In march 2013 I had begun organising my dream trip to Western Canada. After years of putting it off because I didnt want to go it alone, I had decided to just go for it, and booked my flights. Within weeks of this, I had a letter through the post from work stating that a new policy was soon to be brought into affect. Eligible people were to be allowed to take up to 3 months unpaid sabbatical leave.

Of course, if I had known this earlier then I would have organised to spend the 3 months in Canada. But as it is, it turned out to be good timing. I had an amazing adventure in Canada and gained the confidence I needed to immediately begin planning and saving as soon as I got home for this bigger trip. Of course having already visited Western Canada there was no doubt where I would head to next....

.....New Zealand had always been at the top of my destination wishlist, along with Canada.

So now 22 months on, I'm less than 24hours away from flying out of the UK for 4 months solid travelling. '4 months?' I hear you ask, 'I thought it was 3..' well you see my plans have morphed...repeatedly, since I began planning it. With the help of my boss and his boss, I managed to add 4 weeks of holiday time to my 3 months off. Extending my sabbatical to 4 months in all. 

Originally I had toyed with the idea of spending the 3 months in New Zealand but I decided that if I was flying all that way, then I would tie in another country. It was between a visit to Australia and South East Asia for me. I even thought about trying to add a week in Fiji to end the trip in a relaxed fashion  But this is me and I never seem to take the easy option!! Instead of Fiji Ive now added both Australia and Sout East Asia into what is a jam packed itinerary.

And currently any excitment at the thought of my trip is completley drowned out by fear of, well, everything. I've no idea what the wifi situation will be like but hopefully I can keep you all posted.

Saturday 17th January 2015

So it's just gone 11pm here in Hanoi as I write this. Its been a full on couple of days and quite honestly, up to the last couple of hours I've not been loving it!

My journey began when I got up to go to heathrow after just 2 hours sleep on friday morning. It was my own fault for wanting to see and speak to friends but then I was always unlikely to sleep much at all given how panicky and emotional I've been over the last few weeks. This trip may have been a dream of mine for 2yrs now but I never thought I would find it so hard to leave home for an extended period.

My dad drove me to the airport and stayed with me while I checked in and didn't leave until I felt ready to go through security...it took awhile and to be honest, even then it was because I didn't have much of a choice!

Once I got through that bit though I knew I didn't have to do anything for awhile so I spent it messaging people and trying not to freak out. I swear I haven't been this much of a mess since I was a teen! I hate that at the moment im not able to control my emotions the way I've learnt to over the years. Oh well, so long as nobody mentions how long im away for, I should be fine...but if they do, then they better stick around to pick up the pieces!

The 6 hour flight to Dubai was pretty smooth and I just spent it reading my kindle and trying not to think about the journey ahead. Honestly it's probably more to do with how tired I was feeling but it seemed to be the smoothest take off ive ever had and the landing too- I barley even noticed them!

Now up until now I've only ever done direct flights so the many connections in my itinerary have been a major scare factor for me especially as there's not always much time between flights. So imagine my surprise when the Dubai, Bangkok connection was the easiest part of my journey! I was still freaked out and wishing I'd never had the silly idea of going travelling (did I mention I've been freaking out about everything?) but again I got some wifi just before getting on my next flight so I managed to get some sense talked into me by my bestie :) .

I spent most of the flight to Bangkok stressing myself out as my entertainment system wasn't working, my phone was rapidly dying and on top of that I couldn't read my book because it was reminding me of things I was trying not to think about. The really good thing was that I got in flight wifi for a brief time..until we crossed into a region which didn't allow it anyway. Probably for the best given that it cost me another 15% of my phones battery.

Once at Bangkok airport I knew I had to collect my luggage before checking in for my next flight which was separate from the rest. Queue 3 hours of hell!! I got told by no less than 5 people, 5 different things about where I had to go and what I had to do. 2 hours queueing to go through passport control to get my backpack to then come back through, check in, queue for security and oh yeh queue yet again for passport control. By the time I'd done all this, finding out that my flight was delayed was the last straw. I went and got a much needed drink- no not alcoholic- and found a quiet place to sit done and relax. At this point all I wanted to do was head home. I mean it says something when the highlight of your day is that you know how to work the automatic taps in the washroom and show two ladies who dont!

Luckily my flight was only delayed by half an hour meaning that I didn't have to worry about my transfer in Hanoi and once on board it did go smoothly with amazing views over the mountain ranges. Though why all the airlines try to feed you so much I'll never know! It was less than a 2hr flight and they gave us a full meal. So across the 3 flights I was offered 4 full on meals plus snacks!! Needless to say after the first breakfast one I only picked at the rest!

Once in Hanoi I felt a lot better. At least I'd finally made it to my destination. I just had to get to my hotel. After eventually finding my bag -and yep I was sure it had gotten lost, it took that long- I exited customs and immediately found my transfer. It took about 50mins to reach my hotel, with a brief detour to the wrong one.

We drove all through these tiny streets crammed with bikes, people and anything else you can think of. There's no room between the different vehicles as they pass by without much care. And yet having been to Egypt I have to say I felt a lot safer here than there. There's really no reason for it but somehow it just seems as though everyone is perfectly aware of everyone/thing around them.

I saw some amazing flower displays, brightly coloured market areas, statues and so much more just making my way to the hotel. I was itching to explore. But once I was checked in I knew I need to rest as I was struggling to function.

I set my alarm for a few hours time and promptly slept through it. When I did wake up I didn't wanna get up and decided not to bother. But an hour later I was out the door for a quick wander before coming back. I just couldn't not.

I walked through the old quarter of Hanoi exploring the night market. The streets were teaming with people, dozens upon dozens sitting on makeshift stools eating food and enjoying life.

There were vendors offering popcorn, fried food, crisps, cotton candy and much more. People singing, playing music, dancing. I was extremely glad I went out, even briefly and I can't wait to explore more tomorrow without the fear of getting lost.

All in all the journey so far has been crap but that's such a small part of it. Now im here, and I'm going to make the most of it! As someone told me 'Life's what we make of it'

Sunday the 18th January

So having been up half the night talking to friends back home I managed to sleep fairly well. Waking in the morning shortly before the housekeeping knocked on the door. This was fine but they didn't speak English so we had no idea what each other was saying. There was lots of smiling and nodding followed by me going back in my room alone. 

