Arrived in Bali after 2 weeks of relaxation. We were a bit out of the "traval mode" we are in before the operation so we well victim to loads of scams around the airport etc. We arrived in Kuta late at night and found a scummy hotel down a dark alleyway for the night. Next morrning we moved into our nicest hotel so far - swimming pool, hot shower, tv with bbc news so we could watch the election (though that only upset us...). Kuta isnt as bad as everyo...

We took a week away from travelling to rest in Hong Kong, where Rob could heal his wounds and put on some much needed weight. However not much resting got done and whilst Rob had double portions of food, his weight remained the same, whilst my weight seems to be expanding by the minute and am now unable to do the top button up on my shorts. However we had a lovely time in Hong Kong, staying with a lovely family with 3 energetic kids, one was so energetic he broke...

After we left Hoi An, we briefly explored Nha Trang, a very western styled city with a huge coastline of sandy beaches. Here we went to two aquariums, went on a boat trip around islands with a crew who were in their own band and played "yellow submarine" in honour of all the English people, the drummer was playing on a home made drum kit made out of bins, they were amazing! We left Nha Trang for Dalat, and arrived right in the middle of its monsoon sea...

We decided to spend an extra few days in Hoi An in order to catch the full moon festival which we though was every month, however on the last day we found out it was just every lunar month, so it never happened and we never got to see the floating lanterns and the traditional dancing and games! However the extra time turned out to be very useful for curing all our shopping needs. Hoi An is the shopping capital of Vietnam, with over 300 tailor shops, shoes shops ...

Have managed to escape the cyclo drivers in order to write this blog. Since arriving in Hue we have been constantly harrassed by hotel owners, motorbikes and people selling art on the street demanding we buy from them! However the cyclo drivers are the worst, we were warned about them from the guide book, but we didn't expect to be chased down the road and even physically pushed into a cyclo. They never seem to understand the term "No thank you!" Howev...