Oh dear I fear this is going to be a long update as I have left it far too long since my last! Ok here it goes....

Bangkok (cont...) - We went to the Damnern Saduak floating market which although was a little touristy was really good fun. We hired a boat to go for a float along the river and even treated ourselves to a few souviners. We also went to the war cemetery and the bridge over the river Kwai which although not as big as we thought it would be was still very good. Also went to Nakhon Pathom temple. We also went to the Temple of Dawn in Bangkok, took a ferry up the Tewes river and went to the Vimanmek Mansion which was fantastic and we are pretty much ready to move into! Was so pretty!

Chiang Mai - We flew here as it was Songkran (New Year Water Festival) and you couldnt get on a bus or train for love nor money! We visited the Wat PhraSing and Wat ChiangMan temples and were just commenting on how there wasn't much activity for Songkran when we turned a corner and were greeted by madness! So many people throwing buckets of water everywhere! Needless to say we got soaked and soon had to invest in some water pistols! Was great fun though even if most things in our bags ended up sodden! We also went on an elephant ride which was far more scarier than I would ever have thought but really good fun (We had the biggest elephant ever called Pucho who in my oppinion had an unhealthy obsession with banannas!!) We also went rafting and got completely soaked my locals in the river celebrating Songkran! Also went into the hills to see the Karen tribe and a really beautiful waterfall!

Bangkok - arrived back here for 24hours only to find ourselves held hostage in our hotel due to Songkran celebrations! In Bangkok they also add powder to the water creating a paste - it is not nice - especially when you are flying to Vietnam the next day!!

Hanoi - is mental! There is literally no other way to describe it! You take your life in your hands every time you cross the road as millions of mopeds aim for you I swear! Met up with Helens friends from Uni, Emma and Paula, and went to Hoan Kiem Lake, Ngoc Son Temple and the Ho Chi Minh Museum which was hilarious and full of symbolism we didn't understand!

Halong Bay - we took a boat trip with Emma and Paula around Halong Bay for 3 days and it was amazingly beautiful, despite continually bumping into other tourist boats. We went to see a local fishing village, and some caves with amazing rock formations (ok it was lost on me but was still very pretty!) We stayed on Cat Ba Island and even managed to find a Kareoke Bar (notice a theme to our travels!!) The next day we opted out of the trek into the national park and found a beach to lay on for a few hours! We then got back on the boat and went kayaking which was great fun! We then spent the night on the boat only to see a rat on board and a cockroach in our cabin! We then went to bed where they proceeded to turn the generators off so we had no light! We were lying in our bed when we heard squeaking next to our heads! Helen tried to run for it but was in her sleeping bag liner and ran straight into me, pushed me off the bed and ended up on top of me! Honestly I have never found something so frightening and funny at the same time! Helen investigated under the bed but couldnt see anything apart from a hole!! In the end it was 2am and we were still awake jumping at every sound so we ended up sleepinh in the restuarant on a bench! Not quite the night on a boat that we had imagined but still an experience nonetheless! The next morning we found teethmarks in our soap (apparently rats like soap so at least it was an educational trip for us!) which made us very glad we had not been asleep in there! could have lost several fingers! Or at least any vague sense that we have!!

Hue - took a very uncomfortable overnight bus but it got us here in one piece! We wandered around the old city and citadel which was very pretty. Went to see the Forbidden Purple city which was nice but pretty much all in ruins! We got a very uncomfortable cyclo tour around the old city and then a private boat tour to the Thien Mu Pagoda which was really nice! Hue was so hot though it was ridiculous and we spent a lot of time hiding in the shade! We also went on a tour of the DMZ (Demilitised Zone) from the Vietnam War which took us to the North South divide line and then onto the Vinh Moc tunnels which were the tunnels villagers lived in to escape the war and they were so so tiny! We also randomly met someone from Deopham (small world hey!)

Hoi An - we inadvertently visted here when we were menat to swap buses here but due to a booking confirmation error we ended up stranded for 24hours. We had chatted to a couple from New Zeland on the bus so we spent some time with them and then literally spent the whole day by the pool and avoiding taylors!

Nha Trang - is so beautiful and it was so nice to finally lay on the beach! Spent the whole first day on the beach and stupidly I burnt myself so much so that my front half is now blistering! And before anyone says anything I swear I was continually putting cream on! The sun is against me i swear! We also took the worlds longest cable car over water (after walking for 3 hours in full sun to reach it!!) to Vinpearl island which is meant to be like an adventure park island but was a bit of a dissapointment as a lot of stuff isn't finished and there was no beach! Quickly scarped back to Nha Trang see front where I sat fully under an umbrella! Ahh the joys of holidays!

Saigon - is not nearly as bad as we thought it would be! We went to War Remnants museum which is truely horrific and really turned my stomach! There are pictures in there that people should never have to see! Still it really brings home the horror behind the Vietnam war! We also went to see the Jade Emperor Pagoda and then the Reunification Palace and met an american outside called Philip! We then spent the rest of the day with him and went to the Ben Thanh Market, Independence Hall and the Opera House before ending up in an Irish pub indulging in a bit too much white wine! Today we went to Dam Sen Park on the local bus (check us out!) which was so much fun as it was like a really tacky version of disneyland! We didn't go on much as everything was individually priced but it was really good fun and there is an amazing building full fo ice sculptures!

Phew so there you are - uptodate! Hopefull a few of you are still awake after all that! I hope everybody is ok, please let me know how things are at home and how you all are! Definitely want to keep fully updated with normality!

Love to you all and looking forward to hearing from you!

Laura xxx