My Birthday!

Well, I'm officially old now! It was my birthday on the 20th and we had a lovely time celebrating it in Hanoi. Phil surprised me with a lovely card, choccies and a pretty hairclip. We then went for some yummy brunch at this lovely pattisserie called Baguette & Chocolate and then went for a lovely walk around the lake and shops.

We took it easy and then got ready for dinner which was a surprise that Phil had organised a few days before. It really was amazing! They had a big buffet of seafood and different meats and traditional and western foods and they would cook it for you. All you had to do was to point at the thing you fancied eating! It was so yum and everything was very fresh and tasty. We also had a lovely bottle of wine and really enjoyed ourselves. I'm lucky to have had such a great birthday! Thank you Phil!

Hanoi again

Back again in Hanoi and nothing has changed! We've got a few days to just bum around and not do much, because we have booked a flight to go to Kuala Lumpur on the 28th January. Really looking forward to it, especially as I'm fed up of wearing a jumper! Hooray!

It was the cheapest flight on that date so we are stuck for a bit in Hanoi, killing time, but the price difference was about $100 and for that money, I don't mind taking it easy for a few days. So today, we went and checked out the Water Puppet Theatre.

Basically, Hanoi is very famous for its water puppets, which are wooden dolls with some moveable limbs and they are moving about in a pool filled with water. The water is quite dirty, so you can't see the strings and sticks used to make them move, but it's quite an art form and very difficult to do well. When done well, the dolls look alive and as if they are walking on water.

So we were in this theatre and watched the show with about 100 other tourists which was a bit poo. But the show was quite good fun. They were narrating some kind of story in Vietnamese and the puppets were doing their thing to some traditional music. The music was interesting - I liked it for a while and then it got a bit much because I think you have to wail quite a lot, which is fine when you understand what they are saying, but if you don't, well ...

The stories were short, such as 'Children playing in water' and 'Raising a flag', but some were a bit more complicated, such as 'Rearing ducks and catching foxes' or 'Agriculture'. :o)

We also went to the dentist today and it was brillo cheap! Phil and I both had a clean and polish, checkup and fillings and we've now got hollywood smiles!

All in all, good fun. Not sure what we'll be up to next...

Halong Bay

We went on a little tour to Halong Bay, which is famous for its karst formations in the sea. It was very beautiful, all you can see is the sea and dotted everywhere are these islands which are massive rocks / cliffs and they just jut out and look like mountains on the horizon. It's amazing!

There are over 1000 single 'islands' in the bay and you get to visit them by going on a boat cruise. We went on one where you can spend the night on the boat and it was a traditional type 'junk' - a large wooden boat with cabins. It was really cool!

Well, our tour was quite cheap, so our boat was not as flashy as a lot of the other ones we saw at the harbour, but it was alright really. So we got on and had lunch and were cruising around looking at the view and then went on to explore some caves. The biggest of them was 'Surprising Cave'. Not sure what the surprise was, but it was big and pretty amazing with all the stalactites and stalacmites. The ceiling looked like a plasterers dream with cornicing all around and we were told it looks like that from the waves that kept crashing into the cave. I can believe that but knowing that the Vietnamese are a crafty lot, I wouldn't put it past them to have given it a helping hand to make it look like that all over... Anyway, it was still nice and we followed some guides around who told you about the legends and the history of the caves in the area.

Apparently, one legend has it that the Chinese tried to invade Vietnam and they were coming by sea (don't know why, makes more sense to invade overland) but then a dragon came to help the Vietnamese and it plunged into the sea and spat out a bunch of pearls that turned into these thousands of islands. As the chinese were going too fast in their boats, they couldn't avoid them and crashed into the islands and perished. Vietnam was saved. The dragon decided though that she really liked it in Vietnam, so she went to the cave and became a stone version and keeps protecting Vietnam.

After that, we went kayaking which was really good! I never kayaked before and Phil and I were in a two man kayak and it was really enlightening. You have to tell each other where to go next, because to me it was obvious to go left and to Phil it was obvious to go right! So funny, so we ended up paddling in different directions and then had to laugh about it. It also was such a production to get out of the boat and into the kayak! We had this little ladder and we had to clamber down it and make it into the kayak and then out again. It was easier climbing in than out and all the time I had visions of plunging in with no change of clothes on me! Thank God that didn't happen.

