Sing Chao! Not sure if thats how it is spelt but it will do. Hope everyone is well, the last few days have been awesome. This blog will be used for all our travels on the Best of Vietnam & Cambodia trip and i will update it as often as possible.

Day 1- Our trip kicked off Sunday evening when we met the group we would be spending the next week or so with. They are all a good laugh and we spent the evening at a great traditional Vietnamese restaurant at the very top of a house looking over the city, the food was lovely. We hit the sack around 9:30 because the next day was to be an early start.

Day 2- We had to be downstairs at 6:30am the following morning which I in particular struggled with. We had a lovely breakfast at a restuarant called Koto. All proceeds of the restuarant are aimed to benefit someone from a village someplace in Vietnam, I wasn't listening at the time because the fried sausages were staring at me. It was all English breakfast stuff and was much appreciated after all the noodle soup we have been eating. After breakfast we took the bus to Halong Bay, the drive was around three hours and we stopped to check out some paddy fields and chat to locals on the way. We reached the bay and it was unfortunately pretty misty but nature would have had to do much more to dampen spirits. We had a fresh seafood lunch on the boat as it left the harbour and headed into the bay. Halong bay is immensely beautiful. Me, Pat, Pierre, two others plus our leader Hai went out on kayaks for only $5. We went under the rock formations where there were gaps and finally reached a enclosed lagoon hundreds of metres high all around, we couldn't take cameras in fear of getting them wet but it was inspiring. We then paddled back to one of the only islands with a beach and Pierre capsized our kayak so we all went swimming. This was apparently crazy as although it is Vietnam's winter the water was warmer then i have every experienced in Guernsey, Vietnamese and Korean's arrived in flocks to laugh and point at the only people swimming in the bay. I forgot to mention before we went kayaking we checked out the Amazing Caves, this is there real name. The caves were very impressive and we got two awesome snaps at the top of the island. After all this we retired to the boat for the evening and enjoyed another seafood meal, played some cards and drank some beer before bed.

Day 3- We were up around 7:30 as we watched the boat drift into the harbour and then took the bus back to Hanoi. After our bus ride we were given a free afternoon which we made excellent use of. We first walked to the Lake of the Restored Sword and explored the sanctuary in the middle. We then watched the water puppet show. I got a picture but this is not enough to demonstrate how boring it was, we left 20 minutes in. We then had a lovely meal in a restuarant that we found by pure fluke called Little Hanoi, it's very famous with travellers. I had sweet and sour pork which ain't that exciting but was the best sweet and sour i have ever had. After this we went for a couple brews with these manchester lads and and a canadian guy we met, they had done all south-east Asia and we got some much needed tips. Tehe overnight train left at 10:30 and we spent the evening finishing the rice wine and listening to music. Was a good laugh, the best bit was seeing Hai (who was bought up on rice wine) nearly throw up after two shots.

Day 4- We arrived in Hue about 10:00 and against our best efforts to eat a balanced diet Pierre had contracted Delhi Belly and had thrown up many times in the night. He is still sore now couple days on. We had a break for a while, our hotel was nice. We spent the afternoon exploring the Imperial Citadel, which was pretty wicked. We got some cool shots, one of me taming a lion from behind. We then checked out the local market and headed back to the hotel. I was disappointed with the evening, we went to a restuarant where they dress you up as royalty and feed you an 11 course meal for $11! I know thats not much to you Brits but i think i most I have spent at a meal for food and drink is $3. I didn't eat all day in preparation and the food came and it was like one course= one prawn, one course= one crab cake etc. I was unamused. After was wicked though we went to the DMZ bar and with long necks for 30p i was laughing. We played some pool then went home early cause next day was a biggin.

Day 5- This has been my favourite day exempt Halong Bay. We got up early and got a ferry (if you an call it that) across the Perfume River. Then quickly looked at this pretty cool Buddhist Monk place and then got on motorbikes for our all day tour of Hue. I wont bore you with details but me and Pierre had two drivers who were always racing at the front and Pat had some slow coach who was at the back of the group. We went to the tiger elephant arena, the Tu Duc Tomb, a monastery, some hold artillary base and had a veggie lunch at the nunnary before heading into the countryside to check out how rice is made. Each stop sounds like a school field trip but it was all well interesting and the lady making the rice was NUTS! In the picture i took of her she was singing at the top of her voice, I was gone with laughter. In the evening we headed for a proper burger and chips just Pat, Pierre and me. This was in an attempt to heal Pierre's stomach. Then we headed back to DMZ for a lot of drink this time, me and Pat got back about 1am and walked past the hotel a couple of times because it was locked. We had to shout drunken Vietnamese through the door to wake the porter up.

