Vietnam.


When we were having problems at Laos airport we weren't the only ones and we met these 2 Swedish guys who were having a similar problem and so we decided to stick with them and get a cab from Hanoi airport to the city centre. The main difference between Vietnam and Laos was the weather, we left exceedingly hot to enter rain and cold, it was like going home. Our cab driver was a bit of a t*** and ended dropping us off not where we wanted to be, luckily there were a group of girls walking down the road who walked us to where they were staying. Which evidently was where we wanted to be. The hostel we wanted was full so we checked into a hotel for the night and went back to the hostel the following day. We managed to get in and the guy that checked us in was another Henderson, from Australia, believe or not he was a Paul Henderson, I couldn't believe it. The place was great, proper backpackers, free breakfast, tea and coffee and the day we checked in free beer for an hour, could life get any better. Well yes it could stop raining! That afternoon we walked around the city went to a few museums, nothing too spectacular. Walking back to our hostel we bumped into a couple of girls we met in Bangkok who were booked on the same trip as us for the following day.


The trip we had booked was a 2 day one night trip to Halong Bay. We had seen picture of other tours and they looked amazing. The morning we left it was still raining and it didn't lift. But even so we went canoing and got soaked and very cold, then that night we drank alot and played lots of games, learning much about each other with 'Never have I ever', was good fun. Our bed for the night was a little cabin, I was very excited as I have never slept on a boat before, and I slept so well, either from the early start of the amount of alcohol, I'm not so sure. Although unfortunately we didn't get to see Halong Bay in all its glory, actually not much of it at all due to the mist, I still had a great time and met some wicked people, one guy called Chris who we met up with as we travelled down Vietnam. That night we went back to the hostel, I hadn't showered in two days so wasn't feeling too spectacular, but still managed to go out with the people from our boat for dinner. Then back at the hostel it was Aussie guys birthday and the drinks were flowing. Met another girl from Dunmow, but she is a few years older so didn't know her, the Irish guys from Vang Vieng and Paul (from Dunmow) who we also met in Laos. Wandering down the street we all went, loads of people from the hostel wearing sombreos to an Irish bar where more free beer was flowing. That night I had a few too many again and climbing into my top bunk with a random asleep below me was interesting. The next day, our last in Hanoi, we went to the prison, which was where they kept lets of POWs from the Vietnamese war. It was very interesting, one thing I didn't know was John McCane (ran from US president) was captured and kept in this prison. Learnt lots. Was ready to leave rainy Hanoi and head down the coast, where we hoped the weather would be better.


Going down the coast was great fun, met up with lots of people who we had met in other places especially those we were on the Halong Bay boat trip with. One lovely place was Hoi An. It was quite a quaint little fishing village with a lovely beach about 4km out of the town. So we hired bikes most of the time and just rode to the beach, the weather not brilliant but ok. This place is amazingly cheap to get clothes made, but with little space in the backpack I didn't really think it was worth it, now regretting that as they even made shoes! On our second to last day Rhiannon and I were in our hotel room about to go to bed when we realsied we weren't alone, we had a rat in our room. Not too impressed we go down to reception where the only person is a Vietnamese man who sleeps there and speaks to English, so we just had to go back. Didn't really sleep well as a bit nervy then the following day we moved hotels for our last night to get a good nights sleep with no rodents sharing the space.


From here we went to Nha Trang, very tourist beach resort. It was a great place to do nothing. Every day we went to the 6km long beach and did nowt. It was brilliant! Went out in the evenings drank a fair amount and slept all day, could life get any better. Here the weather was fab, so definite tanning moment. We met some Irish girls who I'd met in Laos, one of whom broke her nose on a drunken night by falling off a climbing frame, I believe the lesson of never climbing climbing frames whilst under the influence was definitely learnt.


Next stop on was Ho Chi Min City (Saigon). Much like Hanoi it was a big city, we didn't see much as we were there for only one night and two days. But on that one night once again we went out and drank a bit too much. We met this Aussie couple from Brisbane who were a good giggle and have offered me a place to stay when I rock up there, good times! The worst thing was we had a very early start the following day as we were off on a trip and then leaving the city later that same day. So up we get nice and early and hungover to go to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Basically the tunnels the Vietnamese lived in during the invasion by the Americans. The traps that they set to capture the Americans were brutal, but understandable, and I couldn't believe that people were living within the tunnels. We were able to go through one of them, which I did, nearly backed out as claustrophobia set in and I had a small panic attack, but so glad I did it.


We left Saigon to go to a tiny island called Phu Quoc just of the south west of the Mekong delta. It was a quite a long way out but in my rough guide it looked so pretty I just had to go. So off we trot finally getting there the beach is beautiful and much like Nha Trang there really wasn't much to do but that. So back on the beach we went. At night there also wasn't much to do, we had dinner on the beach and just chilled out, it was nice to have a couple of nights of doing nothing. Whilst we were there there was a massive thunder storm, very impressive but I managed to sleep through most of it, glad it wasn't during they day, because there was nothing to do. We also tried to work out the best way to get into Cambodia from there as it was so close, but the only way we could do it was to go back up to Saigon and across which was a bit annoying but oh well! So that's what we did.