Hello All, I've been so looking forward to writing that in the subject field- Gooooood Morning Vietnam!! I have arrived safe and sound, and will just fill you in on the developments of the past ten days.....plenty to tell as always! My last update saw me in Phuket, where i was being given the royal tour guide treatment by my brothers friend Rob and his girlfriend Wan. Needless to say this treatment continued and i was throughly spoilt for places to see and things to do. Stephen arrived back to join me for a final week of travelling together, and my first port of call was to show Stephen all the sights and beaches that Rob had shown me previously, and to be honest i could have gone back to some of these points over and over again, they were so beautiful. Especially the View Point which showed a fantastic view over three of the West coast bays. By now the moped riding and the roads of Phuket are second nature, so Stephen and i decide to venture further North and visit the Bang Pae Waterfalls and National Park and more importantly the Gibbon Rehabilitation Centre!!! This place had been mentioned in the Lonely Planet travel guide, so i was desperate to go....although Stephen and I did have a bit of a giggle at the fact that neither of us actually knew what a Gibbon was..........ha ha ha.......but if its a rehabilitation centre it was bound to be impressive!!! After a little investigating we realised that gibbons are a type of ape.....obviously.......and had a fantatsic time there, we were shown the ropes and given a full tour on what the volunteers get up to there, and just how important the work they do is. The day was made even more exciting when it started to rain......actually that is an understatement......it was bucketing down, whilst i was driving the moped, both in shorts and T-shorts and hail stones coming straight into our faces.......could not stop laughing........we were screaming 'TOURISTS' as all the locals whizzed past with their waterproofs on.............was an interesting journey to say the least! This evening was an exciting one, as i had two friends from uni Stuart and Lesley arriving in Patong, so we were meeting up with them for dinner. Was so so so so so SO good to see them, was like being whizzed back two years to life in Winchester, and we had a fantastic night together, Stephen and I showed them the sights and excitement of Patong at night!!!!! Go Go Bars, Ping Pong Shows, and plenty more.......and the following day saw them hiring a moped and the four of us travelling the whole south of the island. And also going to perhaps the best........no actually it was definitely the BEST crazy golf course....EVER! Was called Dino Mini Golf, and was 18 holes of pure fun, excitement and Tiger Woods eat your heart out! ha. It was set in a massive dinosaur park, with volcanoes, and rivers, and waterfalls and the golf was set right in the middle.....very exciting, and brought back many memories of childhood crazy golf sessions in Hastings with Nanny and Grandad.........although this was pretty competitive!! ha ha. Followed by dinner and cocktails, we made the decision to hire a jeep the following day to head North.......and the criteria was.......NOT that the jeep had an engine........NOT that the jeep could fit four people........and NOT that the jeep was road worthy.......the main criteria was it HAD to be yellow!!!! ha. We had seen bright yellow jeeps dotted around the island, and you can spot them a mile off......so we got ourselves the funkiest, rustiest, old banger of a jeep....but it was BRIGHT YELLOW, and fantatsic. Like driving a tank, but fantastic. Was our last day with Stu and Les, time went so quickly with them, and they flew onto Singapore last Saturday. So Stephen and I had a few days until he flew onto Singapore also, where he was meeting his mum, so we treated ourselves to some time by the pool, and then our last night we went to Phuket Fantasea! The only way to explain this massive tourist attraction, was a circus in the theatre at a theme park!!! Was a massive erray of colour, music and light, and you walk around a fantasy world playing games to win cuddly toys before heading to the theatre to see the amazing 2 hour show. Was a fantastic night, and the pictures will explain it a lot better, including me holding and feeding a baby tiger- WOW! And plenty of contact with elephants. It was an excellent last night, but sad all the same......i miss my travelling buddy........and is daunting to think that he will be back home before i even leave Asia.......but as i have learnt to realise i was lucky to have his company for as long as i did.....and last Monday saw me set off to Koh Samui to meet up with Lisa and Anja, friends from home. Things have taken a dramatic change since Monday. After getting my Vietnam visa and knowing i needed to get a flight from Bangkok today, Sunday, as that is when my visa started, i met with the girls to kill some time and have some last beach time before heading to Vietnam on my own. The girls were due to fly back Saturday morning to London, so this timed in well with us all travelling back to Bangkok together. Had a couple of fantatsic days relaxing in Samui. Samui itself has very little to offer the budding traveller. It is neon city, full of families and 18 year old boys going out on the razz for two weeks solid! Am glad i went, even if it was only because i was getting to see the girls, but can clearly state i will not be returning to Koh Samui again, not at all what i am looking for from this time away. On Wednesday night we headed on the overnight bus up to Bangkok - awful, sleepless journey, but amusing to say the least!!! And what was even more exciting was that Thursday the 13th April is the start of the Thai New Year.....a three day water festival and celebration of the most amazing display. The Thais sure do know how to celebrate. As the bus pulled in we were passing taxis and people covered in head to toe with water and talcum powder. A weird combination to say the least, and although desperate to join in a bit of sleep was far more important after the journey from hell, so we made our way straight to the Bayoke Sky Hotel....the tallest hotel in the world! Wow! Bit of luxury before slumming it in Vietnam next week. It had a 360 degree rotating tower on the 84th floor which gave the most fantastic view over the whole of Bangkok, and there was a floor devoted to the history of the building with plenty of photo opportunities..........this evening also took a turn for the better.......and Anja decided she would really like to join me in Vietnam and Cambodia...............YEAY YEAY YEAY!!!! This travelling 'on my own' malarky is ace.......in fact i am yet to spend more than three days on my tod! So Lisa flew home yesterday......and we are missing her tonnes, feels very strange to have lost a part of our travelling team, but Anja and I are now very excited about the prospect of Vietnam. I arrived tonight, and Anja gets her visa tomorrow and joins me Tuesday in Hanoi, the capital in the North! So...........all is going fantastic, and the journey continues as i arrive at Hanoi Guesthouse in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. So far so good. Quaint autentic room, with own bathroom etc, has the most amazing furniture and delicate chairs, and first impressions of Hanoi are very similar to that of India. It is certainly less travelled than Thailand, and the roads are on par with how they were in india...eg NO RULES WHATSOEVER!!! Thankfully have internet access here so am able to update you all.....however have not seen another internet cafe or international telephone....and to be honest i quite like that! Was beginning to feel far too at home in Thailand, am glad of the change! The people appear on first impressions as lovely, and the little man that picked me up spoke no English......however he does now!! He can now say 'Hello', 'Goodbye', 'What is your name?' and i managed to decipher that he is a fan of Chelsea football club but likes Alan Shearer!!?!..........i am yet to learn any Vietnamese though, going to make it my mission tomorrow!! I have plenty of pictures which i will be loading onto the website tomorrow....if i can find somewhere with a fast enough computer.......www.ellenmoriarty.com and also if any of you are on msn, it is accessible out here, so add me onto your contacts list, my msn address is [email protected] . Hope you are all well, and look forward to hearing from you all. Happy Easter..........no easter eggs for me here :-( ha ha Lots of love Ellen xxxx