Day 6- I was rudely awakened much to early and we had to pack and get to the bus in warpspeed. We were driving to Hoi An and the trip took four hours. We passed some Jurassic Park like scenary on the way and i got to touch a buffalo. We arrived at our hotel and its the dogs, pool and everything. The best we will stay while we are away no doubt. We had an orientation walk then me and the guys rode down to the beach and played football with locals, we then headed back up and met Hai. He took us to the Hoi An football pitch where we played against more locals. I then went for a swim to cool off and then got ready for the evening. We handed in lots of laundry so i had to continue wearing the same clothes which sucked. We headed to the banana leaf cafe for our lovely meal, I can't remember what i had cause it was three days ago but i ensure you that it tasted fantastic. Hai then led us up to the main bar in the town, Pierre and I quickly swept the competition of the table, over here the pool is pretty sweet. Its free and every bar just has a big blackboard where you put your name down and it's all just one big winner stays on and people chalk up how many games they can stay on the table for plus I met these American students studying in Vietnam and also some French Canadian guys, they were all pretty funny. I had a lot to drink that night and got addicted to the pool so stayed until about 2am and regretted it the next morning.

Day 7- This day was an early start and we headed straight to the local bicycle renting stall. We all rented bikes and went to the orphanage. My intial thoughts were that i didn't sign up to this giving to the community crap but it was actually okay. The normal kids were all fun and very happy to interact with other humans, one of them had an obsession with my nipples. After this we went to the room where they keep the disabled kids. During the Vietnam war the Americans irresponsibly used a toxin known as Agent Orange in their bombings, the effects of the toxin still cause suffering to millions of Vietnamese today. In the room were kids whose mothers were exposed before birth, it was pretty horrible and i couldn't stay in the room long. I nearly threw up at one point, Pierre showed me a cot and inside was a babies body with what was literally "on my life," a head as big as a size five football, this was a syndrome i found later called malformation of the brain and is caused by Agent Orange in some cases. It made everyone feel pretty helpless and i left shortly. After this we rode to the countryside, high fiving all the kids on the way, we reached a boat and we all put our bikes on the boat. We were taken to a private beach and had a bbq of pork, shrimp and eggplant. It was tasty, after we were taken back to shore and rode home. We relaxed and watched a film then left the hotel for what was an inspirational cooking class. It was very funny and i can now cook the following dishes; spring rolls, papaya salad, fish in banana leaf and some shrimp thing, its all up here! We checked out the same bar for a bit after and then were taken to a "beach party." Major let down, we left the most buzzing bar in Hoi An and were taken to a small bar near the beach and once the six of us walked in the total number of people went up to eight. Still there was a pool table and Portsmouth vs Chelsea on TV, final score was 1-1. Defoe scored on his debut. Taxi's were taken back to the hotel and we all crashed out about 1am.

Day 8- This day we flew out of Hoi An about 10am to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh, the economic hub for Vietnam and the should be capital. The view from the plane of Vietnam jungle and countryside was beautiful. We checked in the hotel about 2pm and went to a local cafe for lunch where Bill Clinton ate in the year 2000. After this meal we all got on cyclo's, a sort of chair attached to a push bike and were given a guided tour of the city. My driver was wicked and he taught me many new phrases such as Chuc Mon Nam Moi, Happy New Year. I got some cool pic's and we stopped at the war musuem. I realised when we arrived that i knew nothing of the war between Vietnamese communism and America having never study it at school or taken a great interest in it. I spent the next half an hour learning as much as possible. What was particularly interesting was the Vietnamese torture methods and the effects on toxins used by the Americans. over 10 million tonnes of bombs were dropped in Vietnam over the space of so many years. In the evening we rested till 7pm then headed to a massive food court in the middle of Saigon. They are renowned for serving crazy food. I personally ate frogs legs with curry which was lovely, I got to try Johns scorpion, Pat's crocidile and wait for it....Pierres beef PENIS! It was all wierd but edible except Pierres. He gave me the end and I urged about four times but ate it.

Day 9- This day was very cool. It was an early morning start and we got in a bus to head for the Cu Chi tunnels. These were a vital cog in Vietnma winning the war over the Americans. The tunels ran for kilometres and had many levels for sleeping, fighting, eating and making weapons. We had a local guide take us round the tunnels and at the end we got to go on the range and Pierre, Pat and I purchsed AK-47 bullets and it was incredible. I think its impossible to anticipate the noise and the power without actually being there. Apparently somewhere in Cambodia you can kill a cow with a bazooka! Also the best bit was at the end you can go into a tunnel which was actually used, I was a little bit claustrophobic but i made the whole tunnel, 100 metres and at the end we had to get into almost camel crawl position. It was an experience. After this we drove t the Mekong Delta which is where the Mekong river meets the sea. We had an incredible seafood lunch on one island then went on land to see the cocnut sweets being made and the bee keepers, i stuck my finger in a hive surrounded by bees, was well scary. The honey was worth it though! We then went further into the jungle and met some canal boats who took us through tiny canals back to the main ferry. It all looked like something out of Apocalyspe Now. That evening we had our final meal with the group which was lovely, then went to the Blue Gecko bar for lots of beer and pool, we had a wicked night and Pat, Pierre and I stayed till closing time.

