Ho ho ho!

Hope everybody had an amazing Christmas, (I heard it might of been a white one?).

So, Vietnam is cold. Bloody cold! Who would of thought that the North can be so different weather wise than the South. My hoody has made an early appearance on a couple of occasions. Still, it's alot warmer than back home!

I spent Christmas Eve on the beers in Hanoi. Stayed at Hanoi backpackers which is a true Ozzie style backpacker hostel with a roof bar and BBQ serving burgers and free beer most evenings! A whole bunch of us headed to Finnegans, (Irish Bar), marching through the rammed streets of Hanoi with our free Santa hats. Was an excellent night made even more amusing by the 8 Kiwis, one of whom was dressed as Santa and insisted on trying to pick up every little Vietnamese kids dressed in baby Santa outfits, (of which there were many!).

It was an early start for most of us since we were leaving for Ha Long Bay at 8am! Again, all in Santa hats on the bus for 3 hours. Was so worth it though, the sun came out and when we got on the Jolly Roger and had our first beer as we were sailing out into the 3000 or so islands that form Ha Long Bay - wow....... I mean seriously impressive. I was blown away. So I spent Xmas day jumping off the top deck of the boat into the sea, drinking beer, kayaking around the islands, into and out of caves, (we actually got out of the kayaks at one point to do a spot of caving - with head torches and everything. Unfortunately couldn't take our cameras as we were crawling through tight spaces and it was wet but was awesome to crawl out of one claustrophobic part this incredibly cave to find a land locked sea water lake with the blue sky above it encircled by these cliffs just rising vertically out of the lake.

Kayaked back to the boat with the sunsetting and was ready for another well earned beer, some amazing sea food and plenty of drinking games with some great people, (including Sophie and Philippa from all the other places I'd been, two top lads from London called Rich and Rick, the Ozzie Party Priest (tour guide) called Dan, a couple of lovely German girls one of whom lives in Brighton, a bunch of crazy Canadians and some more London boys and girls all of whom now know about Tuaca!). Woke up on Boxing Day with a serious hangover on the sunlounger of the top deck of the boat having gone to sleep under the stars surrounded by a city of boats and this amazing scenery...... Took me a couple of minutes to remember where I was! A few of us then headed off to Castaway Islands - another 2 hour boat trip further into this increadible scenery. We bid farewell to those only doing the one night tour and headed off on a smaller boat with Dan.

Although it was not sunny and actually fairly misty, the scenery still didn't fail to amaze. Maybe it was the hangover or maybe the fact the mist but the whole place became very surreal and haunting. Since we were going off further into the islands to a place owned by the Hanoi Backpackers hostel, we were also what seemed to be the only people there. Add to that all the Fish Eagles swooping and hovering everywhere and it was a pretty amazing little journey topped off when we saw the view of the island. Bascially another lump of rock rising vertically out of the water with a tiny stretch of sand at it's base. Just enough for a dining / seating area, some hammocks, a couple of outdoor showers, a kitchen, a few little huts, (basically some raised wooden platforms with bamboo thatched roofs, mattresses and msoquito nets), a volleyball court and a generator. We were met by Anderson, (American guy teaching WakeBoarding) and Henry (studying Adventure Education at Chichester Uni - I'm sure these degrees weren't around when I was at Uni - his placement year was to live on this island and teach WakeBoarding!) who gave us a beer and told us to pick at hut!

Dan and I spent Boxing Day on the water either WakeBoarding or watching Henry take great pleasure in flipping the girls off of the tube!

There was some drama though since a boat turned up with a family who were going to spend the day on the island climbing. There was the mother and father and about 6 kids plus there 2 dogs. The morning was spent on our island before they headed over to the island opposite later in the day. They hadn't been gone long when the little boat came back over and they were asking for some charcoal since one of the dogs was having a seizure having eaten some Rat Poison. Dan let them have some but they were back within the hour asking for a shovel...... Very sad - awful thing to happen on Boxing Day when you are out having fun with your family.

We drank for the poor little mite that evening. More games were played and I introduced everyone to the Grid which was well received!

I was very sad to leave the next day, did not want to head back to Hanoi let alone leave the island after only one day but I had my flight to Hong Kong to catch if I was to make it to Sydney for New Year.

So, here I am. In Kong Kong after leaving Hanoi early this morning. My verdict on Vietnam. I loved Mui Ne and I was blown away by Ha Long Bay. Seriously was an amazing way to spend Xmas. The people are one extreme or the other. They are either the most amazing, friendly and loveliest people you have met or they are rude and stealing your camera or ripping you off. The food can be fantasic, (the street food in Hoi An and the food on Ha Long Bay was the best), but can also be pretty bland, (instant noodles and soup). I think there are parts I didn't get to see since only had a short amount of time such as Sapa, Dalat and the Central Highlands - places not so many tourists go to and the locals treat you less like you have a Dollar sign on your forehead.

I did meet a whole heap of great people though and hopefully, if I play my cards right and keep in touch with them I've got a few places to stay if ever I make it out to visit these places.........

Cards have now been played extensively, with the Grid having finally been accepted! Tuaca supplies running very low after introducing everyone to it on Xmas Eve. 21's does not seem to be so popular anymore but boy have I learnt some excellent rules and games! 'Me Bird' has been alot more outgoing lately and I've realized I need to stop being such a 'flashpacker' and get involved a little more, (declined the dorm beds in Hanoi Backpackers in favour of my own room and am now in Hotel in Kowloon overlooking the Harbour and Hong Kong Island!).

So, stop abusing the free internet and happy hour beers in the bar and go check out the light show in the harbour, (with my new camera............ found a replacement for the one I lost / was stolen, not sure the second hand cheap one was cutting the mustard).

I hope everybody is having fun, enjoying the break and looking forward to New Year. I trust you will all have a good one and I hope to hear about it.

Take care one and all!

Cheers.

Matt.