It was really peaceful kayaking along and the sea was really calm. There are lots of people also living in huts on the water there in the middle of nowhere and they make a living by fishing and ripping off tourists. Basically they come up to your boat in their own little rowboat and they sell fruit and cookies and water, etc. You get really tempted, but then they charge extortionate prices! One lady tried to sell a bit of pineapple for $8!!!!! You have got to be kidding me! The problem is though that some people pay that kind of money and then that makes it more difficult for everyone else to get anything at a decent price.

Anyway, after the kayak, we had dinner and then some wine (we also tried Vietnamese wine) and then went to sleep in our cabin. It was quite exciting sleeping on a boat! First time for me! It was a really decent sized cabin with our own little bathroom and though it was a little bit cold, it was fine and good fun. We had a bit of an adventure also with the wine, basically this French couple and us decided to share a bottle, because some other guys got one and it tasted quite decent. So we order this bottle of French red at a very inflated price and we open it and the bottle is off. I mean seriously off. It was like sweet vinegar and tasted more like port than anything else. At that, the French girl got really upset and refused to drink it and she wanted another bottle. Fair enough, right? Wrong!

We had to argue with the staff for about 30 minutes and they insisted it tasted not wrong at all! We even got them to taste the good one and they still insisted it tasted the same - it was so ridiculous it was funny really. So we ended up getting the guide involved and he rang his boss and then he gave the ok for us to get a new bottle - what a drama for something so basic! I think though the bottle was a fake refill as we ended up getting one from a boat that had anchored close to us and that one tasted fine! It's like this all the time here, you always have to argue and fight and get aggressive otherwise, nothing gets done and you get taken advantage of.

After that drama though, we enjoyed a few more drinks - the captain brought out his homebrew rice wine and the crew and captain got drunk. Well, we got drunk, too. The rice wine is potent! It was quite nice though! I also ended up having a go at steering the boat, which was really exciting! I wasn't drunk though at that point, so no worries there. It had a proper old fashioned looking wheel, so I was really chuffed and felt like Captain Jack Sparrow - ARRRR!

Sadly though, it's back to Hanoi now.

Hanoi

Hanoi is such a pretty city! It's very old and a lot of the houses have the original french architecture going on which is really picturesque.

There's a lake in the middle of the city and there's meant to be a magical turtle living in it. I haven't seen it. Apparently, the turtle took a sword from the emperor many years ago and is now guarding it in the lake. It's meant to be lucky if you see one of the turtles.

Other than that, there are lots of shops and lots of people and it's very crowded and busy. Unlike HCMC, the roads are very narrow, but you get the same amount of traffic as in HCMC which makes it much more claustrophobic. We are staying in the Old Quarter which is picturesque with its little alleyways and funny shaped houses, but the city itself is massive. Exploring it is good fun, but the strangest thing is that lots of streets only sell one type of item, so you have shoe alley, musical instruments alley, noodle alley and glue-sniffers alley (they only sell paints and thinners and the smell there is overpowering!).

I find the people here are quite different to the ones further south - they seem friendlier down there whereas here, most people are a bit frowny and unhappy. Maybe it's about the weather... in general though, it's much rougher here and you are constantly being scammed. I'm sure tourists pay over the odds in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, but here, it's another level of overcharging. It does get tiresome to be honest. Also, you get hassled quite a bit every time you walk down the street and as used as we are to that now, it seems even more intense here.

We are off to Halong Bay soon though, so it will be nice to get away from the noise and pollution for a while.

Journey to Hanoi

We booked on the sleeper train to Hanoi and found out the journey will take 25 hours. Yikes!

It was really comfortable! We had a cabin to ourselves with two beds and Phil and I just relaxed, read a book and looked out the window. Periodically, the conductor would knock on our door and bring us food and drinks and otherwise, we were left to our own devices. It was a really great journey.

We ended up chatting to a couple of people on the train but for most of it, we chilled out and listened to the Vietnamese radio station. We got into Hanoi station at 4.30am and then tried to spend some time doing nothing until the hotels opened and we'd be able to get a room.