Despite wanting to crawl back in my huge bed I took this as my queue to get up and out for the day. After all it was coming up to 11am already. 

Dropping my key at reception I got given a map and directions down to the Lake, so off I toddled. 

I first made my way around the lake coming across a Happy New Year sign made out of rose buds, before taking to the side streets and wandering the shopping district again. 

It seemed to be the more local area and no matter how many miles I walked I couldn't seem to find the flower shops I had seen in my taxi yesterday. 

I did however find what appeared to be the household and appliances area; the motorbike area and the garage area. Its kind of cool how they -at least seem- to have their own little districts. Though it's so odd to see the occasional wreath or christmas tree still up as I walk.

Through my wandering I ended up back near the hotel but decided to keep going for a while longer. Heading down a new road I found the shoe area :) before ending up at the far end of the lake (where I'm writing this from) 

In the few hours I've been out I've seen no less than a dozen brides around the Lake- all of which look completely stunning and could easily teach the brit brides a little something about how to be elegant. 

Next up I decided to explore the area west of the Lake and promptly got lost! And i'd been doing so well :) After eventually making it back to the Lake I once again got my bearing and decided to head back to the hotel for a while. Stopping along the way to grab some food. I've not been brave enough to try anything of the street food yet but it's looking more and more appealing...maybe tonight.

So being in Hanoi the one thing I knew I wanted to do was go to see a Water Puppet Show. Not knowing if I needed to book ahead or not I decided to take a chance and turn up at the theatre and see if seats were still available.

Of course, rather than take the more direct route, I decided to pass through the night market... and got lost...again...in the same area as before...

Okay so it's dark and the roads here are like a maze so getting lost really wasn't all that much of a surprise. But how I got south of the Lake when my hotel and the theatre are both at the north end, i'll never know!

Anyway... coming that way meant walking past the Lake at night while it's all light up- very pretty indeed- so all was not lost! And luckily I got to the theatre 15mins before the show started and managed to get a ticket to what ended up being about 70% full show.

I have to admit I've no idea what the story of the show was but just watching the speed and agility of those puppets in the water was amazing. Even if I did keep getting distracted by one of the vocalists... She looked as interested in what she was doing as I do when I'm at work...you know, not at all :)

After the show I again went wandering (when will I learn this is not a strength of mine!!) and eventually ended up walking the night market again. Oh my god it goes on forever!! Clearly last night I only got a glimpse at it. I so could have done some serious shopping then and there but knowing I can't carry much had me resisting! For now at least.

I did try this pastry thingy from one of the street vendors..it looked a lot nicer than it was! So with that in mind, on the way back to my hotel I stopped at where I got my croissant thing at lunch and got a cake instead. Much safer :)

 Monday the 19th January

So today has been a lazy day. Given that the hotel didn't have any information regarding my tour, yesterday, I got up earlier than I would have liked but not as early as I perhaps should have :)

Going downstairs I ran into a lady I met yesterday whom also appears to be on my tour and this time she was heading out with her friend. Still not having any information about the tour meeting I left my key with the receptionist and began walking towards the lake.

I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do today as while Hanoi has museums and such, I really wasn't in the mood for them. Instead I walked along the Lake, and stopped at the monument across the road. On completing the walk around the edge I decided to go into the Ngoc Son Temple and have a look around.

I didn't want to be out too long as the initial information I had on my tour meeting said it could be any when from late afternoon to the evening so I slowly made my way back through the streets and tried a little haggling along the way. (The problem with this of course is that I really shouldn't buy anything as my backpacks already big enough but my god is it tempting! Whoever said Italy was the place to shop got it wrong- its asia all the way baby!!)

Arriving back at the hotel I was given an information pack with all the relevant information for the next couple of weeks and told that our meet was at 6pm.

Having gone through it and scored my room for another night (usually they would put me in with one of the other travellers) I decided I would take my kindle down to the lake for awhile and do some reading.

On finding somewhere to sit - its much busier in the afternoon than the morning- I was approached by two girls who asked to chat with me awhile. I'd had similar approaches yesterday but nobody had actually managed to explain the reason behind this school project.

The girls (who's names I'm not even going to attempt) told me their part of an English club at their university andas part of it come and hold conversations with foreigners to expand their English and learn about other cultures.

Well anybody who knows me, knows I was at a complete loss as to what to say. But between the 3 of us we managed to muddle through 20mins of talking. Mostly about the fact they hate the cold but want to experience snow - to which I agree completely that it sucks that the two things go hand in hand- the difference I can see in mentality here compared to back home - a much easier pace though it's just as manic- the difference in the cost of living compared to the uk- Hanoi is expensive for these girls who come from farms in other provinces but for me I could easily live on £5 a day here which wouldn't buy me a meal back home. All in all it was an interesting way to pass some time, if a little awkward!

And just as I'm about to get my kindle out another young girl plonks herself down on the bench and begins chatting as though I've already agreed to another go round...I think there's a conspiracy going on here :)

So this girl who's name is Sti (or pronounced like that spelling) is not as much of a converse as the other girls and seems to struggle more with her English. Despite the lengthy silences I did find out she been in Hanoi for 6 months and really likes it. As well as studying english at uni she is also studying business trading which she hopes will lead to a job after she finishes school.

In her abrupt way she asked me my occupation followed by my age. Having already had it explained by the other two girls that these are 2 of 4 questions they always ask I wasn't too surprised by it and reluctantly answered...before asking her, hers... the reply to which was 'much younger'... yeh okay rub it in :)

A few more minutes silence and she did tell me she's 19 years old. I knew that they were all students at the university but not knowing the Vietnamese school systems I was unsure if it really was uni or like a high school...

Now I know, all I can say is im glad we don't get more Asian people in at work. I would constantly be asking 40yr olds for ID!!

A cool thing that happened as I left the Lake area was that there was a convoy of vehicles with some kind of Vietnamese officials.

