Hey folks......it seems like ages since I've updated the blog. Guess I must have been busy!

Well you'll be pleased to know the travels are coming along just fine and I'm having a fabulous time. I obviously still thinking about home regularly (Facebook keeps me up to date with most things!) but the initial homesickness has all but disappeared aside from an occasional longing for a good pint of beer and some good old english food! A man can only eat so much rice and noodles before it wears thin you know!

I left you as I was about to board a plane for Bangkok before heading in to Vietnam. The flight to Bangkok was on time and smooth and I met two American guys on the flight which made the time fly by. One of the guys, Pete was heading to Hanoi too so we got chatting and decided to head in to town together once we got there. The other chap, Josh was a student studying elephants in Chiang Mai where he'd been for two years. He was a very interesting chap and told us all about what he does and lots about the Thai culture which proved very insightful. Through the course of the conversation Josh amazed me with the fact that, at the time of 9/11, only 10% of Americans had a valid passport......unbelievable considering the size of the country I thought. Anyway, once through arrivals we said farewell to Josh (who Pete later informed me was educated at one of the top 4 universities in America....no wonder he was clever!) and headed to check in our bags for the next leg of the journey. Unfortunately, we found out our flight had been delayed for two and a half hours and then Pete (who's 22) took great delight in introducing me to the check-in girl as his Dad! Cheeky Yank!

Luckily Bangkok has a good airport so we killed time by sinking a few beers and before we knew it we were taking off for Hanoi. A couple of hours later and I was ready to see if my internet-sourced visa would get me through customs. I must say it felt odd walking off the plane knowing I was in a place I'd only ever thought about visiting before and the communist feel to the place was almost instant. Lots of people in khaki uniforms with very stern faces and a huge queue at the visa application desk didn't really welcome me to the country. Despite my best smile and manners I couldn't raise as much as a glimmer from any of the staff at the desk and it took 45 minutes for them to finally stamp my passport and take my dollars as payment. Interestingly the girl just slipped them straight into her pocket but I'm sure it's all legit!

I'd emailed ahead and arranged a taxi to our hotel as Hanoi is renowned for mafia taxis which take you where they want you to go regardless of your instructions. It was quite cool to be greeted by a man with a big card saying " Old Street Hotel - Mr Andrew Warnes" but I always have been easily pleased! So Pete and I jumped in the cab (still not a smile in sight from anyone!) and off we went. What I thought was a hairy ride in from Bangkok airport paled into insignificance after this ride as our driver gave us a great demonstration in the most aggressive driving I've ever seen. I've never seen or heard a horn used so much in my life....or so I thought! We were dropped at a very dodgy looking hotel only to discover that my booking was useless as they were already full! Pete tried to get into a hostel across the road, came back to tell me what he was doing but by the time he went back they'd locked the door. We were then walked around the corner to another hotel and marched to the top floor into a reasonably decent room with a double bed. It seemed like Pete and I would get very close very quickly......welcome to Vietnam!!

Pete didn't fancy sharing with me in the end (who could blame him!) so slept on the floor. We had breakfast and headed into town to meet Juliane (the girl I met on my elephant training day) and her fella. We'd only gone about 100m when a motorbike taxi guy offered us a sexy lady massage and when we said no, trumped that with the offer of some 'boom-boom'! It was 9.30am! Anyway, we met Juliane and it turns out she'd had a row with her man and he'd left Hanoi already so not a great start for her either. Pete headed off to find cheaper accomodation and Juliane and I headed off to see the sights. LP had warned about the traffic but it really has to be seen to be believed....motorbikes and scooters outnumbered cars about 8 to 1 and there didn't seem to be any logic to how it flowed. I tried taking photos and videos to get the effect but I'm not sure I managed it. Crossing the road looked impossible so I followed a couple of locals and just copied them! The trick is simply to walk out and let them avoid you which goes totally against everything you're taught in the UK but it works and after a few go's we were well away.

We spent the whole day on foot and pretty much saw most of the sights of Hanoi during the course of the day. True to form the locals were still far from friendly and it seemed everyone was just out to get what they could from you at every opportunity. The language barrier was bigger than I imagined with very few people speaking even coherent english but I guess this is what travelling is all about. After the friendliness (and willingness to listen and help) of the people in Thailand this was a shock to the system. We met up with Pete that evening and headed out to see the water puppets show. It's a traditional show unique to Vietnam with music and puppetry passed down from hundreds of years ago and it was quite entertaining. We followed that with a few beers and swapped our stories about the day. It flowed very well and at 4am we decided to call it a day so I walked both the youngsters back home like all good Dad's should do!

We had decided to leave the next day and head for Sapa up in Northern Vietnam which is renowned for it's scenery and hill trekking. I spent the day finishing off my sightseeing in Hanoi and took in a couple of temples and the Museum of Enthropology which was hugely interesting. I decided to get a taste of the traffic for myself so hailed a motorbike taxi to get me there and it turned out to be much easier once you're in amongst the mayhem. You couldn't pay me enough money to ride my own bike there though!

I'll update again soon with the next Vietnam installment.........