Got picked up by a random man on the street as people in Hanoi don't get up as early as people in the south and he took us to his hotel which was ok-ish. But while we waited for our room, I met this girl who turned out to be an osteopath! How strange is that? Anyway, got some advice from her for the old back and then went to bed.

Hanoi is so cold! I'm freezing and Phil and I are wearing our buffaloes! I want my winter coat and ski trousers! There is no heating here and the floors are stone tiles, so you really feel the chill even in your room. Give me sunshine, please!

What happened next

I threw my back out, hence I was off the email and blog for such a long time. I think it was from the diving and lifting all the equipment about - my back just got knackered and refused to do anything. I really wanted my chiropracter!

Spent a couple of days in bed doing nothing and shuffling about, then gave in and went to a local doctor. He massaged my back with tiger balm and wanted to give me an injection. I refused. I didn't know what he was giving me and the place was dirty! Oh man...

It was still bad though, so I ended up going to the local hospital which was much better. They told me they were not able to crack my back which was the only thing that I knew would help, but they insisted on taking an x-ray. It was an OK hospital and they had me in and out of x-ray in 10 minutes! Wish the NHS was like that... I paid a tenner for the whole thing and found out that I did not slip a disc. Yay! But I knew that anyway...

They recommended that we should go on to Hanoi as they have a bigger hospital there if it gets worse, so as we were planning on going there anyway, we booked on the next train and are off to Hanoi in the north of Vietnam.

A Challenge

(Not us - the viz was worse than that!)

Phil and I have signed up for a diving course to get our PADI certificate and we spent the last four days getting up very early and finishing quite late. It's hard work and I find it quite scary at times.

The idea of actually being under water and breathing is really strange and my brain keeps going 'Huh? What's going on, technically this is not possible. You are not a fish.' But it's also really cool and exciting!

Our first two sessions were in the pool and we got another four dives in the sea. The visibility was really bad - only about a metre! - but it was good to learn in and learn we did! We did all sorts of exercises and drills - how to breath with your buddy, what to do when the air runs out, how to make emergency ascents, how to float properly (it's hard!) and how to navigate. Our instructors were really good and a couple of times I was really scared. At one point I got some water in my nose and was coughing on it and that was really scary! We also had to do an exercise, where they turn off your air - that was horrible, my body was rebelling against it so much, it's like a survival instinct. So mad, but I'm really glad I did it. Phil and I passed our tests and completed the programme and we are now certified divers - hooray!

During our dives, we did manage to see some pretty corals and cute little fish, an anemone and a clown fish. I also saw some sea urchins and I saw a blow fish!!! So cool! We've decided we want to go diving in Malaysia as well as in Oz now, it's meant to be beautiful and the visibility something amazing like 30 metres! Can't wait for it - it'll be so much fun! Phil and I are properly chuffed and very excited. At some point, we will sign up for our advanced certification, so we can dive down to 30 metres and improve our skills. Yay!

True to form though, I did manage to embarrass myself. On our last dive, I was wearing a wetsuit with a front zip and when we had gone down, Gary the instructor just kind of pointed at me. Guess what, the zip had opened up and my boobs were out! Thank God I was wearing a bikini, but still! I couldn't zip it up because of the pressure (we were like 16 metres deep) and I couldn't see what I was doing so Pascale, the only other girl in my group had to yank my zip up for me while all the guys were staring and laughing themselves silly! Try laughing under water with a massive mouthpiece in your gob - it's not easy and I had to hold it with my hand to keep it from popping out! Oh man...

Another outing

After our outing to Monkey Island, we were keen on going somewhere nice rather than freaky and heard about a waterfall in the mountains, so off we went on the old bikes again.

I got to drive too and it's so much fun! Phil and I will defo get a motorbike when we get back - it's great! We went through countryside and lush rice paddies, saw some beautiful mountains and met people who were really surprised at seeing us in their villages. We also drove through herds of cows and buffaloes and jumped over massive pot holes and crossed big puddles on our way - alas, we thought we were close to the waterfall, but we then were stopped in our tracks by a river. Shame - we daren't cross it on the bikes, as it was quite deep, so instead we had a picknick there and enjoyed the scenery.

