Currently residing in Sapa in Northern Vietnam. About to catch an overnight train to the hole that is Hanoi... but first where I left off!

On Thursday I took a motorbike taxi about 30km from Hoi An to Denang to catch my train to Hanoi. It was a pretty pleasant journey along the coast and Denang itself looked pretty nice for a big city. I was dropped straight at the train station though to catch my sleeper train to Hanoi. The train itself is not luxury by any means but it is a bed (and it's also big enough for me to fit in... bonus!) so I can't complain too much. The journey is incredibly scenic along the coast. I also speak to a couple of different Vietnamese women along the journey. It was nice to chat to some locals who don't have any ulterior motives for speaking to me!

On Friday, having slept appallingly on the train, I arrive in Hanoi at 5.30am. It's pouring with rain so I jump on a motorbike to my hostel. I manage to pick yet another psycho driver in South East Asia (or are they all crap drivers?) who despite the monsoon conditions thinks it's okay to plough through red lights... in my mind there were some seriously close shaves with other, larger, vehicles... in his mind... well, God knows what goes through their minds?! Relieved to have arrived at my hostel alive I'm pleasantly surprised to find that it is rather nice! Other than a quick mooch around Hanoi (it's another big, crazy, noisy city - enough said) I don't achieve much other than booking trips to Halong Bay and Sapa.

At 8.30am on Saturday I'm picked up for my 3 day/2 night trip to Halong Bay. I meet a sound Geordie, David, on the bus who will become by 'bithcing about Asia' buddy for the next few days and a nice German couple. It's an overcast day but Halong Bay is beautiful none the less. The water is absolutely filthy though which is a shame. We spend the night on Cat Ba island which frankly is a dump! An interesting conversation over dinner ensues and it turns out that none of the four of us will be rushing back to South East Asia in any hurry...! I'm relieved to know it's not just me who doesn't quite get what all the fuss is about...

On Sunday we hike up a small peak on Cat Ba island. It's pretty strenuous stuff but the views at the top are probably just worth it. Afterwards we have a couple of free hours on Cat Ba... occupying your time in a s*** hole can prove difficult! At 4pm we board our boat where we will spend the night. It's a tidy boat to be fair and we are joined by an Argentinian girl, Eve. In the early evening I did a twin Kayak we David around Halong Bay... damn I'm out of shape! We sleep on the boat on Halong Bay... along with maybe 50 other boats!

The following day we have an early morning breakfast on the boat. By 9am we're all on the top deck soaking up the sun (finally) and relaxing in the beauty that surrounds us... the crew downstairs decide to crank up the Vietnamese karaoke (they bloody love it over here). It's bloody awful, terrible. None of us like it and it's really ruining the atmosphere... so I ask them to switch it off! In fairness they oblige. After a few hours we head back to Hanoi. That evening I catch a night train to Sapa. I share a cabin with a friendly dutch couple (I love the dutch!) who I play cards with before sleeping.

At 6am on Tuesday we arrive at our train station. We catch a bus to our hotel an hour away... good old Asia, too many people for the bus so it's cramped as hell! After checking into the hotel we head on a hike to the local 'Cat Cat' village with our guide 'Si'... a young local lady who's must be at least 4 foot tall. There's a decent waterfall and the scenery is very nice but I'm not exactly bowled over by it all. I bump into a girl called Emelia who I met in Phnom Penh on 9 August and after lunch I walk around Sapa with her... it's boring as hell though as nothing is happening!! I have dinner at the hotel and I watched Quantum of Solace in my room... I'm in bed at 9pm!

On Wednesday I wake at 7.50am and celebrate the fact I've had almost 11 hours of sleep! We spend the morning walking through the hills with our guide, the scenery is spectacular it has to be said. The people over here can be sick b******s though. I saw two things that appalled me. First a live pig strapped to the backed of a motorbike and then later a rock (tennis ball size) thrown full pelt at a buffalo just to make it move... it makes me angry and I'd quite like to stick one on the bloke's chin... see if it makes him move? Evil b******s. At about 2.30pm the rest of my group departs and I head to my 'homestay' in the village where I will spend the night. After an hour or so my guide also abandons me... not quite sure why and I'm left solo with my hosts for the night. I join them for dinner in their kitchen at around 6.15pm... they sort me out with some proper veggie stuff and it's delicious! They're not the most talkative though so shortly afterwards I head to my bed. Nothing much to report after that other than there were spiders in webs everywhere and I'm walking around like a hunchback in a bid to avoid walking into their webs... I'm not always successful to be honest!

3am - I am awoken as it appears my bed has been transported into the shower. No, I just left the windows open and a storm is now raging outside... in the dark I try and close the windows (note from above... spiders everywhere!)... windows shut I return to bed, somewhat damper than I was ten minutes ago!

After breakfast in the morning Si returns to take me trekking again. More of the same from yesterday really. The landscape is really beautiful. Following Si through the forest she suddenly stops and shreeks in terror... a snake apparently and dangerous too! Would kill us without quick access to medicine apparently... we carry on trekking... I let Si lead us!! During a quick break I again see another dickhead launching a rock at a buffalo. I decide to ask Si why they do this and state that it seems cruel. She says they do it to make them move faster although she says she also doesn't like it and prefers to tap them with a bamboo stick to make them move, but acknowledges it is slower. After lunch I catch a bus back into Sapa town where I am now.

In a few hours I catch the overnight train back to Hanoi. I'm desperate to get to Laos but unfortunately the sleeper bus (the journey takes in excess of 24 hours) doesn't go on a Friday so I need to stick around in Hanoi until Saturday.

The last week has been good. Halong Bay was beautiful, as was Sapa. I'm feeling done with Vietnam though... in general I just can't warm to the people as too many seem like uncompassionate a*******s!! It's a sweeping generalisation but it's my honest thoughts on the matter... anyway it's my blog, I'll write what I like! :-P

I'm an animal loving vegetarian... get me out of here!!!!!!!!