America.....the land of the free. It's given us some fine things over the years. Democracy, Music, Air conditioning, policing the free world for gratis. However I've realised that without doubt, perhaps it's greatest contribution to the world has to be the Oreo Biscuit (Cookie for my North American Compadres). Yes I have discovered the delights of a this magic food and consuming its chocolate goodness in great quantities. It's almost an addiction. I actually skipped a dinner stop on the bus this week to consume these chocolate wonders. After having nothing but the packet left in my hand after 1/2 an hour, I decided I had a problem and I'm now cold turkey. It's tough but i'll get there.

Anyway, quickly back to the plot. As you know in my last entry I was happily spending time in HCMC avoiding crazy Australians and seeing the sights. However it was soon time to go and on the recommendation of others, I headed up to the town of Hoi An. It's an old town with some fascinating architecture and the like. It's also been awarded Unesco World Heritage Status. What this means is the whole town begins to look really twee and the price goes up for food and acccomodation. Don't get me wrong it's a nice place. My chief complaint goes to the Lonely Planet which, once again is completely over enthusiastic about the place, escribing each monument as "Amazing", "Unmissable" and "wonderful papier mache". Well forgive me guys but it really wasn't my bag. I've given up on that bloody book and decided to head out on my own. Still the place did have a really good beach which was 5km out of the town. As this was the first beach I've been close to since being away, I headed straight out there to work on my Bright White T-Shirt line. Suffice to say that it is now a bright pink T-shirt line and I spent the night sleeping on my front with the ceiling fan on full speed to cool off. Again a warning to Englishmen everywhere to keep T-Shirts on when in the sun. Not pretty.

Vietnam is a funny place. Most countries in this region have one rule about timekeeping. Mostly it doesn't exist and buses are always late. The likelihood that you will leave on time is so minimal that you can usually sleep in for a while before getting up for that early bus. Not so here. The driver for my bus to Hue was banging at my door half an hour before we were meant to leave saying "you go hue today...leave NOW". After hastily stuffing the last of my clothes in to my bag I sprinted after Speedy Gonzales to my bus. Evidently I wasn't the only traveller this happened to as the bleary eyed ruffled haired bodies that greeted me confirmed when I boarded the bus. Blimey. Anyway after that interlude, it was a breakfast of......Oreos (OK I caved, give me a break). Luckily we made it to Hue in only 3 hours.

I met some guys from Quebec (Just a quick point here. Every Candian I've met on this trip has been from Quebec or Vancouver Island. Is there anyone left in these areas as I've met a lot) and we headed out to see the town. Hue is the old capital of Vietnam and like Hoi An is also Unesco. It's also the hottest place in this country and at 36 degrees in the burning sun we didn't make it very far before turning back to our hotel. After sitting under a cold shower for an hour we headed out to get some dinner. The cheap staple dish here is called Pho (noodle soup....various variaties) and we found a restuarant serving this yummy dish and sat down to order. A few minutes after ordering we heard a scream from the kitchen and then saw a huge rat run out through the restaurant. I was glad at this point I ordered the Veggie option as the meat version had evidently just escaped.

One day was enough in Hue so I hastily booked my sleeper bus to Hanoi. At this point I should point out that the sleeper buses here are awesome. I posted a photo so take a look. Needless to say they are more comfortable than the deathtrap molestation hotbeds that I travelled on in India. That was until the trip to Hanoi. Anyway My Quebec compadres had bought themselves a bottle of Whiskey for the trip to knock themselves out for the trip. There was something they evidently were'nt telling me. Well I soon found out. I managed to bag a top bunk on this bus and no sooner had the bus started than I realised why it was empty. It was next to the speaker! Believe me, Vietnamese music is never good but when it's that close, it's just painful. I soon had other noises to listen to though as the lady below me began to vomit every 15 minutes into sandwich bags. She had quite a collection come the morning. Thankfully with an empty stomach she fininshed around midnight and the driver, sensing that people were'nt in Karaoke mood at midnight, turned off the music to.

We arrived in Hanoi and quickly found a hotel (it looked nothing like the picture on the card...another SE/Asia thing) but it was ok and I headed out to breakfast with a chap named Giles whom I met on the bus. It turns out that he is good friends with my cousin Emma and after both commenting again and again that it's a small world we decided to hang out for a couple of days and book book a trip to Halong Bay.

Again Halong Bay is a Unesco sight (they've got bloody loads here) and it's basically a series of islands of the Halong coast with caves and grottoes to visit. The only way to see them is to take a boat trip which is a two day one night affair. You get to stay on the boat too which was cool. We knew we were on a tour straight away when we stopped at the guides "friends" factory along the way. It was a factory that used disabled workers to give them an income etc etc. They have them everywhere here but there seems to be a distinct lack of disabled people working in them. Anyway after that stop we headed straight to Halong Bay. All I can say is that the Bay from a distance is beautiful. The problem I have with it is that having gained Unesco status, it now recieves s***loads of tourists. This means loads of boats, lots of litter and pollution to the sea. The condom by our canoe boat was a real highlight. It was a real shame because the area could be really beautiful if the tour operators were more responsible. Another problem we had was that our guide was so unenthusiastic it was hilarious. Perhaps his only memorable appearance was of him coming up on deck to tell us that a rock looked like a thumb and then b*****ed off again. Thanks...knobend. We were lucky though to have a great group of people with us on the boat and we spent a good night laughing at our inept guides and swapping travel stories.

After the trip to Halong bay it was back to Hanoi to do some sightseeing and relax for a while before going back to Thailand. Hanoi is an awesome city and my favourite place in the country. It has a very atmospheric old quarter which feels very Parisian and as a result Giles, the others and I have spent the chief of our time enjoying a bit of cafe culture and taking in the sites. We found an excellent street bar that does local beer for 3000 dong (10p) so we spent the chief of our time there. Another odd coincidence. Anne, a Swedish woman in our group knows of my Uncle Roger through the British Council in Sweden so it seems the greater Budd family is known all over the wrold. Who knows who I'll bump into next.

Hope all is well with you guys

Stay lucky

Will