Back at the hotel I got my paperwork together and headed down to meet my tour group. There's 7 of us for the 2 weeks in Vietnam. Our American tour guide Sarah who's been living in South East Asia for 2 years; Quebecian Lin who I ran into briefly the other day; Maria a German lady who is travelling all the way through to Singapore with Tucan; Cheryl a Canadian who's lived in Saudi Arabia for many years; and lastly Jeannette and Noah, respectively from Ohio and Alabama but now living in Alaska. (Jeannette also happens to be Sarahs sister)

After briefing us on some of the main points for the coming weeks we walked down the block for a welcome meal at a lovely little restaurant.

The next hour or so was spent making Noah an honorary girl for the next 2 weeks, discussing Jeannettes amazing hair which everyone now likens to Bieber and Miley Cyrus' (though personally I think she looks and even sounds much more like Pink) and discussing options for when we arrive back in Hanoi. At the moment it looks like we'll be going to an insect restaurant (which Sarah assures us has a normal menu too!) followed by beer corner and then I think most of the group will try for the Water Puppet show. And I've been told repeatly to try for a visit to the Hoa Lo Prison the next morning.

All in all I consider it a good night when I don't make a fool of myself with chopsticks... I now have a little challenge going on in my own mind to become semi proficient with them by the time I leave SEA. Let's face it though, I can and often do, send food flying with the use of knives and forks, so let's not hold our breathe on that one!

Tuesday 20th January

Hanoi to Halong Bay

After checking out of my room this morning I waited in the lobby until the group was ready. Pretty soon we were in our big minivan driving out of the city center.

Our local guides name is Duc which then caused a debate as to whether we should call him 'Duck' or Duke'...the latter was more flattering and won the battle :)

As we drove nearby to where Duc lives, he told us of snake village where you can go a pick the live snake you want them to cook for you. Since Lin would like to try this there's now some debate whether we will do this or the insect restaurant once back in Hanoi. Sarah likes the idea of it as she's never had a group that wants to go to snake village and this is her last tour before leaving Tucan and doing some travelling of her own. Either one should be quite the experience!

An hour or two into our journey we stopped at a craft type centre, where the items are made by disabled people here in Vietnam and you can watch how they are made. These people make it all look so easy but the detail going into them is quite amazing and their so quick. I love these painted tiles and also these embroidery canvas type cloth.

Another hour or so of travelling and we approached Halong Bay city with some time to spare, so we stopped at a Pearl factory. Here we learnt how they harvest them and the different classes of pearls.

On reaching Halong Bay wharf we boarded a tender and went to meet our very own Junk boat. And wow what a set up :)

We were soon settled and taking pictures before finally sitting down for a huge lunch as we motored towards Halong Bay. Despite it having been hazy all morning it's still quite the sight.

Once we dropped anchor the girls spent awhile up on the top deck talking past, present and future travel plans... and following a discussion on Turkish men we then got sidetracked onto who could or would settle for other halves having mistresses! Cheryl was the minority being alright with it.

Next up we headed via tender to a nearby beach where we were to climb 500 steps to a view point of Halong Bay. But first Jeannette went into the water!! I cant believe she did it but there was now no way Noah could get away with not doing it after having talked it up earlier on :)

As always I hate steps, but I have to say I'm not sure if I misheard the amount as it didn't seem more than maybe 300. The reason I say this is that I could walk after without my legs feeling like jelly! But it did help that we stopped to admire the amazing view and look for monkeys amongst the trees along the way!

Back at the beach Noah had been talked/ guilted into going swimming by Jeannette and Sarah so we all watched as he made his first submersion and then many more dives over the next 15 mins. I have to give it to him, once he was in there, he gave it his all.

As we were about to leave for our tender boat Lin pointed out the monkeys running across the steps as they made there way down through the trees towards the beach area. We didn't find them though until we went around the corner at Duc's urging.

It was really cool seeing wild monkeys...so long as they kept their distance. Which didn't last long with Jeannette and Noah feeding them :) Its safe to say every horror story I've heard about Monkey bites ran through my head right about then!

We arrived back on our junk boat in time to have some Dragon fruit while we watched the sunset. Lin, Cheryl and I are hoping to see the sun rise tomorrow. Fingers crossed I can drag myself up!!

We also had the ladies selling things come around to our ship and this was interesting to watch as she bartered and then transferred the goods and money vie a little fishing net pole- Only leaving us when a couple of kayakers showed interest in getting some beer.

We took some time before dinner to shower and such with my heading to the top deck 15mins before time. Here I found Cheryl and Sarah and we were soon joined by Duc.

Once more the evening meal was huge but not long after it wound down, half the group left as they felt tired. Staying on was Sarah, Jeannette, Cheryl and I and we soon had Duc as well. We listened to music and soon Jeannette was teaching us card tricks. And then the night got really interesting when one by one the crew joined us! We spent the next hour or two watching Duc and Jeannette run through different tricks with them and then explain how they work. It was all fine until one of the crew turned it around and did his own card trick!! Then we were all stumped! After figuring that one out, we moved on to hand slapping games.

Once a winner (the Junk boat Captain and one of his crew) and the first runner up (our very own Captain, Jeannette) and a second runner up (the bartender) had been declared, I headed to bed.

But it was an evening full of light games and laughter, interspaced with heavy talk like that of the war on terror. And poor Duc was left to translate for everybody! And then as if that's not enough, we pestered him into showing us pictures of his girlfriend too :) We're just that nice!

Wednesday 21st January

I woke at 5.30 this morning, took one look out the window and decided to snooze a while longer. This then turned into 40mins and when I got up this time it was still fairly dark and hazy. Given that Cheryl had been elected to wake everyone for the sunrise, I gathered I was right in guessing it never materialised behind the clouds.

Inspite of this I got up and headed to the top deck where I found Cheryl sitting in the quiet that is a Halong Bay, early morning. We sat quietly for awhile before I headed down to shower.

Breakfast was huge- again- and soon after, we made our way to Surprise Cave. This cave is so big, it's hard to remember it is one in Halong Bay. Inside there are huge stagnates which with very little little imagination because different shapes. Monkey, Buddha, Turtle...other ruder shapes :)

Once we left Surprise Cave we headed back to the Junk boat and checked out of our rooms. We then spent 30minutes or so sunning ourselves on the top deck before an early lunch. Its hard to believe how much sun we caught given the oppressive haze that always seems to envelope Vietnam.

