hello there people i spose ill write another one.

our train to Sapa gave us a real slap in the face over how expensive it is in vietnam for a little train accross the country compared to in india. 30 bloody dollars it cost us n the same for the way back....in india it would have been about 5.

anyway we arrived in sapa and it was AMAZING. the views deffinatly rivaled the ones up in the himalyas. everything was so green and there were hundreds of paddy feilds just climbing up the mountains like stairways. the day we arrived there was blue skies and it was so clear you could see the whole vally. apparently its the coldest place in vietnam however on that day it was about 30 degrees.....this would sadly be the only time it was that clear and close to that hot. the place was great, and the people were awsome. it was such a mix of people with all the tribe people coming from the hills to sell stuff like hats and wall hangings and purses. on the first day we went to have a look around the markets and all that then we were walking up some stairs and hit a ticket office....so we bought a ticket not really knowing what we were going to see. so glad we did though as it turned out to be like a kind of walk round all these small hills and through little caves and stuff. oh yeah and there were 2 huge osterages (how do you spell that?? ) that we decided to get a picture with. when i went to get my picture the fat bird started looking angry and em mdecided that even though it could easily get me over the 3 ft high fence she would still wait for it to get as close as poss before taking the picture....hence the worried look and running legs on the picture....bloody women i tell ya. after i ran it attacked the fence. however the views were unbelievable.

the next day we decided to go have a peek at the nearest village (cat cat) and further down the waterfall. thats day the weather decided it would be misserable. we went down the road for about 20 mins untill we finally found the entrance. inside the village were the usuall sellers and little cafes however above it all were 2 large figures. after a closer look we discovered it was 2 huge stuffed osteraches....nice guys.

we continued down the path/mud until we reached the waterfall which was pretty cool. em decided to buy 2 scarves so we were there for a while bartering for them. on the walk back to sapa (we guessed that we were goin up the righ road as it wasnt really clear) we came accross a bridge that looked so skinny and didnt seem to have much in the way of railings or anything that hung over a large drop. we were very unsure about this bridge however when we got to it it wasnt quite as bad as from 5 meters back...and the guy on the other side assured us it was safe. we then had to walk all the way back up the near vertical hill to sapa (proper ball-ache) where it was still raining so we decided to go get cake.

the following morning it was still bloody throwing it down. we had booked a treck to a village where we would stay then treck back the next day. as it had really begun to throw it down me and em and the girl we were going with decided we needed some rain coats...easy i thought....no....it then became obviouse i was with 2 girls and this would take an hour not 5 mins. the girl we were going with had left her waterproof jacket with her parents, and em decided that she didnt have the right pants and wanted waterproof ones...we then walked around in the rain for an hour getting wet while them two tried to find stuff to keep them dry.

we eventually got going and the treck was epic...only word to describe it. occasionaly the fog would clear and we could see some amazing things...actually the for wasnt to bad. we walked through paddy fields and huge passes and through villages it was great. on the treck we had a merry little band of women from the village we were going to. these scheming little ladies tried to sell us stuf as soon as we arrived and used the excuse that they walked all this way with us so we had to buy...we all ended up buying something.

as we walked through the village the guide showed us some fresh thit chow....dog meat. in front of us on a table there lay a cut up dog with each limb sepperate and its head looking at you...em was not impressed even though its meant to be good luck.

when we arrived at the house we were staying at the guide started showing us all his magic before we had our feast of a tee. they gave us all sorts of stuff and we all had to have a shot of rice wine before we ate. there was rice and tofu and meats....it was so yummy.

after our feast we sat and chatted for a while. the girls then went into the other room round the fire to partake in a bit of kareoke while me and the guide pollished of 2 bottles of home brewed rice wine with the man of the house dropping in every now and then as they tried to teach me vietnamese...apparently i scored 9 points out of 10.

in the morning we set of back to sapa. we walked through forests and rice fields and waterfalls...epic...brings a tear to my eye. in the forest bit the guide scared everyone (even the seller ladies who followed us again) when he screamed TIGER while we were all quiet.

when we got back to sapa we paid up and went and had some hard earned cake with shoba (the girl we went with).

our next stop was ninh binh. we only stayed herefor 2 days so needless to say there isnt much there...actually there is only really one thing worth seeing there however it really is worth going to....this was tam coc. it just like ha long bay however its in the middle of a load of paddy fields. we bicycled there...all 8km...most exercise in ages. however it really is beautiful. all these rocks towering out of the fields as we went downt the river between them and through the caves. the guy who was rowing thought he was pretty cool when he started rowing with his feet untill we hit another boat...smart ass. at the end of the river you go past a group of women selling things from boats however you dont stop here, you go through the last cave and then they mug you. they sneak up so that you are trapped at the end and then they ask you to buy...THEN they say well if you wont buy for you you should buy for the rower man... we didnt fall for that one and em bought some nuts.