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!