Hi!

Chuc Mung Nam Moi everybody! Its Chinese New Year - celebrated over at least 4 days here (so alot of places have been closed including internet places)!

In the past week or so I have been to Da Lat, Nha Trang, Qui Nhon, Hoi An and now Hue! Busy busy busy!

Will finish entry tonight! Sorry........went on a cyclo trip around Hue.

Da Lat is a atown in the central highlands. It is nice and cool there - especially at night time (I actually needed to get my fleece out!). In Da Lat we visited lots of places in cluding the crazy house - a hotel designed by one of the duaghters of an ex president. Honestly if she hadn't of had conections I don't know how she would have got permission for such a building, it really was crazy. The hotel was in 3 sections all connected by walkways and bridges. One part looked like a ghost house and one like a spiders nest - very strange!!

When we were in De Lat it was New Years eve so we went out for a few drinks and a nice meal. There were loads of people in the street and there were lots of fireworks. THe build up to tet (the New Years festival) was quite something - people were busy getting decorations, flowers, food and beer in ready for the celebrations. As they last at least 4 days here the provisions were quite substantial.

After De Lat we went to Nha Trang a nice beach resort. In Nha Trang we went on a boat trip for the day. We went snorkeling (the sea was very clear) and I saw lots of cool stuff including coral, Angel fish, a blue starfish and some fish that swam upright. It was good! It was also fun to jump into the sea from the top of the boat we were travelling on - we got some good pics of that!

After the boat trip me and the girls (Sally, Jess, and and Kate) went to a spa. The spa specialised in mud baths so we all went for one followed by numerous mineral water based treatments (jet spray, bath, shower and swim). It was funny. We all got in one mud bath - which although was made for 4 people was made for 4 Asian people not Western so it was a bit difficult to fit us all in! However, the afternnoon was overall very relaxing and much fun!

A few days later we went to Qui Nhon which happens to be the nearest city to our tour guides home town. As it was still tet, Tan ( our tour guide) invited us to his mums house for a special dinner with his family and friends. It was lovely. We got to his village - which was in the middle of some rice paddys, and were introduced to his immediate family. After quickly being shown around his house he told us that we could walk around the village, and that if we wanted to visit any of the neighbours we could as they were all related to him! They were all cousins, auntys and uncles it seemed! So we went into a few houses - they of course could speak much better English than we could Vietnamese. It was fun.

The dinner was nice too. We all sat on the floor in this really small room - there must have been 20 of us - and ate a feast of Vietnamese food. They all use chopsticks over here, so in the past 2 weeks I have improved greatly in my technique (although I still drop stuff and Tan's mum laughs at the way I use chop sticks)!

Next we went to Hoi An - a place known for its great tailoring. So I went a little mad and got loads of stuff made! Its just so cheap!! I couldn't buy this stuff in the shops for the same price in England! As a result today I went to post office and sent off another box load of stuff - I really am going to have to control my spending habits (the post office was an experience in itself - I had to get everything out of the bag and show the post office people, and then list it by value. I also had to sign a whole load of forms which weren't in English and they wouldn't tell me what they meant - fingers crossed the package makes it home)!!!

Oh nearly forgot.....when I was in the posh tailors in Hoi An (by the way I went to 2 - a posh and a cheaper one) you'll never guess who I saw - Goose from Top Gun AKA Dr Mark Greene from ER or his real name is Anthony Edwards. I was too busy getting fitted to get a picture, but my room mate got one. I just wish that instead of saying "excuse me Mr Edwards etc...." she had said "talk to me Goose". The comedy value would have been much higher! Anway we spent most of the night after that reciting lines from Top Gun - there are so many classics!!

Also in Hoi An we hired bikes and went on a lovely ride amongst the rice paddys. We even saw some boys riding water buffalo (something Jess on the tour kept on missing whilst on the bus because she was always asleep).

Now we are in Hue. Which seems to be a nice place. We have been for a ride around the city on a cyclo and have visited the old palace which was nice. We have just got back from tea now - which was nice.

Tommorrow we are going on a boat trip somewhere to see a pagoda (its a good job I'm on an organised tour really because half the time I don't know where I am going or what day of the week it is).

Also I am being my usual clumsy self here - I woke up this morning with a massive bruise on my leg which I have no idea where it came from. Oh well nevermind. I can't believe how quickly the past few weeks have gone! It will be no time at all before I am on my way home if time keeps passing this quickly!!

Will update again soon (providing I can find a computer with a faster connection!!!).\

Louise x.