By midday we were back on the bus heading for Hanoi. Along the way we talked over different options for the evening and the next day.

The consensus was the rest of the group would go to an early show at the water puppet theatre and I'd meet them there after to go to the insect restaurant. In the meantime I did a little shopping finally caving and buying the elephant pants and tops I'd been looking at without much of any discount. Everyone says to haggle here bu

t it doesn't ever seem to work as far as I can see. The locals just arnt interested.

On meeting the group we actually returned to the hotel to call a taxi and soon we arrived at the restaurant. Crossing the big interception was interesting. Lin went straight ahead without pause. I went halfway and then waited for a thinning in the traffic but Cheryl, Jeannette and Noah took maybe another 2/3 mins to cross :) You can tell there still adjusting to the crazy!

So inside the insect restaurant Noah and Lin inspected the menu, deciding on Scorpions, crickets and ant eggs! The rest of us stuck with -what we thought was- safer choices. Jeannettes vegan so she got fries and a salad, and Cheryl and I decided to share two meals. One chicken and one pork. Of course it wasn't until it arrived that we realised that the chicken was whole parts, just chopped up. Eck! Luckily for us Jeannette was kind enough to share her salad and fries so we didn't go too hungry.

Towards the end of our meal Cheryl made friends with the Asians eating near us and asked them to take a picture of us. The next thing I know is one of thems wanting his picture taken with me?!? How very odd but okay at least it was a good picture of me!

Next we headed for beer corner and proceeded to drink cheap beer - like for me,16p a time!

Cheryl has had it in her head since yesterday that she needs to set me up so somehow we ended up with an Irish guy joining us. At this point I decided I actually had to tell Cheryl I didn't want a hook up, otherwise these guys would likely keep appearing at her urging :)

Then one of the guys in the Australian group behind us was at one point sharing a stool with me and laying his head back as though I'm a pillow. Now bear in mind these stools are maybe, maybe, a foot off the ground and no more that 1sq ft..it was a wee bit uncomfortable but hey at least he said I make a good pillow!

At the end of the evening Jeannette, Cheryl and I headed back to the hotel leaving Noah with his new found Irish friend (Lin had left after one drink) and Cheryl and I continued to talk for awhile afterwards as this was our first night sharing a room.

Thursday 22nd January

Despite good intentions of getting up for a late breakfast before going exploring today, I stayed in bed an extra hour instead. In my defence I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and I had a headache too. The rest of the group had gotten an early start to see and do as much as possible before leaving Hanoi so at least no one was waiting on me.

Anyway since we're not leaving until this evening I checked out of our room and left my bags with them for the day. The lovely little receptionist who I've dealt with the most gave me some of these tiny cherry sized apples that she was eating. I can't say I'm a huge fan of them but it was sweet of her to give me some.

I had decided I would head towards Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum which I did, with a brief detour to West Lake to view the Pagoda there. Along the way I got asked to fill in a tourist questionnaire then it was money for the red cross here... I left before I found out what hat this guy was gonna wear next was :)

Both the Pagoda and Mausoleum were closed because it was lunch time but this was fine as I only planned on going inside the Hoa Lo Prison. Since I was hungry I grabbed an ice cream to eat along the way and continued walking south.

This is where I met this lovely spanish guy that I walked with for perhaps 10/ 15mins or so. He works in a hotel in Belgium and was told by his boss he had to take some of his holiday time. He's only been in Vietnam for 40 odd hours but he's already been to Halong Bay and is heading south to Siem Reap soon. Ive no idea what his name is but it made an otherwise uninteresting walk a bit livelier.

Once at the prison I spent a good hour and a half or so inside. Sarah had told me how much propaganda there is about how the Vietnamese were treated so poorly but when they held American pilots there, they treated them so very well... but even I was surprised at how very biased it was. Still it's a very interesting place to look around and I'm glad I did it.

We reached the train station just before 7pm to catch our overnighter to Hue. On the way to the train Maria had gotten flustered by someone taking her bag and demanding payment for it after having been told no. We're going to have to watch out for that.

Once we dumped our bags in our cabin, Cheryl, Maria and I went to get some snacks before we left. Trying not to get ripped off along the way I tried to reassure Maria about the bag incident.

With the train soon under way Cheryl, Lin and I made our way to the dinner car where we met up with Sarah, Jeannette and Noah. Because we were in the 1st class at car 10, we had to walk past all the other classes to get there. Our cabin has 4 beds in it while 2nd class has 6. I couldn't stand that as the top bunks so close to the ceiling! 3rd and 4th class are types of seats which is differcult to imagine for 10-14hr journeys, especially for young families.

At the dinner car Lin didn't stay long but the rest of us spent a couple of hours talking about all kinds of things. Once we made it back to the cabin we settled in to try and get some sleep on this rockey journey. Personally while I woke up tonnes I actually liked the motion of the train. Well not including the jerky stops :)

Friday 23rd of January

This morning I woke up at about 6.30am as everybody started moving around. I stayed up in my bunk out of the way for a while until Cheryl mentioned the sunrise.

I climb down and step into the corridor and in front of me are rice fields in the grey haze that I'm coming to expect from Vietnam. And just dead on in the distance is the sun, a brilliant burnt red/orange kind of colour. Its hanging low on the horizon and is just this one bit of colour on an otherwise merky morning. Quite the sight.

We pass the next few hours, talking and listening to Lins music (she has great taste and we all agree on Pink, Taylor Swift, One republic etc but not Lady Gaga :) ) before getting ready to leave. Once we're off the train we're split into two groups to get taxis to the hotel and soon we're sat eating breakfast.

Because it's still only mid morning not all the rooms are ready but by the time everyone's finished eating, it's only mine left. So I quickly change in the washroom and leave my bags with reception as we don't want to waste what little time we have in Hue.

And what a good decision that was!

So Sarah takes us down the block to this motorbike place that she knows of. A lot of the guys here are studying english at uni so they can eventually become tour guides. They set Noah, Jeannette and Sarah up with their own motorbikes while Cheryl and I opt to have guides.

I've wanted to ride a motorbike for a lot of years but it's an expensive thing to just arrange just for a day. But this was perfect. My driver, Swin (Yeh no idea but this is what I heard) spent the first 20minutes or so texting while we weaved in and out of the traffic.

