A big hello from vietnam,

As you all know we had some problems with our USB, we managed to get most of our chiang mai photos uploaded via our iPads, we had to make a new Facebook account upload on to that then the blog! Bit long winded but at least they are on there and not lost!

So when we last left you we were about to catch our sleeper train back to bangkok. We were both looking forward to getting on the train again as we had such a pleasant experience on the first one. Well....this was the opposite! It was a really really old train, very dirty and dusty and the seats/beds were about half the size! As it was a fan cabin all the windows were open too, and the toliets were a lot worse! The window didn't shut properly, and we were both freezing cold all night long, lee especially as he was on the bottom bunk. We both didn't sleep as good as before and put it this way we were extremely happy to get off haha.

When we arrived in bangkok we got the train straight to the main airport, during our train journey we decided we would treat ourselves to a nice Big Mac at the airport as we have been living on pad Thai! We spent around an hour trying to locate maccies only to realise that it was in a section of the airport that could only be accessed by passengers flying domestically! We were gutted and headed for Burger King, only to get to the till to be told all beef burgers were finished and it was only 12pm! Our flight was fine, fortunately it was only half full so me and lee both had three seats each to ourselves to lay down and catch up on sleep!

We can't believe our time in Thailand has come to an end, words can't describe how much we loved the country and we have met some lovely friends and seen and done some things we could never have imagined! If time would allow we easily could have spent more time in the lovely country and we really hope one day we will be able to return! Lee is addicted to chicken pad Thai a famous Thai dish, he has that mixed with rice most nights, I am very impressed with all the new food he is trying. I know he will miss this dish as they do not do it in vietnam but hopefully we can find some nice dishes there too!

Hanoi

So we arrived in hanoi, and I don't really know how to describe it, apart from mental!! We got a red bus to the old quarter where our hotel was. They crammed as many people physically possible on this bus with all the luggage squashed in between! Lee could not move his legs and the driver was crazy, he was so erratic and constantly shouting. The journey lasted around an hour but it felt a lot longer, most of the time was spent in traffic as it is so busy here!

We got dropped off in the middle of the old quarter, and fortunately lee found our hotel, i am useless at reading a map. Our hotel serenity 2 was lovely. We were greeted with noise, traffic and more motorbikes than any of you could imagine. The motorists do not stop at zebra crossings, traffic lights and there is no lane structure, they are going in whichever direction they fancy and even drive on the pavement. Crossing the road was such a challenge, you literally just have to walk out in front of the traffic otherwise you would be waiting for a lifetime. And how could I forget the hooting, the Motorists constantly beep their horns for no reason half the time, me and lee did try to count how long it would be before we heard a horn, the highest we got was three seconds.

We spent the day exploring the city by foot, and walked around the massive hoam Kiem lake, the liquid heart of the old quarter. We walked across the hoc bridge also. We were mesmerised walking down all the lanes soaking up the sights, sounds and smells. We enjoyed seeing all the locals in their traditional pointed hats (lee is desperate to buy one) holding a stick with two baskets hanging either side selling fruit. We also found it hilarious spotting some motorist carrying wardrobes, trees and hundreds of cans of drink on a bike, it is truly unbelievable how much they cram on. There are lots of street vendors, we had the pleasure of viewing giant fish being cut up and their guts removed every morning near our hotel , you can imagine the smell!

To our disappointment there are no seven elevens here, in contrast to Thailand they are on every corner. We missed the convenience of this, and lee especially missed his favourite seven eleven ham and cheese toatie snack! You just have to go in small corner shops to buy any drinks or snacks! There were also lots of shops here although it was difficult to look in due to the sheer volume of traffic. There were some really modern shops like Zara, Adidas, Nike next to tiny old fashion craft and souvenir shops, such a contrast!

We were going to go to the night market, we attempted to get there but we were literally at a standstill on the side of the road due to the amount of motorbikes so we quickly turned around and gave it a miss! We were both eager to head south and get out of chaotic hanoi, we almost got scammed into buying train tickets for 140 dollars, which a so expensive for a so called luxury cabin. What is more is they tricked us about the times!! Luckily we saw the light and didnt get caught!

We decided the safest way was to go to the train station and book directly, as we had read such bad reviews about travel agents and felt like everyone was telling us something different and just trying to get our money! Unfortunately as it is Chinese New Year typical lauren and lee timing it is very busy so the only availability they had were soft seats for the 14 hour journey. No sleeper cabins left!

Hue

The train journey was quite uncomfortable as expected and very very very long. Me and lee were the only foreigners on the whole cabin, no other tourists just us, but at least we got it for a cheap price. We were right in front of a telly that was so loud playing Vietnamese music videos and soaps for hours on end. It was driving us both insane we wanted to cut the Wires! To add to the frustration, a little local girl only about four years old would not leave us alone for four hours, she was cute at first but that quickly wore off! She would come and stand in between us, we had no room as it was. Every time lee got his m&ms out she would put her hands out for some so lee barely got them out even though he was dying for them! We waited until she got off to open our haribo! Haha! Lee was trying to read his book on his iPad and she kept moving the page, he was nearly going to explode! Luckily she wasn't on there for the whole journey!

