Luang Phabang

We went to an amazing turquise waterfall today with bears and tigers (unfortunaly they were in a cage and not looking too happy!) but it was fun. We climed half way up the waterfall and had a little paddle in the pool up there. Jimmy and tom got all adventuroues looking over the edge , i swear they nearly fell!

The night market here was amazing and i brought myself a couple of prezzies (i've been so good about shopping so far. i deserved them!) The evenings here have been very mellow sitting around camp fires drinking beer and tucked up in bed just after midnight coz of the dam curfew. i feel like a kid again getting sent home to bed ha ha!

Me, Danielle and Jimmy got up at stupid o'clock this morning to see the monks giving arms. It was really intereasting seeing hundreds of monks parade down the street in their bright orange gowns holding there bronze pots. We donated them some rice and some kind of turkish delight looking thing. We were assured they'd like it....rather them than me lol!

The best place in the whole wide world!!!

I love it here...its amazing! The last few days have been fun. We currently traveling with an English guy, an Canadian guy and a crazy American which has made our time here fun! We spent the first day here sitting in tubes floating down the river with a beer in hand. What a genius idea...a river crawl. It couldn't have got much better but it did. At each bar there were zip lines and huge rope swings over the river. it was crazy. The more beer the more confident people became and technique developed from the simple swing and jump to flips and posses in mid air. i have a feeling we may be here for a while!!! Yesterday was tan topping up time so we found ourselves some hammocks by the river and didn't move from that spot till sun down. Easy life...people bring you food and beer so its all good.

Last night we decided to have a crazy one which started off with drinking bingo. 5 numbers you got a shot, 7 numbers a drink and 10 numbers a cocktail bucket. Somehow we manage to get them all (there was no cheating....honest! lol!!) Things just got messy from then on....

So today we hired bikes to go cave hunting which was cool. Lyndon managed to take us to the back of beyond through farmers fields and jungle. I don't think the others appreciated it due to their pounding heads (Thank god i don't get hangovers...i don't think id drink if i did!)

Now we've got a tough decision to make....how long to stay for??? we want to go and stay with the monkeys in the north but its so tempting to stay here a bit longer and go tubing again tomorrow....anyway a beer loas is calling me!

Vientiene - adios motorbikes!

wow! Vientiene seems so quite and peaceful compared to vietnam. What happened to all the motorbikes!!! I keep expecting to hear beeping horns everywhere but no just silence...whats going on. We spent a couple of days here which have been fun. not really done much apart from go out and sleep but its all good. Theres so many more travellers here so its been fun getting to know some new people. not really got much else to say just wanted to let you all know im still alive ha ha!!!

We've found the sun in Loas

Yey! we've found the sun. it'sn been well earnt after the freezing cold las few days in Vietnam! After Hanoi we flew back to Hue for a day. Didnt really ndo too much as we were both knacked and had colds :( Poor us, ha ha! Then yesterday we set off on what turned out to be a 12 hr bus journey across the boarder in to Savannakhet on a local bus. The bus was so uncomftable compared to the cheap tourist buses in Vietnam. We were both in grumpy moods....only to find out that we had to take a night bus up to Vientiane that evening. So we arrived in Vientiane this morning at 5am and have slept most the day away. But we woke up and its really sunny! so everythings alright now ha ha!

Halong Bay

Its been fun to stay on a ship over night in a pretty place but unfortunately i was disappointed with what i saw after everybody raved on so much about it. To be honest it reminded me of Krabi...big limestone cliffs surrounded by water. The trip was fun though. We were with 3 Aussies (well 1 Aussie and 2 kiwis....that kill me if they heard me say Aussies ha ha!) Our evening entertainment was martins guitar and Lewis lovely singing, or lack of it ha ha! I taught everyone to play animal snap after a few drinks and due to lots and lots of cheating a pennalty of performing the chicken dance was introduce. it was hilarious! Much to our amusement when me and Danielle finally went to bed (the boys stayed up singing) we realised that we had been entertaining the whole ship - ops! we'll at least Lewis crush on the Swedish girl was now public knowledge ha ha!

Hanoi - its an ace city!!!! u should go!

Hanoi has really suprised me! i had been told that it was an industrial city and that Ho Chi Minh was so much nicer. DON'T BELIEVE IT! Hanoi is lovely. The majority of the town is in the old Quarter or the French Quarter which is so pretty. Reminds me of studying the tudors at school! And people dont seem to hassle you as much here. The city has a very european feel to it. Theres a lake in the centre of town which gives the whole place a relaxed feel and we've found ourselves losing hours just bimberling around. This is the sort of place i could live!!!

We went to see Ho Chi Minh preserved body today which was eary! i'd never seen a dead body but to be honest it just looked like a wax model. No magets crawling out of his ears and all that. We went to the Hanoi prison too which was horrid. i wasnt too fond of it and some of the dark rooms were scary! Tonight we're off to see the famous 'Water puppets' show which should be fun and than another early morning as we're setting off to Ha long Bay (can't wait till we get to Loas and can have a lye in. Even if its just till 8am!!!)