On our way back, Tom's tyre blew. We stopped to inspect the damage and some locals saw us and realised what the problem was. They peed themselves laughing! We didn't really see the joke, but went along with it for a while until Tom got p*ssed off and they finally directed us to a roadside 'garage'. The guy there set to work on the tyre straight away and fixed it in a jiffy! He did the whole thing in about 10 minutes flat and then charged something like $2. How cheap is that! We couldn't believe it.

On we went and ended up in this funny resto where we ordered drinks by randomly pointing at the menu. Tom and I got coffee and Phil got a tomato, milk and carrot juice. Heheheh.

Monkey Island

Deciding to do something more constructive than drinking, we hired some motorbikes to explore the area around Nha Trang.

Setting off in good spirits, we were told to go to Monkey Island, an island where they used to breed monkeys that were exported to Russia. With the break up of the USSR though, the monkey export market dried up and now the island is full of monkeys that noone wants and has become a tourist attraction.

We drove for miles and were sure we were lost several times, but then my monkey acting skills were a bit of a hit with the locals, so we made it to the ferry port eventually. We got on this fishermans boat and we were the only people on the boat. We could see Monkey Island on the horizon through the gloom and rainclouds. At that point, I began to hear the Psycho theme tune in my head. That place looked creepy.

As soon as we landed on the island, it began to rain and we fled through some strange gates that led us to a path that ended with caged ostriches. Out of the mist, we could see a man, so we tried to get his attention and he pointed us in some direction. We followed it, when we made it to a little enclosed area where there were some Korean tourists sitting around watching a monkey show. It was the strangest thing. The monkeys were doing tricks like riding a bike and balancing on chairs. They didn't really enjoy it. We didn't really enjoy the show. It was kind of a case of mutual non-enjoyment. We left and walked around some more, when we realised we were being followed by some wild monkeys. They were staring at us and following us and the deeper we went into the island, the more monkeys there were and they were all looking at us and talking to each other. I have never heard monkeys 'talking' like this. They were going 'hooo hoooo hooo' really high pitched and it sounded more like wolves howling or something.

Then they all came rushing down from the trees and there were seriously hundreds upon hundreds of monkeys crowding around us shouting and wanting food. One of the monkeys then reached up and grabbed my hand and then ran away - I almost freaked out! It was so scary and eerie. Then some man began feeding them by throwing handfuls of corn at them out of a bucket and they went mental. They were coming from everywhere by the dozen and the ground was swarming with monkeys, making it look alive with swarming bodies. I was thinking 'Outbreak' rather than 'Jungle Book' at that point and got away sharpish. So freaky!

We made it back to the boat and then returned to Nha Trang - what an outing...

On the way back, we got a taste of Nha Trang's rush hour and the traffic was mental but the boys did really well with the driving!

Nha Trang

After our Mui Ne snake adventure, we were ready to leave. We got on the bus and drove for hours to Nha Trang.

Nha Trang is meant to have the most beautiful beach in Vietnam and lots of people go there for the beach, the swimming and other water sports. We had high expectations of the place!

The journey was ok and the scenery was really pretty - it reminded me of the Scottish highlands, really rugged and wind swept and lonely except for the road. Very beautiful. But also a sign for things to come.

When we got to Nha Trang, we were shocked to find that it was freezing! No beach weather at all and the place was deserted. Oh dear... it was like being in Blackpool in November when no one else in their right mind would go there.

We did end up in a nice hotel though for a really good price and after exploring the town, we decided we did like it well enough. After a couple of days, the place grew on us and we ended up finding a nice place that served cheap drinks. Tom, Phil and I had lots of vodka. Lots of vodka in a short time and no dinner. Disaster? Yes.

The evening is a daze - I don't remember much of it. It was fun though for a lot of it - we talked about lots of stuff and I found a great new favourite drink - Vodka and sour apple! Yum yum yum! I recommend it. After a while, the boys swapped to Long Island Ice Teas and as I was convinced we were going for dinner any minute, I continued with my lovely vodka and sour apple. Bad idea...