We were happy to arrive in hue early the next morning and get off the train, which again was freezing all night long. We could immediately tell there was a lot less traffic here which we were relieved about. Again the weather was grey and cold well compared to the weather we have been in for the last seven weeks! We have been living in our zip ups and lee has not taken his combats off!!! Our hotel the jade was lovely and we could check in early which was a bonus. We explored the city by foot, and visited the citadel. We were delighted to find a supermarket which sold galaxy and mars bars! Haha!

Our time in hue was short, only one night, we spent the evening playing pool, lee played a local and luckily he won but only just! Our next stop was hoi an, we had a booked a bus this as it was only around four hours.

Hoi an

The bus was a sleeper bus, but the only seats left when we booked our tickets were two at the back. We thought this would be a good test to see what the buses were like as it was only a short journey. The bus was fine, especially after some of the horror stories we had heard from other travellers. The bus is a regular bus (not a two storey one) but has two levels of bed/chairs and fits 40 of these on so you can imagine how tight it was. You couldn't walk down the aisle you had to walk sideways! Our seats at the back were enclosed as there were seats above us. So you literally couldn't sit up you had to lay down and to get out you had to crawl. It was so tight for me so you can imagine poor lee. We now know why those seats were left and had such a giggle. It was so hard to even have a drink you had to lay sideways, but luckily it was only four hours and pretty comfortable, lee could completely stretch his legs!

Hoi an is completely different to the other two cities, it is a beautiful small town and we knew immediately that this was our favourite place so far! We stayed at moc vien homestay, which has just opened and was lovely. Lee found it he keeps going on how he finds all the best ones! The family were so excited to have us there and made us feel welcome. They couldn't speak much English but we used google translate and lee was practising his Vietnamese with them which they found hilarious. Every time we went out they would wave us off and be at the door waiting as soon as we returned! We felt like part of the family it was so lovely. Luckily the weather was slightly warmer so we could finally have a jackets and lee's combats washed, which were in desperate need.

One our first night we found a great Indian, it was recommended by lonely planet, had great reviews and was jammed packed! We both had a lovely jalfrezi very spicy and lee loved his naan bread. We loved it so much we ate there three nights in a row, we were regulars!

We hired bicycles out for the day which was great fun. We cycled to the beach which was lovely although not the same when it is not sunny! We also went through the countryside, we really enjoyed seeing all the locals farming and the rice fields, felt like true vietnam away from all the crazy traffic, although lee would not stop ringing his bell! Riding back against the wind was a struggle though and we were shattered by the end of the day!

During our time in hoi an we also explored the old town, which had a great atmosphere and is very relaxed with a lovely lake running through the middle. There were a huge array of tailoring shops, selling beautiful dresses and suits, and some lovely souvenir shops. As it is Chinese New Year everything is lit up with colourful lanterns which makes it look even more beautiful!

We had another strain booked for our next stop nha trang, ten hours away, fortunately we managed to book sleeper cabins this time not seats, praying it would at least be a bit more comfortable!

Nha trang

The sleeper trains in vietnam are in cabins of four, so two bunk beds per cabin. Our train was late so we didn't get on it until about eleven and we were but pretty tired. We were so so so lucky as no one else was in our cabin the whole way, so it was just me and lee and unlike the ones in Thailand we could lock the door and didn't get disturbed by anyone walking around. The cabins were very compact, god knows how we would have fitted four people in and all our luggage. The toilet on this train was just a whole on the ground, so you could see the track! We managed to sleep and arrived early the next morning to sunshine, you know me and lee we were thrilled to see blue skies!

Our hotel again was lovely, (this time I found it!) and we were able to check in early. We got our shorts and flip flops on and headed straight down the beach of course. We walked along it, it was really nice and well looked after with all lovely gardens on the seafront. We decided to walk to the cathedral and the famous Buddha, long son pagoda (we under estimated how far it actually was). Luckily along the way we came across a massive bakery with warm baguettes lees face lit up! What is better is on the way back we found a cinema and grabbed some warm popcorn and two drinks for one pound, we didn't watch a film just had the snacks.

The next day we decided to go to the thap ba hot spring centre. We both loved it here and had a great time. First we had a thermal mud bath in a group, it felt really strange at first and everyone was slow getting their body's in. Not lee of course he was first in and dived right under completely covering himself, face and hair in mud! I enjoyed getting a massive bowl and pouring over him. We then got out and sunbathed to let the mud dry it is meant to be really good for your skin, before we scrubbed it off. The next part was my favourite a hot mineral bath, I have been missing baths so much so we spent ages relaxing in them until we were like prunes! We spent the rest of our time under the waterfall and in 39 degree swimming pool.

On the way back to our hotel we stopped at the po nagar Cham towers. Lee especially enjoyed visiting this site, looking at how all the bricks had weathered and how they had attempted to reconstruct parts! Early that evening lee went for an hour body massage which he loved.

