So on my way to Hoi An via an 11 hour night bus! Great! has to be one of the most unpleasant trips of my life..so far the bus journeys hadn't been too bad but crammed in the back of a bus with the luggage right next to me sharing a small space with two other people wasn't the best haha! The air con was broken and I happened to be right above the engine next to the toilet! Lets just say I didn't have the best nights sleep and choosing to sit on the back of a bus like the cool kids was an error lol! But anyways arrived in Hoi An...eventually...and met three nice people when I got off the bus. Basically just strolled around the place trying to find a decent hostel and again taking in this cute town we found ourselves in..kind of reminded me of South America/Mexico for some reason..Pretty much all the buildings were bright and colourful and I'm not kidding...all of them were tailors that could make anything! My kind of town! Knew I could get a suit made somewhere haha.

The next day I met up with Joe (friend from Nha Trang) and 7 of us paid for a trip to My Son to see the famous Cham towers..was busy and more of an overgrown field with a few stone towers..I didn't think it was that impressive but then again I have been to Egypt and seen all the amazing temples and the pyramids.. it basically didn't blow me away.. Later that day we rented motorcycles to go on a trip to visit the marble mountains..pretty awesome! Climbed around 300 steps to the top of a mountain to see a beautiful buddist temple..so colourful and so so detailed and delicate..beautiful structures so high on a mountain and an incredible view just made the place special.. At the base of the mountain was loads of shops with owners desperately trying to grab your attention, I went into a shop and ended up buying a marble bracelet for $3 (down from $10 so I was pretty impressed with myself haha) ended up being painted plastic or painted glass..looks like the lady had the last laugh haha! Between the trip to My Son and the marble mountains I also had measurements for a suit. A grey three piece suit as worn by David Beckham! Standard choice for me..When I got back from the trip it was ready!! Crazy! I ordered a three piece suit, and two shirts at around 2-3pm and it was ready to take home at 8pm.. Mental!

The next day I bought my ticket to Hue. Wasn't too bad a journey arriving there at around midday. 5 of us; Joe, Rochi, a nice french couple Thibault and Joanna and myself went to see the Imperial Citidal and ancient capital of Vietnam.. Again was quite cool, a take on the forbidden city in China..there was laughs and some funny photos, but mainly it was just nice to get to know the people I was with.

Still in Hue, and wondering what to do..our hotel recommended a tour to see a cave which was about 4 hours away. Annoyingly the cave we paid for had high tide and so we ended up paying more to see another cave which was apparantly better..Paradise Cave; it had only just been opened to the public and was just becoming a popular tourist spot..it was beautiful and very impressive but not sure it was worth the money and I couldn't help but feel I had been ripped off..returning to the hotel I complained..didn't get any money back but got a free breakfast haha better than nothing! :)

22/12/11 was another travel day! Setting off at 6pm for the longest journey yet..Hanoi!!..took us about 12 hours but learning from past errors I sat on my own next to the window. Sleep, listening to my iPod, playing Monopoly with Thibault and Joanna (ofcourse I won both games!) was enough to keep me occupied haha. Not bad..this time!

We got to Hanoi and made our way to the Hanoi Backpackers hostel on Nyo Huyen road (probably didn't need to know that but I remembered it so I'm putting it in haha!)..they were full so we ended up staying right next door in a place called Viet fun hotel..nice place and only $7 a night. Later that day I met Kirsty, Vicky and Donna and as a big group we all went to dinner. Literally so excited for Christmas Eve!!! Booked on a three day tour around Halong Bay!! Should be amazing!

I'll keep you posted :)