At some point I ate a baguette. I think I blagged it from the restaurant next door, but I'm not sure how or when. Then Phil took me home and left me with the phone to ring Tom if I needed anything. Then him and Tom had some more drinks and got into trouble when they didn't have enough money to pay the bill. Tom was driven away by some girls on motorbikes to get some money from a cashpoint and Phil was left behind. Both of them got robbed at some point during the night. I think they also kept leaving the bar and being dragged back because they hadn't paid enough yet, so they had another drink while they were trying to find out how much they had to pay. :o)

But they made it back ok in the end and we had a good laugh at some point during the next day after the hang over had cleared.

Mui Ne

After the excitement of HCMC, we decided to move on and see a bit more of Vietnam, so we booked ourselves on the bus to Mui Ne, which is a seaside town and very famous for its beaches.

The journey was interesting - we were jammed on a bus with lots of other people and we watched Karakoke videos all the way. When we got out, we were very happy.

Mui Ne is quite non-descript. It seems to consist of one street with shops and hotels at either side of it. Then around the town there are about 3 million high end resorts and golf clubs. That's not what we were expecting really...

Since we can't afford to stay in a resort, we trailed all over town up and down that silly street calling at every hotel to see if we could stay there. What a pain! We were followed the whole time by a gang of motodrivers who were all shouting at each other and at us, telling us to take their services as they would bring us to the world's greatest hotel which was just 10 miles out of town... I don't think so.

Finally we found a place with a room left and so the three of us decided to share and were installed in a shack on the beach. The beach itself was cool and the water clean and nice but unfortunately it was very cold and windy. It seems to be a mecca for kite surfers and wind surfers but as we weren't there long enough to take lessons and stuff, there wasn't that much else for us to do except to wrap up warm and chill out on the beach. There are worse things in life!

Excitement did find us even in a sleepy little place like Mui Ne though. We were at this restaurant on the beach, getting ready to have some lunch when Phil jumped up and brushing himself down. We realised that a snake had fallen on him and was on his leg!!!! We were all screaming and jumping out of the way and the snake was looking peed off - it had its head up and was looking mean and wanting to bite.

It then decided to make its way across the place and wrap itself round a pole, but it was then that we realised it was just a little green snake, very pretty and after its initial irate reaction, it was quite chilled out and minding its own business. I got a straw and got it to start to climb up it to get a closer look and Tom was taking pictures of it and Phil was also leaning in for a better look when the rest of the restaurant caught on to what was happening and got involved too. The commotion attracted the staff at the resto and when they saw the snake they all went mental!

Turns out the snake is mega poisonous! AAAARRRRGGGHHHH!

We were so lucky that we didn't get bitten, especially Phil when it was on him. I tell you, I was properly shaken and was thanking God, my mum, my guardian angel, lucky stars, four leaf clover and rabbit's foot while knocking on wood that none of us got hurt. There would have been no way we would have made it to a hospital for an antidote.

Then, a couple of Vietnamese guys came running along with a plank of wood and then went and bashed the snake on the head and then threw it away on the beach. ?!?! Some poor thing will spread out their beach towel to have a nap and find a dead snake next to their head - yowz!

Cu Chi Tunnels

So after the excitement of NY, we decided to do some sightseeing and went on a tour to explore the Cu Chi tunnels, which is a tunnel network that the Viet Cong had dug during the Vietnam War to invade the south and kick the Americans out.

Basically, they tunnelled into HCMC and the Americans had no idea they were there. The tunnels were very sophisticated and dug by hand and were absolutely tiny with small enclaves to sleep in and underground kitchens. The soldiers would hide in those tunnels and lay horrible traps in the jungle and around the area to fight against the south.

We were told that we would be able to walk through the tunnels and see the area and learn a lot about the history of it, but unfortunately, the day turned out to be a bit poo. After ages on the bus, we were spewed out by the hundreds and then had a useless guide point out obvious things such as 'this is a reproduction of the kitchens that they used underground'. Ahh. These are the tunnels but you can't go in here. OK. And so on. They also had very strange mechanised dolls there to make it more realistic I think. They were really weird and creepy.

We got to go into one bit of tunnel and it's very small and hot. The reason for that is because they stick about 300 tourists into a 30 metre tunnel at the same time. Not good. We were then herded through the souvenir shop and were enticed to buy crocodile leather goods and foul drinks with snakes and scorpions in them. Yuck! Then thankfully we got to go home - YAY!

