Part 1

We left Hue around 5pm Wednesday by sleep train to Hanoi. the train was very similar to the first train we caught from Ho Chi Minh to Nah Trang. I managed to grab the bottom bunk again which i was happy about, i just cant get on the top bunks on these sleeper trains. Some of us went to the dining cart for a few beers and i noticed that it had the same pine decor the first train had. Some of the guys wanted to order food from the train but i didn't, i took one look at the kitchen and it was horrendous. A Chinese take away in Macclesfield called Ming Yins got closed down for better hygiene standards. When the food came out none of it looked great with the worst being the onion soup. It looked horrendous, the only way to describe it was it was like the contents of a kitchen sink after you cooked a chilli and you get bits of onion blocking the plug hole causing a build up of stagnant water. I watched the guys eat it whilst I had a few more cans of beer before heading back to the carriage for some sleep. Took 2 halfs of the sleeping pills that Ray had given me and then passed out, i had a reasonable sleep but still it could have been better, when I awoke i felt quite drowsy for a couple of hours after.

At 8am Thursday we went for a walk round Hanoi to see some of the sights. The city with it being further north felt a lot cooler, it was 25 degrees at 9am compared to mid 30's, however a electronic display said that the humidity was 95% so there was no improvement on that front. It's all seems a bit unreal as 25 degrees is a really warm day in the UK but I actually felt cold for the first time out here. It was also raining lightly so I took my rain jacket out which is first time it's been out of my rucksack and put it on.

The first place we visited was the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and I found it was ok. The security to get into the mausoleum was really strict, each person had to put their bags through an X-ray and then proceed through a metal detector, there was also a strictly no cameras and telephone enforcement. When you entered the mausoleum itself there were several security guards armed with rifles and bayonets telling people to be quiet. Ho Chi Minh himself is placed lying down in the this glass box with this light shining on him, I think he has similarities to Patrick Stewart. I'm not sure if it was a real body or a wax dummy as for someone that died in 1969 he looks better than some people when they are alive. We were told that every November the mausoleum closes so that they ship his body off to Russia for repair and a bit of a makeover, they must do a good job because if it is a his real body then he looks immaculate. After leaving the mausoleum we explored the grounds of where he lived and worked during his time in charge as president of Vietnam. The buildings were magnificent in architecture and had a French appearance to them. The mausoleum was very busy too, someone said that it was "respect your elders day" in Vietnam so that may explain why there were so many children visiting.

After the mausoleum we took a walk to the Hanoi's old quarter and had a walk around the lake and viewed the Japanese bridge. We bought more tickets to see the water puppets as apparently this is the place to see it. Hopefully it will be more of an art form unlike the puppets we saw thrashing around in the water in Ho Chi Minh city. My first impressions of Hanoi is it isn't as nice as Ho Chi Minh city but I'll give it more time.

I went to see Hanoi's water puppet show and overall it was much better than the shambles that we witnessed in Ho Chi Minh. I would go as far as saying that the show we saw in Saigon was no better than a kid playing in a bath tub with a plastic duck. Hanoi's show was more professionally done, with musicians, vocalists and a narrator telling the story. The puppets were also on a higher level to the battered dolls that we saw in Saigon, the show was also more complex so you could tell that the puppeteers must have some kind of skill.

We leave Hanoi to go to cat ba island in Halong bay which I'm looking forward too quite alot as I see it being one of the main highlights of the trip. After our stay at Cat Ba island we return for one more day in Hanoi and then it's home time. This journey is nearly coming to an end, it feels like I've been away for months due to the amount of activities I've done and sights I've seen. Im also starting to forget hotel room numbers as I've stayed in so upmarket hotels the room numbers are becoming one big blur. Before I came out I was a little worried that I had lost the travel bug and may hate it, but fortunately I haven't and have realised that I still continue to like visiting new places and experiencing new things. This trip was roughing it a bit but overall i thought the hotels weren't that bad. I've already got a few ideas of countries I want to go to see next too. Im not sure if to come back to SE Asia or to try somewhere a little different. Travelling has given me plenty of time to think about what I want to do when I get home, i may even give Internet dating another go, but then again maybe not. I've had an amazing time in both Cambodia and Vietnam and would recommend both countries as a place to travel as the experiences gained are very rewarding. Here are my top lists:-

Best experience - so many to list, sunrise at Angkor, bike ride across the bamboo bridge in Kampong Cham, Ho Chi Minh city, Hoi an, Hue, the people in both countries

Worst experience - shopping in Ho Chi Minh with the girl with no hands, seeing the girl at the last temple at angkor with the burnt face

Most ridiculous thing - watching someone fire and a rocket launcher

Seediest place - prob Sihanoukville

Best beach - some of the beaches between Hoi an and hue

Best scenery - the bus journey along the coastal road between Hoi an and hue

Worst thing eaten - wild boar with little water

Best city - Ho Chi Minh

Scariest moment - bus journey from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh

Hopefully there will be another update before I leave but I thought i would share this with you.