Sapa - Treking in the misty hills

so.....we've just got back from a couple of days treking in the muddy hills of Sappa. Its been so much fun, almost like skiing and i only fell down once!!!! i thought that was good! The views were amazing, lol! (it was so misty that you could only see about 10 metres ahead of you). Our guide was a 15 year old girl from one of the local tribes. She was already married! can you believe it - how young! apparently most people marry at when there about 11! Shocking. We stayed the night with a local family who made us a feast and insisted on continually toasting us with rice wine - yuck! Although this trip was fun, im glad to be back in Hanoi where its warm and i no longer need to wear 5 layers of clothing (its reminded me so much of otc - i hadn't realised that miss it so much till now!)

Hue - Random people!

After spending the afternoon on the bus and being constantly hassle for rooms and motorbikes, my impression of Hue was rather negative i have to admit. Feeling hassled and craving a bit of normality we decided to check out a french restaurant which looked like the most vibrant place in town! Unfortunately prices were rather high and when we decided ' what the heck, lets splash out'. we're told that there's no table for one hour....i don't think our hungry tummies could have wait.

Out of nowhere a middle aged American man appears in his socks and announces that he is going to buy us dinner! what, why, how we didn't understand. This guy managed to persuade us to sit with his group but we would pay for ourselves (he agreed but that never happened-sneaky) Turns out we joined a huge table of about 15 prespretarrian (not sure how its spelt) They were in Vietnam sponsoring girls in poor families to be educated. They were really nice and interesting....what a random evening!

The next day we hire motorbikes to take us around the Royal tombs, they were really intereasting. each one unique. The highlight of the day was the food we ate food lunch. It was the most beautiful Vietnamese food I've had so far!

Hoi An

We arrived in Denang on Wednesday morning than made our way to Hoi An with the guys we met on the train. i feel really bad coz they paid for us under the conditions of us buying them a drink later. unfortunately we never saw them again. i bet they think we planned that! The train ride was really funny. it was like an episode of neighbours. Our entertainment being a large Austrialian family (hence Neighbours coming to mind). They were constantly bickering and teasing each other. who needs T.V, lol!!!

The drive to Hoi An was nice. We went along the coastline (saw the famous china beach and the marbel mountains) Altough it was not sunny it felt tropical compared to Delate! Shorts and t-shirts back out - woo hoo!!!!

Hoi An is really lovely. Really old fashioned and pretty. And to top it off is a town for cheap tailored clothes...not the place for 2 girls on a budget!...Thank god for credit cards....i now have a georgous red wool coat - it's lush!

A day in transit!!!! Nh trang.....

Todays day in transit has turned out to be alot more fun than i could have imagined. We left Delate this morning and arrived in Nh trang at lunch time with a mere 10 hrs to waste before our night train to Denang. Due to the lack of sun and the huge scary waves the beach was ruled out. so where do you think we ended up? ...........a cafe?...a bar?.......no a MUD SPA!!! it was so much fun and mega relaxing. i think i might join one when i get home, ha ha!!!

Delate - home of the easy riders!

Delate is a weird place. its like an off season ski resort, maybe that's why it's so bloody cold here. I'm glad i brought my woolly socks! Danielle hates it but i must admit I'm quite fond of it. There's so many outdoor activities around here i could stay for at least a week. Unfortunately only having one day here has meant we had to make a tough decision of what to do with our day and we optted for the Easy Riders (i'll save the abseiling down a waterfall for next time :( )

Today has been brilliant! We spent the day with the easy riders - there amazing. i want to be like them when I'm old! We headed to the outskirts of delate on there big old Honda's...i was expecting harlies but these bikes were cool. The day was so relaxing drifting along on the back of the motorbikes through the valleys. They looked a bit like the vine yards in France! We got to see and learn about lots of local trades from making coffee beans (i cant believe how long it takes) to seeing the silkworms at work. It was quite a shock to realise how much effort goes in to producing these things!

Mekong Delta - facing my fears!

We have just got back from our 2 days in the Mekong Delta - which was Really fun! The Mekong delta is the land of the rice. Lots of paddy fields everywhere. It was like one big adventure. We started by floating along the muddy cannals and stopping to see the local trades. We learnt how to make cocconut sweets and noodles amoung other things. I even held a big Snake (Can you believe it!).

The highlight of the trip was going out for dinner with our tour guide who managed to tell us many stories in his broken down English. These ranged from 'singing a song in the happy room' (apparently going for a wee!) to 'Cow shaking' (??? a local dish!?!). My personal favourite was his expination of 'buom buom' (sex) which took him about an hour as everytime he tried to tell us he nearly started crying with laughter. Made me feel like i was 13 again, ha ha! Off to Delate tomorrow to chill with the easy riders - can't wait!

Army barmy in Ho Chi Minh ...and around!

We been very intellectual the last couple of days and have learnt all about the Vietnam war which has been really intreasting. We even got to play in a tank!!!! Today we went to the cu chi tunnels. we were shown how the tunnels used to be. There so small. i felt huge when i tried to get in the real one for a photo. Luckily they have widened a section of the tunnel so that tourists can go and see what it was like! definatly worth a visit!