hello all!

so its been a while since my last entry - getting a bit rubbish at updating it! anyway im in a little town called dalat at the moment. after returning from sapa to hanoi we headed down the coast stopping at hue, hoi an and nha trang. tomorrow we are heading for saigon.

as soon as we left hanoi and headed down the coast the weather turned bad - proper monsoon type rain and flooding. i think i seriously underestimated rainy season! haha. the journey to hue was traumatising. it was our first sleeper bus and it was even worse than i thought. i had imagined there would be a bed but instead it was a bus seat that was a bit bigger and flatter than usual. it was hard and really narrow, it was a tight squeeze! also we ended up with top bunks that had no barrier to hold you in so every time the bus turned or swayed even a little we had to grab on for dear life! the driver also hadnt quite grasped the idea of a sleeper bus as he tooted his horn every two minutes all through the night and flicked the light on and off occasionaly. i did not sleep much at all, and was so relieved when we finally arrived in hue 14 hours later! i knew there had to be a catch to the $37 bargain! but as they say its all an experience.

in hue and hoi an we were completely rained out so we didnt get a chance to see much of the cities which was a pity. we did have our beautiful ponchos but even they didnt help keep us dry. hue was a very chilled out place and we were staying in a backpackers hostel so spent our time there just relaxing and eating! we also went out to a local vietnamese club there which was so much fun - they love their bryan adams and bon jovi! hoi an is famous for its tailors - there are thousands of them all over the city, each one able to make you made to measure clothes and shoes. i resisted buying dresses that i didnt need - very proud of myself! we managed to do a cooking class there and so i learned to make two vietnamese dishes. im telling you jamie oliver better watch out! haha. we have met some lovely people along the way including two english girls that are a blast! we went out again with them in hoi an, ending up at a beach party which was lots of fun. i did get a little homesick for a few days though, think it was the rubbish weather and im missing everyone so much. but im fine now, really enjoying being away travelling :)

after being soaked for about 5 days we started to feel a bit down and frustrated that we couldnt go and do the things we wanted and so we headed down to nha trang which is a beautiful beachy town. the beaches were spotless and hardly anyone was on it, it was like having the beach to ourselves! it was great as you just had to lie there on the sand and little women would approach you and ask if you wanted a drink, fresh fruit or even seafood brought to you for no extra charge! the weather was stunning, we could have lay there all day had i not gotten completely sunburned! worst sunburn iv ever had, and it was cloudy!! wont be sunbathing too much from now on for fear of looking like an old leather bag soon! we spent a couple of days in nha trang just relaxing (thats all we seem to do isnt it?!)

yesterday we took a 6 hour bus journey to dalat. dalat is up in the mountains and it is a beautiful place. the air is nice and cool which is a nice change from nha trang. today we went on an 'easy rider tour' which is really popular here. its basically a tour group of men on motorbikes and you hop on the back of one and they take you to all the places of interest. dont worry mum i was very safe on the motorbike and i had a helmet! it was so much fun, i thought it would be a bit scary but i felt completely safe and really enjoyed it. dont know if id ever be brave enough to drive a motorbike myself but i liked being a passenger. many new things on this trip! most of the nice scenery and places of interest are outwith the city centre and so its the best way to see everything in a day. we went to 'elephant waterfall', coffee bean fields, to see how rice wine is made, to a silk factory, to see how rice noodles are made, to a pagoda with the 'happy buddha' and to 'crazy house' which is this really odd house that resembles something out of alice in wonderland. zan wants to live there now! our guides were really lovely and told us all about the area and a lot about vietnamese culture.

looking forward to going to saigon tomorrow. this is my last few days in vietnam :( i am going to miss it so much, especially the food! iv been feasting everyday and not quite sure the other countries will be able to compete. im staying in saigon until the 18th then taking a bus to a little village along the mekong river and then taking a boat into cambodia. first stop phnom penh. thought it would be a much more interesting route than taking a bus directly from saigon to phnom penh. although iv heard theres crocodiles in the river - eeek!

will try and put some vietnam photos up asap. theres so many of them, il have to cut them down!

love and hugs
xxx