How time flies when you're having fun! Quite naughty really; I shouldve been keeping you guys updated but the sun is always out here and the beach calls out to me.. loudly. Right, lets bring you up to date although theres a lot to cover so Im just gonna outline if thats alright. No one has hours on end to sit reading my blog. Well except those of you at work. For the record the thing I miss most about work is Nick and I and whoever else was around really doing essentially catching practice, back and forward for most of the afternoon with the various freebie stress balls lying around the place. Yes indeed; the wonderful world of IT. My O my we were VERY BUSY.

I digress..

So I arrived into Mui Ne alone and by the end of the day had acquired 3 Irish lads for company and we went down to Wax bar in the evening and danced til the wee hours. Mui Ne is the kind of 'travellers' gem you search for, massively chilled out, everyone theres nice, the drink comes in plastic buckets etc. The beach is lovely, really long and hugely popular for kitesurfing. I thought it looked like a lot of fun so I signed up to do the course. I was really excited to do it but turns out the wind wouldnt be strong enough for me to do the course in the limited time I was there and I have to say after watching the instuctional video first off I felt a bit like Id had a lucky escape - it looks techie and scary. But Im going to do it anyway, when I get to Thailand.
My friend Sally, that Id met in Phu Quoc, arrived in Mui Ne to join me and I have to say we had an EXTREMELY good night out. When we got back to the hotel the sun had risen so we went straight out and got on the sunloungers (acquiring a tan is a full time job you know). So by the end of that day we hadnt slept and I hadnt taken my contact lenses out for 48 hours. Epic. So much fun.

Anyway, I cant dwell, must motor ahead with the story so far. Sal and I got the bus to Na Trang and were the only people on one of those giant coaches. So that was cool. And the scenery was amazing, a type of terrain Ive never seen before, kinda forests and fields but broken up by orange sand dunes. It was a nice journey. We met jen and vic in Na Trang and had a fun few days on the beach, the number of sellers there is ridiculous - they literally stand in a queue to sell you something. But its brilliant cos theyll cut you up a fresh mango or a pineapple or whatever and they bring round live seafood, you pick a prawn and they whip out a grill and BBQ it for you there and then. That was pretty sweet. We watched the parasailing, it looked good, but we were too lazy to haul our asses off the sunloungers to do it. Yeah so its pretty sweet, spend your days having food brought to you, my friend Emma had given me about 20 magazines so we worked our way through those. Good times. Na Trang in the evening - the Red Apple Bar was a lot of fun but overall I dint like Na Trang as a place it remended me of Saigon and I didnt feel very safe there and the restaurants were a bit touch and go. Good crowd though.
Special mention re my birthday, I was so so lucky to have Sal, Jen and Vic travelling with me at the time, they got me a cake, we hung out on the beach, they took me for a seafood dinner. Really good birthday so THANKS GIRLS. Thanks to all at home too, I had about 30 messages on facebook, a stack of emails etc, it was really great, I was touched.

Sniff. Moving on.. I took an 11 hour bus to Hoi An and although I resented having to do it I have to say the bus wasnt THAT bad this time. I was sitting next to a Spanish couple so we kept an eye on eachothers bags etc. The drivers were still some of the worlds rudest people though. They deserve their fate..
Anyways so now Im in Hoi An and I LOVE IT. Finally, finally, I find the Vietnam Id imagined, that Id pictured, that I was looking for. Im quite enchanted actually. The buildings are beautiful, usually yellow with verandas, balconies and lanterns hanging outside. They pipe classical music through the streets! Only in the old town mind you, the centre is still full of motorbikes but not so bad as Saigon and the people here are LOVELY. I feel like I can hold my own, not get ripped off every day, theres loadsa nice retaurants, especially overlooking the river, everyone here looks happy and relaxed. The surrounding countryside is beautiful; so exotic, bridges over rivers lined with palm trees, rice paddies with token buffalo, its just lovelyy. DID i MENTION THE BEACH??? Gorgeous beach, less touts than Na Trang and really nothing else to do there but relax and eat good food.

The downside is the shopping. There is amazing shopping here but I cant buy the silks, the lanterns, the pictures, the CLOTHES because I cant carry them. So cheap though, and so lovely., Its fairly torturous so Ill have to leave before too long.

Tomorrow Im booked onto my first Scuba Dive of the trip so far, cant believe its taken me this long to get round to it!! Really looking forward to it though - Im doing a two tank dive at Cham island. Supposed to be Vietnams best diving. Watch this space..
xx