Greetings from Saigon!! my last entry was just as me chick and uwe (our tubing buddy) were about to get aboad the 24hour luxury bus to hanoi. once in hanoi we planned to meet up with 2 of uwes friends from aus and proceed down the vietnemese coast together. lots to fit into this blog and im off out on the razzle tonight so im keeping it brief:

When we left vientiane (worst capital ever!!) we knew that the 24 hours bus ride would be a toughy but with enough beer inside us we could just sleep the entire way. Unfortunetly the bus that arrived to pick us up was not the state of the art air con / dvd showing superbus which we had paid for but was infact a rustbucket which only had fans that worked over a certain speed. to top things off the vietnemese decided that they would turn this death trap into a cargo bus and therefore ramed as many boxes of shampoo into the middle of the bus aisle as they could so that we were all crammed in like sardines. furthermore the little b******s decided that seats on this bus just would not do so they set up hammocks all over the bus so that they could sleep the entire way in peace whilst the idiots who have actually paid are down below and cannot move an inch. we were NOT happy!!

Twenty four hours later we arrived in Hanoi which i have to say was probably on of the best cities i have seen so far. so much is going on here and the atmosphere was not at all what i had expected having been well advised of the amount of hassle people usually get whilst in vietnam. the streets in the old quarter were very compact and hundreds of bikes just pour though in no orderly fasion what so ever. vietnam is certainly not a place i would ever consider renting a bike as the roads are absolute chaos- traffic lights are pointless, the is no right and left and we actually met group of people (always girls) who simply refused to cross any of the roads, im guessing they didnt get far.

We soon met up with uwes friends from Australia, one french girl named margaux and her aussie boyfriend tim. both are amazing people and have been so much fun to travel through vietnam. after they arrived we immediately booked up for the imfamous halon bay cruise. when we arrived we were yet again shocked at the transportation they had sent us but for the first time in asia it was a good thing. we had such and amazing boat which luckily was filled up with mostly younger folk who were up for a laugh. there was also a writer for the lonely planet and washington post but he was more that happy to get in on fun and games so that was cool.

The cruise itself was just as good as everyone says. the scenery is amazing and the guides we had were extremly friendly and informative. my favorite part though had to be the swimming in the china sea (especially at night). after dark when you dive into the water all of the algae starts to glow as you go through the water. our only problem was when a couple of us swam abit to close to one of the other boats and our captain immediately put on his lights and screamed for us to get out of the water. apparently we were in danger of getting shot because other boats in the area are affraid of getting robbed at night...some information which would have been handy considering the boat was about 20ft away from where we were swimming.

Cruise over we made our way down the coast of vietnam. On the way we stopped at Hue, Hoi An, Nah Trang and finally Saigon. Hoi An was probably my favorite as it was such a small city which was supprisingly clean and well decorated. Here we also celebrated uwe's birthday which involved dressing up like the cliche tourists and each having a drink for every year of his life, he's 27. most made it about three quaters of the way although it was only uwe himself that went the distance, a very good effort indeed. Nah Trang was also another beauty if only for the beaches. it was only when some little b****** nicked my camera that i decided it was time to go. anyone planning on going to Nah Trang you should never take out valuables as i met a ridiculous amount of people who had been robbed whilst there.

So now we are in Saigon and have just finished a day of visiting museams etc. its horrifying to see some of the displays on show here concerning the american war and is a real eye opener (even if alot of it is national propagander). tomorrow we head out to cambodia which we are forced to do as quickly as possible because the time of the full moon is approaching. we also say our goodbyes to uwe, tim and margaux but only for a couple of month as uwe has very kindly offered us his flat in sydney from nov-dec as he finished uni and does not need it. apparently his rates are very cheap as its a student flat so that is sweet for us. next update should be from bangkok in 5 days or so.

p.s carter can you send me some pictures of the sort of watches that you want cos i'll be in bangkok to get em in less that a week