That night we met some people from our hotel, sarah joe and james and have spent the majority of our time with them. Here the beer is cheaper than water which is actually crazy, so being sensible with our money it makes sense that the majority of our drinks were alcoholic! And of course the night wouldn't be complete without the buckets, however in vietnam they are called jam jars! We had great fun in the clubs but the next day we were feeling extremely fragile. So we took the day easy chilling on the beach.

We both really enjoyed nha trang, there were lots of travellers and the beach was lovely. Our next stop was mui ne, another six hour bus journey, our bus left at half past seven, so we got an early night and set an alarm for 6.30 something we have not had to do in a long time, but much more easier than getting up for work!

Mui ne

Our sleeper bus journey was fine it took six hours, we got a good bus it even had wifi on which was a bonus. Our friends we met from our hotel also came with us which was nice.

When we arrived in mui ne it was absolutely boiling hot, so we went to check the beach out. It is a top spot for kite surfing, and when we got down the beach the sea was full of surfers and there were lots of lessons going on on the sand also. Lee really wanted to try it, it looked so easy the people in the water just flying along the waves. We asked at a kite surfing school and they told him he would need at least ten hours of lessons until he would be able to do it! Which is a shame we both thought you could give it a go, but then we remembered the water skiing in Egypt! We sat there for hours watching people attempt it.

That night we went for dinner with our friends, and keeping money in mind the beers were flowing! We went out to a few of the bars which was laugh although they were much quieter than nha trang.

The next day all five of us booked a private trip to the sand dunes. We went in a jeep, our jeep was the oldest out of all of them, typical we all thought it was about to fall apart! The first stop was a fairy stream, it was quite strange it's best if you just look at the pictures! There were also tourists riding ostriches, none of us fancied it but it was hilarious watching people on them, the ostriches were just charging all over the place! The next stop was a fishing village before we visited the white sand dunes and then the red ones for the sunset. The dunes were spectacular to see but so tiring walking up them. We went to the highest point which was an amazing view but as you can imagine it was boiling hot. On the red dunes the boys enjoyed sliding down steep hills and jumping down them, they all ended up covered in sand.

After we had been on the dunes, we walked back to meet our Driver and get back in the jeep. When we arrived to the car park our jeep was no where to be seen. We searched all around, we went up to other drivers to ask if they had seen ours. We all started to panic and just stood there praying our driver would turn up. We were all so hot and literally in the middle of nowhere. After about a good fifteen minutes of standing there, I (very unlike me as I am useless at taking in surroundings) realised we were at a different place to where he dropped us, it was another exit. We all couldn't stop laughing and luckily we found our way to where we originally got dropped off and our driver was waiting! It was a really enjoyable trip!

Lee was absolutely thrilled to find out that the Indian restaurant Ganesh, that we loved in hoi an was also in mui ne. So we went there for dinner again, which was just as good as before. That was the end of our time in mui ne, and the next day we were getting another six hour sleeper bus to our final stop Saigon.

Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh city

We got the same bus company as we did on our last bus as we knew they were pretty good. However this time, the driver played his music so so loud, i don't think it could have gone any louder, it literally was sending us mad after hours on end. Of course we could still hear the constant horns! It was impossible to sleep, read or even hear yourself think! Lee even found it difficult to hear my massive voice. As it became early evening and dark outside, blue neon lights were switched on, it felt like we were in a nightclub only with awful music. We had west life, George Michael, Lionel Richie, boyzone and many more! Our heads were pounding and our ears were ringing by the end. Thank god it wasn't the middle of night.

Ho Chi Minh again was full of motorists, but not as bad as hanoi, which we were surprised about. We both really liked the city it had a real buzz about it as it is the lead up to the Vietnamese new year (tet holiday), which is the biggest celebrated holiday in their culture. We literally put our bags down, had a shower and went straight out to meet our friends. It was absolutely packed out. There are small shops that just place hundreds of red garden chairs on the pavement and even half way in the road and sell really cheap beer. These were full of people drinking and we had so much fun. We then headed to a club, it was one messy night and we didn't get back to the hotel until half past five in the morning!!

The next day I dragged lee out of bed, and we went and visited the war remnants museum. It was so so interesting and extremely sad, it portrayed how Vietnam was completely destroyed and how all the victims suffered horrendously. It showed us how people today are still suffering and it was a real eye opener. Lee was more interested at looking at all the guns, bullets, tanks and bulldozers though!!! After that we headed to the cathedral and the independence palace.

We spent our last night sat around on the red garden seats in the pavements enjoying Saigon beer...of course :)

So our time in Vietnam has come to an end, we have really enjoyed ourselves and travelled and experienced alot of the country. Our next stop Cambodia for a week. After that we head to Malaysia and are meeting up with our friends chris and judy again. We can't wait to see them!

We now have a six hour or so bus journey to Phnom Penh, and will get our visas at the border!

Hope everyone is ok and we will speak soon. We can't believe January is almost over!

Lots of love

Xxx