Hello!!

So Vietnam! We started in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) which was nutty! We arrived and got ourselves loaded up with our bags and began the usual search for our hotel/hostel. We ended up being frog marched to our hostel by a very pushy, yet helpful old dear who somehow found us looking lost on the street and delivered us, free of charge to the front door of our randomly located hostel.

The city was madness really, mopeds everywhere, the pavements aren't for pedestrians, they seem to be mainly used for mopeds when the road traffic is too busy, Jon and i found ourselves been beeped at constantly to move out of their way!! ha!

We visited the war museum, and the French Cathedral.

After a few days in the city we boarded the night train to Danang, where we then boraded a local bus to Hoi An!

Hoi An was a beautiful little town. It felt very much like a real holiday destination. With pedestrian only streets and shops lit up by lanterns in the evening. Hoi An was the place where many tourists get themsleves something tailor made, at a very low cost. We however discovered the French style patisseries, where we induldged in very scrummy tarts and cake!

Next stop, Hue, only for one day really, but here we visited the Citedal. The Citedal were the grounds where the Emporer once lived. From here we boarded another sleeper train to take us all the way up to Hanoi.

We boarded our sleeper train at midday, and ate our bisciut and crisp rations within the first 10 minutes, bad move. We made ourselves comfy, which was surprisingly easy. We each had our own bed, a little table and a fair bit of space! Infact we both slept brilliantly, even when we were joined by two locals, who slept on the bunks above us, and chatted loudly for a while! The bloke even tried chatting to us, which was nice, despite not understanding a word! ha! The toilets were western, which was good, as squat type loo's are hard to master especially on a moving train, although Kate had a slight issue with a few local boys, following the train and poking their hands though the window, which wouldn't shut, whilst she was trying to use the loo!! ha ha! Slightly terrified she not so politely screamed at them to bugga off!

We got to Hanoi bright and early, it was nice to walk the streets before they had a chance to get crazy busy, and watch the locals doing their morning exercises! It wasn't long before the pavements were packed with locals having breakfast at the street stalls, sat on tiny little chairs, slurping up their breakfast soup, which is then often followed by alot of hawking up of phlem and then spitting, which is nice.

We went to the famous water puppet show, which was a bit like punch and judy on water! But with amazing music. The water puppet shows were orignally created by the people living out in the padi fields, when the rainy season would come, the fields would flood with water, and the puppets were used for entertainment!

The most amazing part of our time in Vietnam was visiting Halong bay. We travelled from Hanoi and arrived at Halong City where we boarded the posh-est boat to sail around the bay! The scenery was stunning, and we loved every minute! It felt like real luxury, staying somewhere so nice and constantly having the most fantastic views! We were taken to a beach area, where the Vietmanese holiday makers took a dip in the sea, whilst ensuring they stayed under an umbrella, to keep their skin white (which is considered more attractive in Asia). We also had a little tour around a fishing village, where around 600 people live in small houses that float on the water. We also visited a huge cave, and took a Tai Chi lesson on board the boat before breakfast! The whole experience was lovely, we felt very spoilt!

So back in Hanoi now, and off tomorrow to Laos, a 24hr bus journey, back to buses!

Asia has been great so far, loving it.

Missing you all lots

Kate and Jon xxxxxx