Only 3 days left in Vietnam then off to Australia via Singapore.

So we are coming to the end of our South East Asia trip. Its certainly an exhausting place to travel around, constantly being hounded by locals selling everything from books to having yourself weighed on a portable scale. Since our last blog in Nha Trang we have travelled to Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi - Halong Bay - Hanoi.

Our last day in Nha Trang was a good day, one of our highlights. We all went to a natural mineral spa, where you hire a large bath then they fill it with mineral mud, it was so smelly, but very funny. you then dry off in the sun, until you are crispy.We then went into the mineral water bath to wash off, it was 38 degrees in the bath, but it was nice. You then moved on to the mineral swimming pools and waterfalls. A lovely relaxing/slightly strange fun day.

Each place we visited has been completely different from the other, some good and some bad but overall it has been an enjoyable experience. Hoi An was a very picturesque place, very traditional with lanterns being sold everywhere and with a river running through the middle of the town. We spent 2 days here as really there wasnt a lot to do, mainly walking around looking at the different types of buildings and sitting with a cold drink as it was extremely hot there. Where we were staying brought some excitement..nature attacked us from all angles. Outside of our Guest house they were doing road works and part of the sewer was opened up..it didnt smell or anything like that, it just allowed a bloomin load of rats to run around the streets. Whilst walking back along the street to our guest house me and amy had to evade around 15 rats, rats bigger than cats. Filthy bleeders. The second night staying there the rat count was down to about 5..however the cockroach numbers increased. I did the man thing and tracked 1 down in Lucy and Nicks room and killed it. That night they get their revenge. As me and Amy were laying in bed drifting off to sleep a felt something tickle my right side. The biggest cockroach we have ever seen scarpered up my body to my arm pit..i shot up straight away which in turn scared the hell out of amy. We climbed under our mossie net , turned the light on and there it was. Running around all over our bed then climbed up the mossie net. After wacking it with the Lonely Planet it fell and disapeared. We looked tirelessly for it but couldnt find it. As it was 3am we gave in and went back to bed, tucked the mossie net in so nothing could attack us again. Then suddenly it darted up the mossie net again, this time on the outside. Amy screamed and jumped about, " please help me!" I got out and again wacked it with the Lonely PLanet, it was a powerful blow which sent it crashing to the ground. DEAD. Good night. (i would just like to add that andrew wrote this blog, so he has made himself a real rambo, but i can assure you all that he was as scared as me)

We moved further North to Hue, a place which started a string of KFC lunches and diners. After today I think our KFC count is around 10. The local food has been quite shocking. Me and Nick have consumed enough Burgers and Chips to last us for a least 30 hangovers. We visted the Ancient Palace, the Citadel..the Old Administrative capaital of Vietnam. A very interesting place. Again there wasnt a huge amount to do here..although Lucy & Nick ventured off and visited some amazing Pagoda's...me and Amy chose a day of rest and Air Con. That evening we all sat down to watch the opening of the olympics. The next day we boarded our sleeper bus for a 13hr overnight journey to Hanoi. We stayed in Hanoi for two days, here we enjoyed a few cocktails and one night we even had some lovely food in a place called little hanoi, very popular and we soon found out why. Hanoi is just a place of scams and short changers, they really make you feel slightly unwanted in their country. the following day we took 2 buses a boat then another bus to Cat Ba..an island near Halong Bay. Halong Bay was amazing...3000 lime stone islands. Apparently legend says that a Dragon created these Islands by thrashing its tail whilst moving through the area of Halong. Would have been nicer if a Welsh Dragon did it. We did a day trip yesterday on a Junk Boat. Leaving at 9am we travelled very slowly through the waters , passing these magnificent Lime stone formations. We sat on top catching some rays, although Amy had to move below as she was feeling sea sick so she took a wee nap...ahh. No vomit though so all was ok. We passed floating villages where they fish and live on the sea. I was amazed to see how many people had dogs, no where for them to run apart from little platforms..perhaps they were guard dogs? So from Cat Ba we travelled to Halong Bay to our 1st stop which was a Cave. In side were formations of Staglamites, the further we went in the more it opened up. After a visit to a 2nd smaller cave me moved on to our Kayaking area. The 4 of us kayaked around the islands for an hour. We also had the opportunity to swim there but after a few minutes viewing the water we all realised that it would be a stupid idea. There were huge jelly fish..a wide variety. No way..not enough pee would cure those stings. Kayaking was fun though. We all dozed for an hour, the heat had taken it out of us, and we arrived at Monkey Island. We did maange to see a couple of the cheaky little things but not enough to warrant it being called "Monkey Island'..it was a really nice place all the same. Oh I forgot to mention that lunch was part of our tour package...and what a lunch it was. So much food cooked by 2 young lads. Grilled seasoned tuna steaks, Springs rolls, Steamed Rice, Vegetables in sweet and sour sauce, and a dish called Morning Glory..a kind of water plant mixed with garlic. Gorgeous grub.

We stayed in Cat Ba for 3 nights. Coming down stairs every morning to our reception/restaurant area was always an experience. We have had a large fish jump out of the tank onto the floor creating havok until a female member of staff there bludgeoned it to death in front of several people eating there, nasty. Whilst having breakfast the morning of our trip they brough in 3 live chickens which managed to get loose, weeing all over the floor before being killed and plucked , and then this morning we had horse shoe crabs laying upside down for everybody to see. Its a completely different world these people live in. Thank you lucy and Nick for coming to see us, sorry that it was not all stress free.

We travelled today back to Hanoi, eagerly awaiting our departure out of Vietnam. It has drained everyone. So on the 17th me and Amy fly to Singapore. We have 2 days there before we fly to Sydney on the 19th. Our next blog will be coming from there letting everyone we have arrived safe and sound. Cant wait !!

Hope everyone has enjoyed our South East Asia blogs. We have some great pics to put on here which should follow shortly. Im off to climb the stairs to level 6 , for some reason we always end up staying on the top floor! Tiring.

Singapore - Clean and safe, Malaysia - dirty and busy, Thailand - pretty and crazy, laos - traditional and quiet, Cambodia - Growing and friendly, Vietnam - dirty and hard work.

Cam On (Thank you in Vietnamese). Ta (thanks in Welsh)