That night though turned out to be one of our most fun ones in Vietnam so far! Basically, when we got back to the hotel, we fancied a drink, so Tom went out and bought a bottle of whiskey, because he thought he was starting to come down with a cold. Well, if you ever come across "Wall Street" Whiskey, give it a go, it only costs about $3 a bottle and will tast just right with a bit of coke!

So we finished the bottle, then went out for some more at a bar near by. After a few cocktails, we decided we needed some food, so off we went to this really cool resto, where we had more cocktails and some seriously yum food followed by vodka mixers. We were quite happy to pay the bill, because we reckoned that that was it for the night and we'd had fun. Once we got out the place though, we did fancy another drink only to find out it was quite late, so we found this club called Rainforest or something like that. The whole place is covered in aluminium foil - why? - and it looks quite flash when the lights are low and the strobe is going. (That's a picture of the place). We get to a table and the place is filled with HCMC beautiful people and not so beautiful but rich people. The place is crawling with girls who work there and who look after the customers... So we order some drinks there and have a bit of a boogie and get a free platter of fruit?! It was yum though, so we were munching pineapple and dancing and drinking when we decide that it would be a good idea to buy a bottle of vodka rather than keep buying cocktails. So we buy this bottle and every time I left the table to go for a dance, a bunch of these girls would come over and pour Phil and Tom their drink and giggle with them and do their best to get them more drunk!

Sadly though, they closed at some point and we quickly finished the bottle and tried to find somewhere else that would still be open. So we end up going back to - Apocalypse Now! Again. We danced and had more drinks there and went mad with these random people. I then recognised one of the girls in the club as one of the mute waitresses from a resto we had gone to the other day, so we all dance together with her friends and have a great time, but then that place closes, too! We roll out the club and then randomly pile onto some motorbikes to go to another place that these girls know and we race through HCMC on these bikes. It was so much fun! Eventually we get to this other bar and then realise that we've lost Tom. No idea when or where, last we saw of him was on the back of a bike somewhere in HCMC, so we look for him, give up, have a boogie, look for him again and eventually make it back for some well deserved sleep.

What a great night! I'll leave it to Tom to tell what happened after we lost him ...

New Year's Day

After a bit of a delicate start to the day, we were ready for more adventures!

To be honest, I don't quite remember what we ended up doing that day, but one thing is for sure, the girl that we had met last night turned up to be very interested in our man Tom. He wasn't that keen though, because she was a 'polygamist', meaning that she was going out with two guys and a girl at the same time and she was faithful to them all. They also all knew about each other and they had to coordinate every time they all went out over who was going to go home with whom - What?! So, she was quite intent on adding him to her circle of friends and wanted to meet up with him again today. She was a little odd as well.

So we did end up spending most of the day trying to avoid her and Tom kept looking over his shoulder being paranoid. However! At one point we were standing at a street corner, waiting for Phil, when I spotted her down the street!! OMG - we both ran the other way and hid behind a lamp post (stupid, I know. I mean how can two people hide behind a lamp post?). A taxi driver was yelling at us to take his cab and we were both trying to shush him so he wouldn't give us away! I think the terrified looks on our faces made him keep quiet and we got away with it. So funny! Thank God she didn't see us and we were safe!

Tom was shaking for another 10 minutes afterwards - hahahahah!

New Year's Eve

So, it's New Year's Eve and Saigon is buzzing! There is going to be a street party down the road from us and there's also going to be a show and lots of food. It's the first time that the authorities have allowed a street party for NY and everyone is very excited.

Well, Tom was set on getting drunk and Phil and I were too so we set out and checked out the street party. It was ok really. Loads of people and everyone was eating, no one was drinking really and the show was quite cool with lots of OTT style costumes and acrobatic tricks. We weren't feeling it too much, so we after checking out a couple of watering holes, we decided on one that hadn't quadrupled its prices from any other night and then sat down at this table with this random girl who turned out to be quite 'different'... Anyway, after a few drinks, the mood picked up and we were ready for some more drinking action and went in search of a pub close to the 'happening' night club in town - Apocalypse Now. We ended up at the 'Underground' pub, a repro english pub with lots of tube signs where we also met up with Matt and Sandra.

