sights of Halong bay and was taken to 'surprise amazing caves' after our lunch on board. The guide was hilarious and had watched far too much western films as he used phrases such as bloody bastard tortoise! to describe some of the myths of the caves. The caves were amazing, really vast and beautiful. We sailed on and then taken to Cat Ba. We should have stayed on the boat but were told we were staying in the hotel...hot water, clean warm beds (as it is freezing here, well our summer, i was in a hoodie) TV, fridge, i'm not complaining! We assumed we would spend the 2nd night on the boat. Ended up in an irish bar with karoke and lots of sweedish travellers. Interesting but fun after a several tiger beers.

2nd day we had to be up for breakfast at 7.30. It soon became apparent that we weren't going to be on the boat tonight but will stay in the hotel. I went on a trek at 8.30am in the Cat Ba national park (i know what is wrong with me!) which was more like a mountain climb. Saw some beautful sights and worked off a few pounds. I could have gone Kayaking to Monkey Island but due to the weather i decided to save watersports until the Thai Islands when the sun will hopefully be out! Emily and Lucy went and saw the Monkeys attack a guy...nice! I just wandered around in arvo, saw street life including markets and played pool of all things with an american guy and two german girls. The evening was spent in the irish bar again with a few tigers. We checked out the local disco but due to its emptiness decided against it!

On the third day we got back on the boat for 3 hours sailing around the other side of Halong bay.It was still lovely through the mist and fog, seeing all the fishing boats and spectacular limestone rocks, larger on this side of the bay. For the last 15 mins of our cruise the sun came out and the true beauty of Halong ba could be seen.

So now I am in Ninh binh, north of Vietnam. We decided to get a bus straight from Hanoi last night.I am in an internet cafe surrounded by kids playing computer games in a very narrow dirty room (not really a cafe). We are going to tam coc tomorrow where we see paddy fields, go on a river boat and see small villages. We guess that here is just a place to stop off to see tam coc as it is a dirty little town! No restaurants or anything! Have just had vietnamese tea with some locals which was cool, talking about their travels...it is all very random! Have spend the afternon wandering around. Took photos of the children at school, they got so excited to see me and loved me showing them the photos i took of them! You could feel like a celebrity walking around as everyone says hello and waves... in 3 hours i only saw two other westerners! I went to the market area where i saw snakes being gutted and frogs in cages! They eat everything here! Haven't seen any dog as yet...well not that i know of anyway!

So all is well, will be in Nah trang for christmas which is on the coast of south eastern vietnam. Have booked a nice hotel and are promised lovely beaches and plenty of places to eat, drink and be merry in. Still won't be the same. Trying not to think about it and gutted on missing out on all the xmas parties! Have fun at all the parties and please someone have a red wine for me...or some mulled wine!

Will be in Ho Chi Minh city for new year we think, should be good. Told there is lots of parties for the NY.

Thats all from me at the mo. Hope all are well and i have one last thing to say....

....Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

T xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hey again,

Not much to say, just that i arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam this morning. We flew at 7am from Vientiene and it certainly was less stressful or mind numbing than the alternative 24 hour bus journey.

The plane was very small and i hadn't heard great things about Laos airways. I was plesently surprised, staff were lovely and the plane was in good condition. The short flight meant that the incline and decline were extremely fast so not one for the fear of flying. I was happy as we were served a patti type sandwich with a chocolate muffin and tea!

Have settled into a guesthouse for the night and we may check out others to see what we're missing. The traffic is extreme, there are no rules and crossing the road looks like an impossibility. Women with the two hanging baskets over their shoulder somehow manage it...think it may take a while to perfect the art. At any one time you just appear to be surrounded by about 50 motorbikes, honking horns fills the air all the time.

Will let you know more about Hanoi soon

xx

Hey all,

So last time I posted i was telling you all i was planning to go tubing. Well i didn't go once, not even twice, i loved it so much i went a three times!

Vang Vieng was the most chilled out place on earth. This may have something to do with the abundance of weed available in all sorts of forms...Happy shakes, happy pizza or just you good ol' joint! If that isn't hardcore enough however you could always try a musroom tea or even opium! You have to watch out though as we saw a couple get pulled over whilst tubing by guys on a boat who first showed them ID and then the handcuffs came out. Heard many a story of $100 bribes going on with the police.

So tubing...what can be better than floating down the river in a rubber ring, stopping off occassionaly at a bar with zip lines and rope swings to play on??? Aptly enough as i left one of the bars, Belinda Carlise, 'heaven is a place on earth' boomed out as i lay back on my tube and soaked up the afternoon sunshine. I tried out most of the swings and lines, the largest one being a real hair raising experience as you first have to climb up a vertical bamboo ladder 30 feet into the air and basically hang on for dear life from the launch pad area as you swing with the river below. Needless to say a tina bean scream was let out for the crowd to hear. Saw some pretty awsome sumersaults...of course i went for the more pendulum swing approach!

When i wasn't tubing there wasn't too much to do apart frop eat from one of the many cafes and restaurants. Most of these play Friends, the simpsons or family guy and you can lay around a low table in a bamboo sectioned booth whilst you wait for you food...the perfect stoners paradise. I did hire a bike one day and took a look around the local area. There was such a difference in types of housing. Some was no more than a wooden shack whilst some were bricks and mortor mansions! I went of the main roadway and saw women and children at work on the land...back breaking work in such humid conditions.

So after 5 days we headed onto Vientiene, the capital of Loas. We fell on our feet with the most amazing hotel,(the Riverside) silk pillows, beautiful fresh decor (it was just opened)and the bathroom was to die for. Oh and did i mention our breakfast ws included in the price...joy! Our 1st night we chilled out in the room with a couple of bottles of white and some home comfort foods.

We visited the Pha That Luang, a stupa and is the most important national monument in Laos. It was quite a spectacular sight, large and gold! Surrounding it were several wats, some yet to be built or being reconstructed. A local artist was displaying his work in an exhibition around the walls of the stupa, some of the pieces were amazing and would have been great to have got one if it wasn't for the shipping costs! We attempted to watch the sunset when we got back but it was very cloudy...my choco ice (v.cold chocolate milkshake) more than made up for it however!

The evening was slightly drunken, starting with a Mexican meal (really embrasing the Laos cusine, can't you tell!)and my first couple of glasses of red in a month. Was starting to get withdrawals!!! We asked to be taken to a late night bar just after 11 and were taken right out of town to a hotel club called Lunar 36. Wasn't too bad as we were on the roof terrace, complete with Christmas tree. One problem, it shut at midnight! We then went onto another hotel bar that a couple of guys told us about that served us until 4am.

Wednesday we headed to the national museum only to find it closed, so we took a wander around the town. Improvements are going on all the time. Some of the city, like its town square is beautiful other parts are very dirty and run down...just like London really! Health and safety just doesn't exist here and the pick axe just lying on the pavement not being used was a paticular highlight! Most streets are filled with internet cafes, cafes and restaurants, guest houses and retail shops. Overall though Vientienne is very sleepy.

We sat and watched the sunset, this time it was really visable and a perfect end to our few days in the capital. To top it off we treated ourself and had an italian meal. As you all know i am rather partial to a Carbonara so i was well chuffed. The girls all had a desert too which were fantastic. An early night was needed as we had to be up at 4 to catch a plane at 7am to Hanoi, Vietnam!

Lots of love to all and take care xx