Hue is nowhere near as busy as Hanoi but still there were a lot of bikes about without much order. But what a rush it was to move amongst them!

Our first stop was at a Benedictine Monastery with Chinese influenced architecture that Sarah found last time she was here. We met a monk who showed us around and answered our questions. There are currently up to 100 monks living here right now, including one from France.

On leaving the monastery we got back on our bikes and headed to the Khai Dinh tomb. Here we climbed the steps and Sarah's friend (and Cheryl's guide) joined us inside to practice being a guide, since he's in his last semester at uni. Sarah didnt join us as she only gets $30 a month for excluded activities. It may sound a lot over here but when you consider that her bike yesterday cost $5 dollars and she had to fill the tank too, it doesn't go far.

This tomb was huge and extremely impressive. Its set on this country road with amazing views. And once inside we saw a couple having their picture taken ready for their wedding at the weekend.

While inside, Sarah went exploring and found this little jungle road for us to go explore a little. The scenery here was the best we've seen. Just tiny little houses with farm land and water buffalo. Even a baby one :)

Now this is where I first got a little awkward with my guide. He's a real sweet guy who speaks next to no english but he kind of had a little crush. Till now I'd been like, ' clair it's just your imagination'. But having been told earlier to put my hands in his coat pockets (which plenty of people do) at this point he began trying to hold my hand.

Next we stopped at this white Buddha statue which was kind of cool and was actually built by the Americans. On the way there I had kept seeing these buckets of painted sticks drying on the streets and I'd been trying to work out what they were. On stopping here, it finally clicked. There incense candles!

Getting back on the bike I tried not to engage my driver at all. By now I knew it wasn't in my head because Sarah had made a comment about him having a crush.

We continued joining a highway. Cheryl told me later that she didn't like this part because they were down to one lane for part of it, with big lorry's 2ft to the left of us and a guard rail to the right. The lorry's didn't slow down any so I can understand Cheryls concern... but again, I loved the rush of it. Besides it provided a distraction from Swin who was now resting his hand on my knee.. repeatedly!

We stopped briefly at the Thein Mu Pagoda and wondered through it quickly. At this point Sarah and Jeannette were going to head off to the beach leaving Cheryl and I to go to the Citadel together. But before she left she did have a word about Swin being too handsy.

The Citadel was amazing. We only had a little over an hour here by the time we got in so we decided to split up so we weren't waiting on each other.

I managed to have an in depth look at a few things but for the most part we only got a brief feel for it.

Once we got back to the hotel I checked into my room and soon had to get ready for our dinner. Sarah took us to this really funky bar that has a dozen or so uni students working there. We were greeted as Sarahs family and as soon as we sat we were given a shot each. The food was delicious though very spicy.

On the tables were boxes of Jenga so we had a round of that while waiting on our food. We barley made it all the way around the table though as it was so wobbly that we didn't need to pull blocks out for it to fall over!

A cool thing at the bar is that they are great at birthdays. Like completely awesome. There was a guy, Nigel, on the table behind us and they came to his table with sparklers for everyone with 'Its your birthday playing' with all the staff and most patrons singing along. And if that was enough there's a huge projector on the wall where they played a movies made up of pictures of him and his girlfriend throughout there travels. Do you think it might be a bit far to come back to for my birthday?? :)

Once we finished eating I joined Lin in a little window shopping around the block. I fell in love with a couple of dresses along the way but I was good, I resisted. On parting with Lin I went back to the Le Garden just as the group were paying their bills. From there Sarah and Cheryl talked me into going to Brown Eyes bar for a drink though I was adamant that I wouldn't be dancing.

Again soon after arrival we got shots plus it was happy hour which seems to mean in most places that it's bogof. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the bar as we chatted but I knew I wanted to repack my bag so I didn't want to stay too long. Just before I left Sarah had the 'brainwave' that I look like Scarlett Johansson and that she wants to style me and then try and pass me off as her once we reach Ho Chi Minh city...uhuh let's hope it was the drink talking lol.

One last shot courtesy of Sarah and I managed to find my way home, leaving them there until what was apparently 2am.

Saturday 24th January

Saturday morning we had a private transfer to Hoi An, a UNESCO world heritage town, with stops at Hai Van Pass and Marble mountain along the way.

Hai Van Pass is actually one of the places that made me want to visit Vietnam initially as it featured on a top gear episode a few years ago. I always remember the scenery and talking about it at work and saying how we'd like to go there.

As always it was a little hazy in the distance but also the hottest days so far. It made a nice change not to worry about needing layers.

At marble mountain I made my way up via the lift which is made of glass and very out of keeping with the towering rock. At the top we split up and I briefly ran into Lin.

Making my way around the mountain top I visited the different caves and enjoyed the views over the city. In one particular cave there were huge rays of light shining in that were stunning to see. And in another the light the Buddha statue was in was just perfect.

And on a plus note there was only one Asian couple that wanted to have my picture taken with them..they really arnt too picky when it comes to westerns :)

On reaching Hoi An we checked into our hotel. Since Cheryl is paying for the single room we are now rotating the other around so for now I'm sharing with Maria while Lin enjoys her own room.

We dumped our bags and immediately made our way to a late lunch with an orientation walk along the way. Hoi An really is a pretty town and I can easily understand why people say to do your shopping here.

I saw many signs for cooking classes which Sarahs told us is basically people hopping into the kitchen to see how their foods made. In Hoi An there are many uni students practising in these kitchens and it's supposed to be a great place to learn.

After lunch we again split up and I just wandered the market places. The fruit and vegetables are all lining the street along with the fish sellers. Further on there are the souvenir shops and tailers etc.

I walked to a bridge and caught the light just as it began to shine on the water in a pre dusk light. I then picked another road to walk back down the way i'd come.

I found the Japanese bridge and wandered to the dragon bridge too. I saw Cheryl and Maria in passing and later on Jeannette and Lin catcalled down from the bar they were in.

I continued on to explore the Cam Nam Islands and look at all the wonderful handmade lanterns that Hoi An is known for. And as darkness fell I watched as people bought paper ones for a $1 to set on the river.