Earlier, we did get doused in confetti and so we continued that in the pub - not sure people were that impressed - but while Tom was chasing me round the place, I managed to crack my toe open and then had to try to stem the flow of blood! Honestly, is there a week that goes by without me getting hurt in some way or another???!

Luckily, the alcohol in my blood stream prevented any infections - heheheh - and we were off to Apocalypse to see in the NY! It was packed! Loads of Vietnamese people were there too as well as the usual expat crowd and it was good fun. The place was crawling with 'beer girls' who were trying to get the guys to buy the beer they were representing!??! So you had a Heineken girl, a Tiger girl, a Bud girl, etc. the boys loved it obviously.

Danced the night away and had lots of fun with a massive countdown at midnight - hooray, it's 2007! After midnight, they held a raffle and the first prize was a massive Sanyo fridge freezer. I pity the poor sod who won it that night and had to get it home somehow...

First day in HCMC

Well, we made it and thanks to our friends' recommendation in PP, we are comfortably installed in a nice little guesthouse smack in the middle of HCMC. It's quite cheap here and the vibe of the town is very exciting!

There are people everywhere! And scooters and cars and cyclos and bikes and buses! Everyone moves to their own rhythm and the streets are packed with people and traffic but no traffic lights. Everyone just goes when and where they want and bigger wins over smaller wheels. When we cross the road, we dodge every vehicle around. It takes getting used to but we are being brave and cross as much as possible.

On our wanderings about the town, we found a little amusement section in the park with dodgems! YAY! So the three of us got in and had a race around - it was so much fun!

All the Vietnamese people thought we were crazy and the cars were very small. Every time I got bashed, my shins crashed into the dashboard. Also these cars had no breaks or accelerators, so you just go for it and get hit. It was good fun, but when were done, by shins were slowly turning blue. The boys were OK, but they are obviously not as lovely and long-legged as me!

The road to HCMC

So we decided to take the bus from PP straight to Ho Chi Minh City which was not meant to take too long and was a fairly standard route. We got our tickets alright and then set off in this fairly comfortable coach.

All went well until we got to the border. Vietnam is famous for its bureaucracy. I didn't think that fame was quite so justified. Upon getting to the border, we all had to haul ourselves out of the bus, then queue, then go back to the bus to get ALL our luggage, queue with that luggage and then hand in our passports and then wait. And we waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. For about two hours. I slept on my rucksack. I reckon they were looking for some 'help' in processing our papers.

Anyway, we made it across the border ok and then completed our journey to HCMC. It's a big big mental place with the world's worst traffic!

More PP

It's been ages since I wrote the last entry and I'm not even sure I will be able to remember everything that has happened since! Wow, it's been over two weeks now, but we had lots going on ...

Right, while in Phnom Penh, we managed to look around a bit and get a feel for the city. It's quite big and busy and congested and dirty. We weren't too taken with our accommodation, but we knew it wasn't going to be for long, so it didn't really matter, esp as we had a nice time in Siem Reap. We stayed in this guesthouse by the lake, which sounds really nice but is basically an excuse for everyone to throw their rubbish in there. It's picturesque in the sunset but not really anytime else!

PP is OK, I didn't mind it, but it's not really all that nice in my opinion. I think we could have spent longer in Cambodia, but I think we are kind of ready for new adventures now, which is why it seems like Vietnam would be more exciting. Also, after Laos, Cambodia seems a bit of a let down as it's more expensive and the people are quite different.

So after Sarah left, Tom made his way over, as he had been able to fit Vietnam into his itinerary to surprise Matt with us in Ho Chi Minh City for New Year. We did some exploring in PP and then said goodbye to Cambodia, because Vietnam's calling.

Phnom Penh

It's the day after Christmas and we are spending the day at the Butterfly Garden which is a lovely cafe and bar in a lush garden with butterflies hanging out. They are very beautiful and the place was very relaxing after all that boozing. I had a healthy salad with balsamico - yum yum! - and then we said goodbye to Hiroko, who is off to a wedding in Vietnam. Bye bye Hiroko! Poor Tom ...

Off to Phnom Penh for us and Sarah, while Tom sorts out his flights so he can come to Vietnam and surprise Matt with us.

