Its been a while since my last blog entry. There really is so much to tell, everyday has its own story with sights or incidents but I would literally be writing every day. So I really will only touch on the places visited. 4 days after James's suprise departure I left Luang Prabang (Laos) and headed for Hanoi (Vietnam). In total I spent 10 days in Laos but intend to return and do more of the south and other regions I missed. Laos is an amazing place and I would recommend it to anyone. (Except James as that seemed to be the turning point for his return home??!) I absolutley loved Hanoi.. It was great. Spent longer there than I anticipated. I went out to Halong Bay from there. Halong City was not much to write about, but the bay was amazing. I spent a night on board a boat after a day sailing around the limestone peaks rising out of the ocean. Also did kyaking and swimming around the boat. (I'm not sure how clean the water was cus I had a real bad cold for two days after the trip.) Spent a night on Cat Ba Island which was beautiful. I even had a game of badminton with the locals. I lost the first game but I had my excuses ready as I was playing in bare feet on a gravel court with my camera and wallet in my pockets which made bending almost impossible.. and he was in trainers and had a really good raquet. From there I went back to Hanoi for another day. The guide (Loan) from Halong Bay took me out for the day. In the morning we bought a cake and wrote the words of a song we wrote on the bus back from Halong Bay. It was the Bryan Adams song Everything I do. We reworded it to "Look into my eyes, you will see my pupils"... It was funny at the time and I think we will have a big hit with it.. I am still working on the rest. After shopping for a bikini all morning (For Loan not me) we headed to the water park.. where we spent 6 hours in the pools/slides/wave pool etc. It was a great day even if I was a bit wrinkly. From there I headed to Ninh Binh (3 hours south of Hanoi) Around here was Tam Coc which was like Halong bay but without the sea. Limestone peaks rise from the rice fields with the river snaking around them. Absolutly stunning. The pictures don't do it justice but you will see what I mean. Just stunning. I then stopped at Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Mui Ne and then onto Saigon. Hue had a huge Citadel on the North side of the river and I spent my time here visiting tombs and pagodas. I arrived in Hoi An for the moon festival where everyone came out on the streets with live music etc. Hoi An is known for its tailoring so I had some shorts made and some linen trousers. Also found a nice beach where I spent alot of time chilling. Nha Trang was more touristy but the beach was good and more bars. Went on a boat trip around the islands and met some cool people. There was a live band on boat which involved a 10 year old boy on a drum kit that looked about 20 years old, and a man on an electric guitar and a singer.. The one song was just the words VIETNAM, VIETNAM repeated over and over. We did snorkelling then they threw a ring into the water tied to the boat with drinks in it for a bar and we floated and drank in the sea.. Great!! this continued back on the mainland in the bar where I drank ate and played pool.. I had to extend my time there by 1 day due to the hangover. Mui Ne was pretty much a strip of beach with resorts on it for 6km. I however managed to find the one guest house that the tide never went out far enough to see the sand!!! Annoyed. But met Jeff an Aussie guy who had a bike. We both went out to the sand dunes and did sand surfing with a load if kids following us.. then found a beatiful deserted beach to swim and wash the sand off. Then walked up the red river to some waterfalls which were amazing. I am now in Saigon. Just been to the war museum. The pictures show what the Americans did and I actually felt very angry and sad for the Vietnamese people. Pictures of children shot. During the war the Americans used 14 million tons of bombs and shells, more than 70 million litres of toxic chemicals (44 million being agent orange) The vietnamese are still living with the effects of this today. Tomorrow I am heading to the tunnels the Viet Cong used and you can go on a firing range and shoot the weapons used. However much I disagree with the killing of millions of innocent villagers etc I must fire an M16. After that I am heading up the Meekong Delta into Cambodia. I have loved my time in Vietnam. And I am sure I will return when this trip is finished. Other than getting hassled to buy something or have a lift on the back of a bike by people every 5 minutes it is a great place and the people friendly and scenery stunning. Laters will try and update after Cambodia.