I decided to go join Lin and Jeannette and found them playing with their camera settings. We sat and chatted a while longer before leaving and on the way out Jeannette got a lantern which Lin then placed on the river. Waiting for Jeannette to get the perfect picture- it took a few tries!

We strolled back to our hotel..via a little unplanned detour and then parted. It was still really early despite feeling as if we'd already had a long day. I spent some time out by the pool (the only one we have on this trip) and only came in when I felt myself start to get bitten.

Sunday 25th January

So last night while with Jeannette and Lin we had discussed renting bikes together but I was a little on the fence given how little time ive spent on them in the last 15yrs! I did want to rent one I was just unsure how i'd do keeping up with them. Turns out I had nothing to worry about.

I stayed in bed later than everyone and dropped my laundry off on the way to breakfast. Most of the group were still there so I listened as they talked, while wondering what I should spend the day doing.

On my way back to my room I stopped at Lins room and asked if it was alright if I joined them still. 15minutes later we were all in the lobby mapping out the route with the help of a gent who's been here a few weeks.

On arriving yesterday, Sarah had recommended the women across the street for things like bike hire, laundry etc so off we went. I mean who can turn down $1 a day rental!

We'd come up with a plan to explore the rice paddies before stopping for lunch before hitting the beach. I wasn't sure I'd stay with them past lunch but in the end we stuck together for the whole 7hr trip.

We lost Noah within about 15mins of setting off as he powered ahead and then we stopped to take pictures. All 3 of us enjoy photography so it worked out pretty well. The only downside being that my cameras crapped out. It was fine last night but today-nothing.

Anyhow. We continued on looking for the road to the right that we were to take but in the end the roads wither didn't have names or didn't match the map we had. We decided to go to the beach at the end of the road for a look before turning around to try again.

On our way back down the road we stopped for a picture and actually ran into the gent from the hotel so he kindly led us to the turn off and off we went.

We cycled alongside these waterways and through where the locales live. There were many different places ready and waiting for wedding parties and they looked fantastic with so many bright colours.

I also saw what they do with the pictures of brides to be that we keep seeing being taken like at Khai Dinh. At funerals a picture is often displayed at the church or crematorium. Well it's the same for Vietnamese couples getting married. There's professional shots at the entry to their reception. Not unlike some engagement parties, I think?

We continued on passing coconut palms and eventually coming back to the main road. We decided to go back to the beach and find somewhere to have a drink and ended up in this restaurant by the beach. The pineapple juice I had was delicious but much more like a smoothie! We did get set upon by ladies selling bracelets but we had quite a good chat and actually found out that the Chinese signs Duc had told us we were, weren't accurate. I'm not a cat, I'm a rabbit. I googled it to confirm!

Next up we headed to the actual beach area. We had been warned beforehand that you would have to pay to park here but my god were the people, especially the ladies, aggressive..and a little too in love with their whistles!

Jeannette was in front at that point and they actually tried to grab her bike. Lin gave them a right telling off which made it almost worthwhile. We were going to leave our bikes down the road aways and walk back rather than give these numpties money but as we turned to leave the lady on the other side of the road made herself known. In a quiet, friendly manner. No surprise- she got our money.

We picked the restaurant for lunch the same way. We went with the girl who wasn't loud and pushy but rather persistent in a quiet polite way. I cheated and had a burger while Jeannette got kidney beans and rice and Lin, crab and rice. None of our meals were exactly what they were meant to be. For example Jeannettes 'kidney beans' were actually green beans :) But it was a nice quiet area and we liked the girl that served us. Its amazing what a few simple manners can achieve.

After our meal we walked along the beach before settling down to enjoy the sun for a good hour and a half. Its a good thing I've got spf 50!

On our way back to the hotel we detoured to see more rice paddies and I have to say that given that we were reading maps while pedalling on sometimes crazy streets, we did pretty well in finding our way back.

Back at the hotel I chilled out for a while before joining the group for dinner. Unfortunately Jeannette wasn't too well so it was just the 6 of us.

Sarah took us to yet another cool restaurant. It was fairly expensive - in the grand scheme of things with meal out most days- but also the meal ive enjoyed most since I left the UK.

Lin, Jeannette and I had, had the best spring rolls at lunch so we were on a mission to find them again. We got lucky with the description calling it a rice paper 'net' so we now know there Hoi An vegetable spring rolls. To be honest after 3 of them I could have been done eating but I had already ordered eggplant and beef in a clay pot and my god was it good! That said I, only got through a 3rd of it and the waitress even asked me if I didn't like it!

After the meal Cheryl, Noah and I wondered the town as neither of them had seen it lit up last night. We had good fun exploring for an hour or two before heading back to the hotel.

Monday 26th January

Today was the first in a line of lazy days for me. I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do as I'd already explored much of Ho An and the outlying areas since arriving Saturday.

So I began my morning by spending about 2 hours wandering the town trying to fix my camera problem. Its typical that when everythings working all you see is electronic stalls and when it's not, you can't find any.

After more than an hour having only found the one place by our hotel which couldn't help unless I wanted to buy a new camera, I came across a little miscellaneous shop which had camera batteries in the back. They had the exact one my camera uses but were asking much more than what I knew I should pay. But at this point it was a question of do I just get it sorted or wait and see when I can find another suitable battery.

I managed to get almost 200 Dong knocked off the price and decided to just pay it. I was getting ripped off but at least my camera was -fingers crossed- working again.

Of course 5 minutes later I found an area that almost certainly would have had more batteries and where I could have haggled better. Oh well I did at least manage to replace the sunglasses I lost to Halong Bay. At 60 Dong they were less than half the price that had been asked... that's less than £2, people :)

Next I headed back to my room and spent maybe 40minutes reading before packing up to check out. Once that was done I set off wandering the town again.

So within 15minutes I was sat in a comfy chair with a bottle of water having my first manicure. All of the other girls had done this yesterday and on walking down an almost exclusive spa street, I figured why not?

The girl who did mine told me Green Lotus was a new spa and she would knock 40% off. So in the end having decided to make it a mani pedi session with nail polish too, it cost me under £4.. that's including a generous tip! I may not be converted to regular ones when I get home but it was a nice little pampering session for me. Plus the girl was really nice which is becoming a theme in our group. We give business to the nice ones and ignore the rest of them.

