Hola!!!

Sorry I didn't write for a while but Caz and I are on a strict travelling regime now so as to get back to Thailand for the full moon party on the 24th November! We defo wanna go, November's full moon is the biggest and apparantly the party reflects that so it should be mental!

We have been doing tonnes recently to make sure we see everything we want too. Unfortunately, we underestimated the distance between the north of Laos and Vietnam. Originally we planned to go to Hanoi but we heard Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) is better and we haven't really liked the capital cities so much so figured we would rather skip that rather than anywhere else. Also, getting to Hanoi would've been even more troublesome and our journey was bad enough as it was so now we're REALLY glad! We booked our train to Ho Chi Minh with our hotel, they had a timetable which we couldn't really understand but she said they had hard seats, soft seats, hard sleepers and soft sleepers for the train and that they had fast trains or slow trains. The fast train apparanltly left at 11:20am and arrived at about 4:20pm. We clearly didn't need a sleeper for that length of time so opted for soft seats. When we got to the station it was as chaotic as everywhere in Vietnam so we asked some other backpackers what train they were getting, they were on the same one as us but were only going half way to Ho Chi Minh to, in their words "break up the journey" we didn't understand why the journey would need breaking up, until that was, we were told that rather than 4:20pm we would arrive in Ho Chi Minh at 5:20 AM!!!! It was a very long train journey and if we had known we would've tried to get sleepers!! There was an old lady sitting in our seats, understandably she got confused because the numbers aren't really in order and your seat number is behind your seat so to see it you have to look hard. We settled down, still shell shocked from the realisation of yet another hideously long journey but the seats weren't too uncomfortable and we would rather the train than another bus ANYDAY! There were a few other tourists on the train but as they were well informed, and not stupid, they got off half way! When we arrived in Ho Chi Minh we had not really slept at all, my seat was broken and didnt really recline so I was achey too. We had spent most of the journey entertaining ourselves by playing cards or scrabble and I read over half of my book in one sitting. At the station I asked a couple if they were going to the De Tham area like us which they were and if they wanted to share a taxi, so we did. When we got on the roads that's when I realised the extent of the mayhem! There are literally millions of mopeds all hurtling towards eachother. They officially drive on the right hand side of the road but they tend to go all over. If they are turning left they will turn onto the left side of the road so crossing the road is hideous. Firstly because there are no realy green man/red man times. They do exist but only work on roads with one-way traffic. The rest of the time you just have to step out! The bikes will drive at you or swerve if there is literally nowhere for either of you to go but they definitely get priority! As the roads are often 4 lanes wide (which is about 20 lanes of moped traffic) it can be petrifying crossing the road. I have tried to take pictures to show it but you can't capture it! Also, I have never seen so much being carried on one bike as over here. They are almost the size of a car after being loaded up to the max. We got to the De Tham area (a street name with lots of back packing accommodation) at about 6am so it was a bit early to check in anywhere and most of the guesthouses we'd wanted to stay in were full. But we found one for $10 a night with all the mod cons, TV, hot shower (altho I couldn't seem to get that working), fan, fridge etc. It looks quite clean and is giving us great exercise as its on the third floor too but they have no lifts in this place. We had showers and went to sleep for a while and then walked around town. We found a KFC (Of which we've now seen a few) and devoured it! It was SO good! Then we headed to a market where they sell absolutely everything from groceries to shoes, hand bags and bras to spices and toiletries. They have some amazing fruit over here that I've never seen before, we've tried some but don't know the name but the fruit stalls look so colourful and nice, I bought a huge pink lady looking apple today which I'll probably have for dinner as I'm still full from my KFC! Tomorrow we might take a trip to the tunnels where there was fighting, living and more during the Vietnam war, there is also a war museum where we can learn more about what happened and see actual pictures taken at the time, they are meant to be amazing. It is now 9:14pm and I am glad that this travel journal is finally up to date! I want to try and put some more pics up soon but for now there are a couple of albums on facebook, the links to those are below. I'm not sure what we'll do tonight, there are loads of bars so maybe go to one of those or chill out somewhere, Vietnam is not what I expected at all but it is a very interesting place! I'm sure I'll have lots of stories from here for you all!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28554&l=1643f&id=699965568

and

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28970&l=e6a07&id=699965568

I don't have any credit at the moment but my Thai sim card is working so I can receive texts, unfortunately I get charged to receive calls so can't do that at the mo but please feel free to text me and if I get credit I'll reply! When Im in Thailand my phone works normally and you can call me for 7p a minute and txt me too. Texting my UK number should only cost you your normal rate so do that if you want and I can reply from my Thai number. Im not 100% sure and will check but I think the number is 08701 723 723 then it will ask you to enter the number you wish to call which is 0066870903090. If you want to text me it's: +66870903090

I hope none of you have forgotten about me yet and that you actually read this nonsense! I don't know if you find it interesting but I guess so.

While I've got some time, below is a list I'm compiling of things you encounter daily in S.E.Asia:

The sun,

Blind people, OK, Well not blind, but I could count the number of people I've seen wearing glasses on one hand so unless they've all got 20/20 vision some people must be pretty blind I guess,

Mopeds, with many passengers or items balanced all over them, also mopeds with children driving them,

Black hair, apart from a spattering of young girls who dye some or all of theirs brown,

Tuk Tuks and Songthaews,

Animals, ranging from buffallos to geckos running wild,

People offering you a lift, from cyclos to long tail boats they all want you as their passenger,

Knocked-off goods, bootleg CDs and DVDs go for 50p each and football shirts and "billabong" gear can be found everywhere for next to nothing,

Internet shops such as the one I'm in, one of the irish girls we met can't get broadband where she lives but it's everywhere out here,

back-packs; everyone, like me, is carrying their worldly possessions on their shoulders,

creepy crawlies; from beetles to mosies and rats to flies, there's no escaping the nasty things out here. As I write this I have to large blisters that formed on my right leg whilst we were on the train, I don't know what they are but they itch like mad and are ugly as hell!

I'll update my list another time because I can't really think at the moment but there are lots more where they came from.

I best go, thank you all for the lovely comments on my message board, it's lovely to receive them and emails from you so keep em coming!

Miss you all lots and keep checking this!

All my love

Julie/Teresa/Princess knickers/fig

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