This week I have gone away with work to the project site that I have been to a few previous times. It has been about as interesting as each other time, with highlights including pig heart and noodle soup for breakfast and getting stuck in the mud on bicycles yesterday (there was the biggest storm and we were stuck out for a few hours in it. needless to say some of my clothes are stained with mud and still wet now). It's actually not been what I would term a week of work, but its been nice. I have again been pretending to be a tourist and have been cycling and walking around the countryside.

Weather has been incredible recently, so awesome to be out of the city. Not sure how I'm going to cope with the next 2 months as it is only going to get hotter!

I haven't written on here in a while as I have been spending my weekends in the city and not doing very much. Two weeks ago now, Emily returned for one day, so we hit the spa (so amazing and only 5 pounds) and then had a reunion bia hoi day!!

We have now also had a load of new volunteers in the house, so it no longer feels as though we are just rattling around in such a big building. Also, have found someone who is equally obsessed with tidying as I am, so last week spent 4 hours cleaning up our common room. I'm not sure how long its gone without such a clean, but we cleaned away things that I didn't even realise was dirt!

Last weekend a load of us took a day trip to Tam Coc and Hoa Lu, a few hours south of here. It was a good trip but far, far too hot. At Hoa Lu we visited a couple of temples, and then at Tam Coc got boats down the river. I guess it was a good ride in principal, but with the sun beating down on us, and all rather tired from the long drive, it wasn't so. There was also the usual vietnamese/tourist traps......

So each boat will only take 2 tourists, though a load have 2 people rowing. Anyhow, I hop in one with Anne. And the first half is nice, we go through a load of caves and between these huge limestone karsts (this area is meant to be like a Halong on land). Then at the turn around point we can buy drinks, but neither of us want any, so the little old lady tries to get us to buy her one. Fine, but Anne offers her her own drink, which she refuses so we refuse to buy her one, and in the end the seller gives it to her anyway. A few metres futher down, we stop so that the ladies rowing us can try to sell us some embroidered things they have made. Looking around, it seems that this is the place to stop to do so as everyone else is having similar problems, in that they do not accept no for an answer. At the end of the ride, they tell us, not so politely, that we should tip them, and keep doing so until Anne relents.

All in all a long and hot day.

This weekend I am hoping to go to a waterpark as up until now nobody has wanted to go with me.