Leaving Green Lotus I continued walking, haggling a little on a dress I had seen while in Hue. I got a couple of people down to a fairly good price but I was still not convinced it would suit me. I eventually came to a quieter shop with the colour I liked and decided to try it on. As predicted, it looked like a tent on me. And on Lin I would later find out, who had also tried it on!

I continued my walk crossing over the dragon bridge and taking some pictures with my now working camera. I even managed to stop a rather harassed Australian women to take my picture. I have to say in the space of the minute it took for her to stop, she chilled out immensely. You have to remember that just because Vietnam is chaotic in most places, your here to enjoy it, not to stress.

I decided to head back to the restaurant that Sarah had taken us to on arriving in Hoi An. I sat upstairs with the place to myself enjoying the shade while not giving up the wonderful view. I had another of their amazing pineapple pancakes and read a little. Only deciding to move on when a rat made its appearance- its one thing knowing there everywhere but another to SEE it!

I walked over the free bridge to cross into the older part of Hoi An rather than pay to cross the Japanese bridge- after all Noah, Cheryl and I had already done this last night for free!

I walked around the block eventually coming back down an alley way to the roads I knew. I slowly made my way back to the hotel, stopping at Thien Hau, a temple built to worship the goddess known to protect sailors.

Inside is the story of how corrupt officials slaughtered 107 merchants for their goods before claiming they had been pirates which they had bravely defeated- even painting the ships black to conceal that they had been honest people just trying to make a living. The Emperor Tu Duc did become suspicious of his officers and eventually, getting a confession, sentenced them to death and returned all the goods and money to the families of those slaughtered.

Once back at our hotel I spent some time reading by the pool to pass the time before we had to catch our sleeper bus.

Now this bus was pretty cool. Not at all comfortable to sleep in, but majorally cool! Its like a coach and as you go up the steps and face the back of it, there are 3 rows with aisles separating them. The rows are then 2 stories high and consist of seats which can either be used as such or reclined to a sleeping position. We were all pretty excited by these and some people even slept really well.. I was not one of them unfortunately.

But it could have been worse. There was this young girl with casts on both her feet. One of which had bandages and you could see that it had been bleeding through. We later found out she had been hit by a motorbike, but how she was managing to get around without at least crutches, I've no idea!

As soon as we began moving on the bus I began to feel a little unwell. I think I then compounded the matter by trying to read for a while. I've gotten better with reading in vehicles over the last few years but clearly now when I was already feeling queasy was not the time to push my luck. The bus stopped every 3 hrs or so for a bathroom break as well, so as you can imagine, this became a very long night.

Tuesday 27th January

So by the time we reached Nha Trang I wasn't feeling queasy but I was feeling pretty weak and sleep deprived. By the time we walked the couple of minutes to our hotel, I was ready to collapse. But of course it was only 8am or so, so without any rooms being ready this wasn't an option.

Instead Sarah walked us down to the beach and we had breakfast at this resort type place. I kept it simple, not wanting to push my body too much.

I decided to find some shade with Lin and Maria and passed a few hours reading and listening to music while they enjoyed the beach and pool. While I moved chairs to stick to the shade, they moved to follow the sun! After 5 hours or so I had had all I could take and figuring our rooms would be ready I told the girls I would be heading back. Maria joined me in walking back and we both joked about how we should learn Russian as this is most definitely a city built for them. Even the shop signs are in their language, just cementing in my mind that wherever they go, they take over completely. But then if they've the money to support the businesses then why not I guess?

Maria and Lin had decided that with me being unwell I should take the single room tonight so I collapsed in there for the next 4 hours or so before deciding to join the group dinner. I was glad I did as it was fun and the food was good. I just wish I'd felt upto joining the girls in walking down the beach afterwards but I didn't want to push it. Oh well. If im going to feel unwell a beach place is the best time for me as its not my favourite type of place anyway.

Wednesday 28th January

So for my 2nd day in Nha Trang I was feeling much better. I had thought about getting a motorbike tour as its a very scenic coast, but having had a little wander around I decided I may as well keep it as a beach day. After all, the day before I hadn't been well enough to do more than lie in a chair in the shade...

That said thats basically the same thing as today, just a little more sun!

With the rest of the group having split up to do boat trips and mud baths I was the only one going down to the beach so I decided I couldn't risk taking anything including my phone and kindle...

So as I do, I spent a lot of time in my head imaging different scenarios :) And I have to say, lying on a chair enjoying the sun with a lovely sandy beach stretching for miles around you and turquoise water glistening in the distance is a much better place for day dreams than sat on till at work :)

I did walk through the surf down the beach a little later on and then did parasailing. Having done this in Kelowna, Canada I knew this would be a much different set up, so I stopped and watched someone else go up before deciding to do it myself.

Whereas I had previously done it in tandem and off of a boat deck, this is straight off the beach and with the wind and weight etc I had to have one of the Vietnamese lads strapped behind me.

The take off is much the same as paragliding, where you start running until your lifted off the ground but the harness is much more like skydiving where your hanging down in an extremely uncomfortable position.

They did skim me across the top of the water when we first lifted off, and then towards the end dunked me quite heavily... which would have been fine if the whole rope holding us wasn't covered in sand which then sprayed into my eyes and face.

I'm glad I did the parasailing and experienced the different way of doing it though. In all it only lasted maybe 3 minutes, if that, but for the equivalent of about £12.50 it was worth doing. My only slight regret was not having enough money on me to do the jet skiing too as that's something I've always wanted to do and I think it would get me that adrenaline thrill I crave so badly. But I know I'll have chances to do that during the rest of my trip and it will be more fun as part of a group anyway so its no great loss.

Unfortunately it was cloudier than the day before and as the day went on it got windier too so I never got around to doing more than going up to my thighs in the water. But since I still managed to get burnt on my bikini line, I'm not gonna complain! All in all it was a very lazy day but not a bad one by far.

We rounded it off by heading to the train station in the evening to catch our overnight train. To be honest I preferred the other train but this one's dining cart was nice and Cheryl and I had a good laugh with one of the girls there who was having a fantastic time taking pictures on Cheryl's new phone!

