Hello everyone!

Before I go on, when you look at this picture it is not representative of the Cambodia I am currently seeing. It's a huge puddle!! No blue sky or white clouds but the people are great and so is the food so if tha't's not a silver lining I don't know what is!

Right, I last left you at Hue and to be honest I can't tell you too much about it. I was pretty ill there and didn't see as much as I would have liked (except the HBO channel which is brilliant!!) We got to Hoi-An on the 13th and we went straight to the beach! White sands...palm trees and crystal clear water, I could get used to this I think. Only thing missing was hammocks in between the plams...that's a money maker! Riding our bikes around the town and through to the beach was great, to the left was the river and people catching fish for their dinner wearing their pointed straw hats lazing by the reeds and to the right, rice firlds and families tending to the crops in the midday heat...
That night we ate at a place where the proceeds go to street children to give them an education...the place was called the Blue Dragon and did some great white rose (Vietnamese wet spring rolls stuffed with shrimp...mmm) but if you go there don't get the fish in banana leaf! very dry!
The next day the girls insisted in getting tailor made clothes and obviously I was thrilled at that idea! So I explored the other half of the city on my bike and met a few characters! A guy called Randy from Illinois that had a book exchange place and then a lady called "linda Number 1" who oinsisted on me buying a postcard and then proceeded to attempt to gove me a massage....I felt uncomfotable and slightly dirty all in one. So rushing away form her I saw the lighthouse and an old Japanese covered bridge (no, not covered by Japanese people!) and then went back to the beach, heaven! Though I kind of fell asleep and got a tad burnt...oh dear!

Hoi-An for me was about the old town and the beach, the decrepid french style houses exuded charater and inside held some amazing ice-cream parlours! (who'd have thought!) Sadly it was time to say goodbye and then hello to Nha-Trang! Famous for it's beach and it's own version of the Koh-San we were all ready to party! Sod's law had to come in sometime though! There wasn't so much of a party going on when we were there and we pretty much chilled and lazed around, which was a nice change from running around cities!

The next day brought with it another overnight bus and Saigon (or Hoh Chi Minh city for some) and a re-run of the traffic hell from Hanoi. HCMC was depressing and wonderful in one. I visited the war remnats museum which is a shrine to all those that were killed in the Vietnam war and subsequent political wars. It had pictures of those killed or affected by the chemcial warfare and also anecdotes from those who survived. It was really quite depressing but I recommend that people go. I also saw the reunification palace (the place where Saigon fell in 1975..like the tanks in Tiannemen Sqaure, that sort of thing) and also to this amazing Hindu temple. Neon lights and bright colours burst into your eyes, the thick smell of incense entered your nose and the shouts and wails of the worshippers blasted into your ears. It was a complete sense-rollercoaster! HCMC is such a diversely religious place!

The next day was funday! We went to a theme and waterpark which was so much fun! Dubious we were at the safety of the coasters we decided they looked to fun to miss! and were all alivfe, one of us horribly scarred from the log flume but otherwise we had a great time! (Joking...she lost the leg!) Thw waterpark was brilliant but I think someone should tell the Vietnamese people that they don't need to be fully clothed when at a waterpark, if anything it hinders their ability to go fast on the slide!! The rapids were the slowest i have ever been on but the locals thought it was crazy! How funny! The best ride was the boomerang! Pretty much on a three person blow up and just let to go on this verticle thing! Thought i was going to fall out! Brilliant!!

I got into Cambodia yesterday, and it was raining, it rained all the way there! It stopped for us to go to the killing fields of Cheung Ek and then the Khmer Rouge prison known as S-21. These places are where, under the Khmer Rouge (Communist army) and under Pol Pot's regime, complete genocide took place. Everyone from doctors, teachers, families and those in the regime themselves were brutally tortured in the name of purity. I'll be honest, it wasn't fun but It was good to understand how the country has grown and why it is still so corrupt today. Intense stuff! We cheered ourselves up with some homestyle food (Lasagne!!) and then watched a nice film! (The wonders of distraction!) Today It;s been pretty much raining all day so maybe a hot chocolate for me and find refuge in a pub...you can take the girl out of England...!
To Siem Reap tommorrow and then to the famous Angkor Wats!! I promise I'll put pictures up soon! The computers are just so slow here!!!

Until next time x