Suesday from Seam Reap! I can't remember exactly where I'm up to with my blog but I think it's round about the end of my first tour. I was gutted to leave my group in Hanoi, there were some lovely people in it. On our last night they gave me a card which everyone had wrote in, and a pen and a balloon! We ended up meeting up most nights through Vietnam because we were going to most of the same places. First stop in Vietnam was Halong Bay which was beautiful but the tour company was the absolute shambles!! No one had any idea what was going on and at one point on Cat Ba island they tried to cram in way too many people into a minibus and drag it up a hill, needless to say, we broke down!!! It came good in the end and we stayed on a boat for the night, and me Yvonne and Jay sang our hearts out on kereoke.

Back in Hanoi I couldn't wait to get away! I did not like Hanoi at all, coming from sleepy little laos and being placed in a chaotic, busy, and unfriendly city full of motorbikes where crosing the road is like a death wish was all a bit of a shock to the system. Thank god the rest of Vietnam was not all like this! I got a night train down to Hue the night I got back to Hanoi and arranged to do a motorbike tour of the town and its surrounding countryside. The rice paddy fields were unbelievably green and went on forever. We went to a rice museum, some bunkers, a lot of tombs, an insence factory, and to some (more) temples. Any local we met along our way would smile and want to know where you're from and how long you're in vietnam for and so on. Even 2 school girls riding on one bike came over to me and then asked if I'd take their picture so they could look at it, the kids love this as many have not seen their faces before, their reactions are priceless! Then at night I met up with my old group for drinks then tea after realising that we were staying at hotels next door to each other!

The next day I got a bus to Hoi An, which was by far my favorite place in Vietnam (and 2nd in Asia after Luang Prabang)! I was shocked to leave the hotel and find a motorbike stop when I got to a zebra crossing. Hoi An was really pretty and full of tailor shops where you can have anything you want made in about an hour. We met a guy called Mr Phung at a restaurant that night who organises days out to his village so the next day we went and looked around his home and village. This was probably the best decision I made in Vietnam because it was completely away from any tourism and we met so many local people and saw exactly how people live. He told us so much about the war and his wife even cooked lunch for us, she made the fittest spring rolls I've ever tasted. Above their dining table was a framed picture of Ho Chi Minh, apparently every home has to have one of these. I also forgot to mention that in Hanoi before our tour ended we went to the Ho Chi Minh museum to see his body. We had to walk 2 by 2 and got toldoff my guards with massive guns if we spoke!

We met our new group last Friday in Hoi Chi Minh city, although sacked them off to meet our old group on the first night because they'd just arrived in HCMC (they're 2 days behind us). My room mate kept me up all night snoring and insisted on keeping a light on, so I'm now sharing with Trish, my new tour guide which is a lot better. On the first day we went to the Mekong Delta (I LOVE the mekong river, it's so nice to keep seeing it in different countries along its way)! We tried loads of local sweets and then got a canoe where it was quieter. The next day we got a a bus to CAMBODIA and oh my god I couldn't believe how different it was considering it's so close. It was so much more brown, gone are the bright green paddy fields! It seems to be like a cross between Laos and Vietnam. A lot poorer than Vietnam, and bloody HOT. Where has all this heat come from?! It's nearly 40 degrees, I'm sweating buckets! But I can't even wear shorts and a vest because you don't look right amongst all the locals dressed conservitavely and you have to be covered for the temples.

So far in Cambodia we've been to Phnom Penn and went to the killing fields and prison. This came as quite a shock, I can't believe that so recently nearly half Cambodia's population were killed in the genocide. It was pretty upsetting seeing all the cells and torture beds, you could even see blood on the ceilings. In the afternoon we went to the grand palace then finished off at the russian market. We had a little tuk tuk crash on the way, our driver collided with another motorbike and hurt his arm. Me and the 2 girls I was with were fine, just felt bad for the poor driver. At night we went to a bar then for dinner then to another bar then a club. I was shocked to see some of the girls in non-conservative clothes- my tour guide explained that most of them were actually prostitutes!

This morning we arrived in Siem Reap, and tomrrow we're going to the angkor wat. It's too hot to do much during the day so we're actually getting up for sunrise! From what I hear Bangkok's about this hot too now so I'm glad I went those few weeks earlier when it was cooler and you actually had energy to do stuff! Oh and I think I prefer the food here to Vietnam- it has more thai influences, a lot of vietnamese food was a bit dry, they didn't use a lot of sauces. My current favorite is the chicken amok, made with coconut milk served with (surprise surprise) rice.

Anyway, haven't heard much from back home recently so anyone who's reading this be sure to let me know what's going on! Dad, not had a sarcastic text from you in a while! Hope you're all OK and I'll see you soon! xx