hello!

im sorry to everyone that does follow this that i havent been the best person at updating it! i know im hopeless! aparently tho - daves is very informative...

so anyway - er im going to tell you all about vietnam here.

started off in saigon first and that was pretty good actually - bummed about hte town and saw some stuff. went to a war museaum which was totally distressing . really awful actaully/. then we did a trip south from ho chi minh city to see the mkong delta - so we saw floating markets and villages and rice paddies and stuff. was pretty cool actually. then we headed off up the coast. our first stop north of Saigon was Nha Trang - that was about a week ago maybe now - not really sure as have lost track of time - i know my blog says yesterday but its rubbish.

then from Nha trang we moved on up to Hoi An - Hoi An is basically just full of tailor shops so everyone got some stuff made. we were only there for a day - but thats all we really needed. saw a japaense covered bridge and there are some nice little streets around there but yeah - thats about it. er had a bit of a bad experience with the hotel owner that night so quite happy to leave. basically he was just very threatening towards us for no apparent reason. i was so scared! i think im gonna right to Lonely Panet and tell them about him becuse that was not a pleasant experience and no one should have to go through it.

so anyway. left Hoi An and went up to Hue. spent one day in Hue also - we went on a motorbike tour round the place for the morning.. that was brilliant actually - got taken into the countryside and saw some beautiful scenery - then we saw some old bunkers left over from the war. also saw another bridge which was nice - daves got pics - think he may be having trouble uploading them tho at the minute.

basically the only thing to do in Hue is the Citadel - a walled city thingy majig. so we got dropped off there and wandered around. its kind of weird - its neither ruins nor been restored - but there arent any information boards anywhere either. even tho we paid to get in. was ok tho. left and got the overnight bus up to Hanoi - that was this morning. those buses are killer - you dont get any sleep and they arrive at like half 6 in the morn so your absolutely knackered. i dont have to do aymore now tho! yay!

have booked a 3 day trip to Halong Bay for tomo. theyre supposed to be amazing. apparently its the highlight of vietnam - so i cant wait. and its my birthday on the thursday! this is our last stop really before heading into china and from there everything is organised. it feels nice to think that i dont have to organise myself anymore. woo! been aroudn Hanoi today although the heat really is unbearable. its so hot - everyoene is sweating bucketloads...attractive eh?

right - i hope this has kind of made up for my lack of correspondence recently

by the way - auntie joan - i havent used a single travellers cheque since ive been away and ive had no problems what soever - tehyre more hassle than theyre worth to be honest - and you get completely ripped off!

thanks to everyone who actually bothers to read this as well.

xxx