THURSDAY 18TH JANUARY 2007-SUNDAY 28TH JANUARY 2007

Hit the Bia Hoi bar straight away (10p a pint local beer!). Ended up drinking with these 3 Vietnamese 'Easy Riders' and several hours later Kym was well on her way! On the way home managed to find a pizza place that was still open and had the nicest pizza we have ever had!(ok, the beer might have made it a bit tastier) The waiter was an absolute legend!was over the moon that we were asking him to teach us the language and now every time we walk past him he grins like a kid on Christma Day and says 'Have a nice time' repetively! 'Super Smiley' !

After getting over our hangover we hired Moto drivers for the day to take us to Monkey Island and Ba Ho waterfalls. Was hilarious when a monkey jumped up and snatched Kyms crisps out of her hands about 2 seconds after she bought em.In the end it was all too much for kym when another monkey growled at her..."Gaaaaaz...Heeeelp" I think was the quote. I wasnt much help and could barely stop laughing.Ba Ho waterfalls were class. You have to walk through jungle/forest to get to them and then you clamber up and across boulders to get to the 3 levels of pools and waterfalls. Ended up hiring a bike ourselves the next week to go back (because it was too cold for kym to go swimming the first time).This local guide reckoned the pool was 8m deep in the middle but Im glad I checked before jumping in off the rocks cos I could stand up and I'm pretty sure Ive not grown that much in 7 weeks.

On saturday we went on a 4-island boat trip around Nha Trang which turned out to be a great day. The host, Loc aka 'Funky Monkey' was hilarious. Him and the rest of the crew including 'Lady Boy' who seemed surprisingly happy to be called that entertained us with their boy band and makeshift drums. At the four islands we snorkelled over the reef, enjoyed the 'floating' bar, sunbathed and had a banquet of Vietnamese food and fruit which was lush! And all for $3 each for the day!

Had to go to hospital on the Sunday to get antibiotics for my throat infection which wasnt made any better by watching Arsenal beat us in the last 5 minutes!I hate Henry!..I'll leave it at that!

On the Monday we started our 3 day Scuba diving course to get our PADI licenses which was a mixture of sessions in the class room, in the swimming pool, in the ocean and at Bia Hoi. First two dives were class and we saw loads. Unfortunately, the visibility on the 3rd and 4th dive was shocking but we still managed to see a Baracuda and a stone fish. learning in that bad visibility should make us better divers for Thailand and Oz. Personally, one of the highlights was when the deck hand held Kym back so instead of stepping off the boat she ended up falling face first into the sea with all her gear on!Priceless! All I can say is that deck hand is a brave man!

On the Friday we hired a bike to go back to Ba Ho and stopped off at a hot springs centre in the afternoon for a mud bath, a mineral water bath and a swim in the boiling hot swimming pool. Obviously I was dragged there kicking and screaming but...My skin has never felt so smooth!

Apart from all that weve spent a couple of days on the beach, been to the tailors, sampled the delights of alligator, ostrich and vietnamese food and doubled Bia Hoi's profits for the year

Tschus

UPDATE:I CANT BELIEVE I FORGOT THIS THE FIRST TIME! Ive been having a massage in every country so far to see the differences, but yesterday was something else. A lot of the 'massage' parlours are pretty dodgy so I chose a reptuable looking one......or so I thought. Got in, a girl started the massage then five minutes later the door opened and another girl swapped with her.I was expecting to be offered 'extras' after the massage but not five minutes in. 'Just the massage' I said but she was having none of it!I actually got thrown out and given my money back! It doesnt finish there. Still needing a massage I went to the next street and found a proper massage,spa, sauna place which looked the real deal.The massage itself was like nothing Ive ever had before.She was standing on me, snapping my neck,back and anything else she could think of. Then came the extras......hands wandering..the language barrier didnt help 'No Thanks' was met with simulations in case i didnt get her jist...'i have girlfriend' was met with giggles,'wife?' more of the same. So I took a differnt approach 'no money'-'you pay later'. 'I not want' was met with more pleas. In the end I gave up and got changed. I get the feeling she doesnt get too many nos-And some peolple say I have no morals!