Day 10- This day was a much needed rest day. We were let down in the morning when we tried to go to the water park but only to find it had been closed because of a three day festival called Tete and also for Chinese New Year. So we headed back to hotel and met Hai on his way out. He told us about a hotel where you can pay to use there facilities and its not that expensive. We got a taxi there and had a one hour massage and spent an hour by the pool on the roof in the baking sun. During the evening we met our new group. There are a couple of fruit cakes but two aussie guys our age who are gonna show us the nightlife in Brisbane if we ever get there. The meal was mexican food and a nice change, after just me and the guys went bck to Blue Gecko and played some more pool.

Day 11- In the morning we left by bus to Saigon. The bus trip was long and bumpy and half we there we had to cross the border which took ages and was very hot. We arrived in Phnum Penh after midday and Pierre, Pat and I went to the temple which is one of the highest points of the city and is how the city got its name. There were disabled people and beggars everywhere but the temple itself was really impressive and we saw a monkey. The evening we had a group meal at a restaurant that sends all proceeds to local charities. The food was great and i had a Cambodian curry. After we just shot some pool and checked this bar on a boat. It was fun.

Day 12- This day was both depressing and informative. In the morning it was an early start and we went straight to Tuol Seng prison. A school transformed to a prison during the Khmer Rouge. The area was used for imprisoning, torturing, raping, interrogating and killing innocent people who were believed to be against the regime. After this we went to the Killing Fields which is a shrine and a series of mass graves all used to bury literally thousands of peoples. There are many killing fields throughout Cambodia. The fields were very moving and made me question human empathy. It was very shocking. In the afternoon me and the guys went to the Royal Palace, it was all pretty but after the intensity of the morning we couldn't be arsed to explore every nook and cranny so we went and got a pizza. The evening was wicked, we went to some random blokes house where we eat in his little house on mats and we each made five dollars and he bought out the most ridiculous amount of food i have ever seen. I also got to eat tarantula which was very cool and tasteless.

Day 13- We flew out early for Siem Reap, the flight was dodgey and the plane looked ages old but we touched down okay in the end. The afternoon was an easy one by the POOL!! Its so great having a swimming pool, it is so hot here especially around midday. The evening we had a great meal on the mainstrip where there is loadsa bars and restaurants. I had the local Amok fish and in all honesty it was one of the tasty meals i have ever had in my life. In hung out at the Angkor What! bar after but not to late cause the next day was an early one.

Day 14- 6 o'clock in the morning we had to be this day but it was so worth it. Not many people get to say they have the sunrise behind the ancient Angkor Wot temples. It was so incredibly beautiful and inspiring, i felt like i wanted to write a poem or something. We spent the morning exploring the temple which was just as incredible. After we moved onto the temple where the royalty lived, you would recognize the photos had my camera not ran out of battery, its the temple with four heads on each pillar. This was really cool and after we stopped for lunch. In the afternoon with my camera fully recharged we headed for the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed. This temple has been left and untouched for nature to take course and the trees coming up through the buildings was really nice. This was by favourite temple. In the evening us and the aussie guys got smashed, we had some beers at the hotel then went for a $3 all you can eat BBQ. We got to the Angkor What! bar around 10 and had buckets of whiskey, Coke and Redbull with literally half a bottle of local Mekong whiskey inside. We tried to go to a club after but everyone was so drunk we just got tuk tuks back to the hotel about 2am.

Day 15- We missed the floating village in the morning cause of the hangover but apparently it was rubbish anyway. I just laid by the pool and had some sandwichs for lunch. About two we headed out to see more temples. We saw a cool one right in the forest and the oldest temple in Angkor which was also really amazing, it was all faded and crumbled in parts but some bits had been rebuilt. The evening just Pierre, Pat, Sam, Dec and myself went out for some curry then a couple of beers. We were still feeling sore from the previous evening.

Day 16- We headed out about 10am to Battambang, it was the bumpiest bus journey i have ever been on but was very funny. The day in Battambang was really interesting, we had a motorbike journey around the countryside and saw how rice papaer and sticky rice cakes are made. Also we did a bamboo train ride which was a great way to see the cambodian plains. In the evening we had a meal at one of the two restaarants in the town and then took some beer back to the hotel and played cards.

Day 17- This was our last day with the group and we left for the border about 8am. The train ride was rough again and the border was boring. We arrived in our lovely hotel in Chinatown about 5pm and we just chilled out and watched the sunset over Bangkok which was incredible. In the evening we had a nice meal and went to a bar literally on the pavement and then went to play pool at this awesome travellers bar/club.

Day 18- This day we made the most of our buffet breakfast and said our goodbyes. Then took to the streets of Bangkok on our own........