Given that we were to arrive around about 3am we called it an early night around 9.30 I think and headed back to our cabin, doing our monkey act again to climb into our bunks.

Thursday 29th January
On arriving in Ho Chi Minh we made our way to our hotel La Felix and checked in. Luckily Tucan pay extra to ensure our rooms are ready for us so Lin and I who were to be sharing headed straight up and to bed.
I got maybe another hour and a half sleep before we got up for breakfast which I think is the best one we've had in our hotels so far. And with the restaurant being on the top floor we had good views of both the park across the road and the city surrounding us.
A short time later we were on a bus and on our way to the Cu Chi Tunnels. After an encounter with a rather petulant young women who did a fantastic job of imitating a stroppy 2 year - right down to sucking her thumb- Cheryl and I settled into our seats.
We had a rest stop - or a happy stop as we refer to them- part way and saw more beautiful crafts being made by people with disabilities. At this point with the brattish Australians (possibly New Zealanders) out of ear shot we agreed that when the girl kept messing with her hair we just wanted to yank on it.. not that we're vindictive at all, but seriously, it was a full coach and these brats had the seats reclined. Then got argumentative when all that was asked of them was for them to move them upright. Common sense shouldn't even have us needing to ask that of them but like I said- she was a child playing dress up.
Back to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These were one of the main reasons I wanted to do this particular tour, not to mention Vietnam itself. To see even a small part of these underground mazes and have a sense of how people survived living this way for so long was amazing and with this tour it was included rather than being DIY.
Honestly I think everyone in the group agreed that we didn't get to see nearly as much as we would have liked of the tunnels themselves but we did get a good overview.
We saw the secret entrances which are tiny rectangles in the ground, which Lin tried out; the entrances that look like small craters with crawl holes leading inside that no one was brave enough to try and few were small enough to fit anyway; the breathing holes which are disguised as ant hills; the chambers where they cooked their food and we even got to try part of the tunnels ourselves.
This involved us going down a new entrance consisting of steps to an original section of the tunnels. We had to walk bent over, giving our legs a good work out and we had the choice of coming up after 20m, 40m or 100m.
I made it to 40m before I felt I needed to come up. Generally I don't get claustrophobic but being below ground in a row of people slowly moving in the dark, it's easy to start to feel panicked so I came up before I could think about it too much. Noah and Jeannette made the 100m while the rest of the group did 20m.
As well as what we saw we heard about the people building the tunnels so that when you enter you go left or right. This is for two reasons. The first being that if the enemy tries to enter then they have to make a choice straight away, followed by more so they will get disorientated easily. The second reason is so that if they throw a grenade in then it won't make it around the corners without likely taking out the enemy as well.
We saw tiger traps as well as many other viscous contraptions used by the Viet Con during the war, to not only capture enemy combatants but also severely disable them.
And we saw flipflop/sandals made from old tyre scraps which were a simple and effective misdirection trick used. Rather than wear them the way it appears you would, they were actually made to be worn the other way around- meaning any footprints found would be pointing in the opposite direction.
The other thing we had a chance to do, was try out some of the guns used at the firing range - which of course had had me jumping for the first 30 minutes after arrival. No one in our group did this as it was quite costly but it was interesting that you could if you wanted to.
On arriving back in Ho Chi Minh in the afternoon we got dropped off nearby the War Remnants Museum which Sarah had highly recommended we visit. Some of the group was hungry so we tried to find somewhere along the way to eat. Where we ended up was quite amusing :)
...Pizza Hut!!...
On entering the restaurant we were greeted by maybe 8 members of staff. This initially had me thinking it was a new store opening. But no, we would soon learn that despite its rather impeccable appearance it's actually 3 years old.
Instead the massive work force were present as they were awaiting the arrival of a group of 'Pizza Hut Global summit delegates' who meet every year and visit the store.
We were seated upstairs enjoying our meal when they all arrived and with us all being fairly nosey we were guessing who the different people could be as we watched them do a visit to the kitchen.
Then it got really interesting as the head of Pizza Hut in the US came and introduced himself. I think his name was Rob?? Anyway he told us how they were one half of the entire group - the other having visited the day before- and introduced us to the head of online sales in the US along with the manager of the Asia division.
We had a good 15 minute conversation with him about there expansion and the world's response to big brands such as Pizza hut. For example Americans often slam them despite there being an American company but he told us that when they opened their first restaurant in Iraq, they had people queuing for 2hrs to come inside.
Also, big sit down ones like the one we were in do well but they don't appeal to a large portion of the locales as they appear to big and frankly, too different. Its off putting for those who usually pull up a mix of chairs and stools and enjoy a laid back meal with friends and family so they are making ones more in keeping with the local area, which I think is great. There seeing this issue and reacting... hmmm why can't more companies do that?? :p
On leaving Pizza Hut - and after pictures with the staff- we made our way down the street to the Museum but on arriving we found that it was closing in just over half an hour. Maria decided that would be enough for her so she left the group while the rest of us agreed to come back on Saturday.
So we continued walking, seeing the Palace, after stops to fuss the puppies for sale along the street that is. I know I shouldn't, but come on guys, there so cute! I think I'm doing well not to have tried sneaking some in my bag already.
Next up was the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Old post office. This was pretty cool. The outside was really pretty, painted in green and yellow and inside they had old style booths. The ones to the right were now ATMS and those on the left had phones in them.
Back outside we continued our walk down to the Opera house. Now this has a beautiful frontal view with soft colours and nice intricate detail. Cheryl found out that the show that was on was actually more Cirque du Soleil. We would have loved to have seen it but it was the last night and curtains up in 15 minutes. At this point we were hot, sweaty and tired. Not to mention we were meant to meet Sarah for a group meal within the hour.
So at this point we began trying to make our way back to the hotel. Unfortunately one of the main artery roads we had to cross was under construction so we walked along the posh shopping area trying to find somewhere to cross before saying to hell with it and doing as the locales do and crossing over it. We had already been walking under and over hundreds of wires for the last few hours as we wandered the city as it was.
We then had the big roundabout and the long park opposite the hotel to go around but we eventually made it back to the hotel with about 30mins to spare. By now I'd decided to skip the dinner as I wasn't remotely hungry and frankly just wanted to have a cool shower and chill out. So that's exactly what I did.