The journey to PP was interesting. We went on a local bus and it was very busy. It had aircon though - wow! and a telly. I wish it hadn't had a telly... We ended up sitting on the speaker and Sarah had to sit in front of the speaker and all the time it was blaring either really bad music or transmitting the rubbish from the telly. We watched horrible music videos which all sounded like dooodle diiidle dooodle dooo dooo doodle dooodle deeee dooo dooo and then watched a Cambodian Comedy. It was so bad. All the men had moustaches which were obviously fake and very big and everyone just shouted at each other the whole time! All the Cambodians on the bus were peeing themselves laughing though... hmmm.

After about six hours, we got to PP and checked into our guesthouse - it wasn't that nice but it will do after Christmas excesses. :o)

Christmas Day

Hooray it's Christmas! I got Phil a hammock and this is Hiroko lying in it!

We did something a bit different today. We decided to visit a local orphanage and bring the kids some presents, because we had heard about a lot of the institutions in Cambodia need all the help they can get.

After speaking to our guesthouse people who were really pleased at our suggestion, the four of us piled into a tuk tuk and made our way to the wholesale market where we bought things like pens, pencils, exercise books and toys like a nice football and a hacky sack type feather thing, which everyone plays with here.

So we go down these bumpy roads into the middle of nowhere and arrive at this little building, where we are shown around by the headmistress. It's basically a home for orphaned kids and they also support older kids (not necessary orphans) so they can go to school and get an education and have help. In all, there are about 50 kids living in this place and they all go to school. Some are a lot older, some are still very young and some are handicapped, but they are all living together and look out for one another.

After the tour, we got to meet the kids in one of their 'assembly rooms' and we all introduced ourselves and were told to speak English with the kids. Almost all of them spoke it very well and one girl spoke really good Japanese! Almost all of them want to be tour guides when they grow up, though there was this one very soft spoken boy, who wanted to be a writer and study Khmer history. I really liked him and all the rest of the kids.

Initially it was a bit awkward but then after we did the intros and joked around for a bit, Phil made a little speech and we gave out all the bits we had brought. They seemed really pleased and so we all ran out to the yard and had a good old play! The boys hogged the football and some of them were really good! I ended up playing this hacky sack thing and I'm hopeless at it... it was really good fun though and all the kids ended up adopting one of us and pulled us about here and there.

I was looked after by this one girl who didn't speak any English but she was very bossy and funny. I think she was about 9 years old and well cheeky! So cute though and very loving and she kept force-feeding me buns that she got from their kitchen. They were very good but after eating three, I did feel a bit full... we ended up trading bracelets and I'm still wearing hers, which is just blue wooden beads.

All the kids were so lovely and they all seemed happy though I'm sure none of them had an easy life so far. They are well looked after and cared for, though of course by our standards, they are still living in poverty. But to them, they have somewhere to live and have food and can go to school, so what if you don't have lots of toys or a mattress to sleep on and you own two outfits, one for school and one for playing and one pair of shoes?

I think we are spoiled...

We left them late afternoon and we were thoroughly knackered! Back to the guesthouse, shower and then out for Christmas Dinner, which was at a Khmer resto in town. It was alright, not too special, but at least we tried! The other option was to go to the Irish Pub and pay a fortune for a turkey dinner - maybe not.

Out after that and lots of drinking and dancing at the Temple Bar and Angkor What? again. Somebody had too much to drink and then ended up being sick out of the tuk tuk on the way back. I won't say who though! Hehehehe! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Well, it's Christmas Eve and what did we do today? We went and got horribly drunk and danced the night away, of course! I'm not sure really what we did during the day, but we're loving our new guesthouse - they are very nice and the room is lovely and big and we have HOT WATER!!!!! HOORAY!!!!! I have clean hair! I smell nice! I can wash my clothes!

We went for a big fat burger, I had a lovely pedicure and foot treatment thingy and then we went and took advantage of several cheap booze offers such as 2 for 1 cocktails and big vodka buckets. Oh dear... we ended up dancing at the Angkor What? bar, I know... what a name... until about 3am. It was fun!

Hello Tom!

After our Angkor Wat day, we went back to the guesthouse and met up again with Tom who we have travelled with in Laos. We also made another two new friends, Sarah from NZ and Hiroko from Japan.

Roll on Christmas Day!