Jumped onto a night bus outside guest house which was heading down to Nha Trang. However prior to heading back down as far as Saigon we decided to stop off at a small town couple hours south of Hoian called Quang Ngai. I managed to doze off on bus whcih as before was a fully reclined seat. I was thyen rudely awoken a couple hours later by the feeling of what I can only describe as my stomach falling out of my arse. What made matters worse was the fact I had only put on a pair of loose shorts as all my underwear was in a state of despair from lack of washing!! Not five minutes after this event had taken place did a guy at front of bus yell out 'QUANG NGAI' 'QUANG NGAI' we were on a tourist bus whcih meant everybody was a white boy or girl heading to the major destinations and Quang Ngai was therefore not a regular stop. It appeared we were being dropped off at the side of the highway in the middle of nowhere, so needless to say everybody was looking around to see what crazy people were exiting the bus here. Great not only do I beleive I may have just sh1t myself but now I have a horde of unwanted attention. We both headed off the coach (me in a state of greater haste then Darren) and were pointed in direction of a guest house. Given it appeared to be the only building on this main road it was going to be our only choice for sleeps in this area of town that was for sure. I did a quick touch test and there was definate moisture so we hurried in tried to ask for room but no English was spoken so in broken Vietnamese and action making we were evntually understood. I was straight in bathroom and can report that the dampness was no more then a sweaty crack obtained courtesy of the plastic seats on the bus coupled with the fact I am just a sweaty little monkey. Anyway only my second occurance of potential bowel problems so not bad going (just a shame it always seems to occur on buses).

Went and explored local surroundings that evening and got some food from a local street stall. Headed back for a relatively early night since not a lot going on in this sleepy town.

Next morning grabbed a couple Xe Om (motorbike taxis) to the village of My Lai (My Son) where an attrocious slaughter took place during the Vietnam War. A massacre of 504 civilains took place during the war when American troops invaded the village and dragged out the men, women and children from their huts where they were executed and then the viallge smashed and burnt. The pictures and the remains of the village is a truly moving sight and really does get you thinking. Very surreal to see the viallgers living just outside this memorial which it has now become with a statue showing a mother holding her dead child in her arms with her fist raised to the air in defiance. Spent rest of day after this just wondering the markets and streets of Quang Ngai until we headed out of here to the train station to get our train all way back down to Saigon.

The train station was much smaller then I had imagined and clearly we did not need to be as early as we were as in my head I still had images of the crazy Indian and Chinese railways which were always busy and chaotic. Once on train were in a sleeper compartment with a local who was also heading to the city of Ho Chi Minh. Got chatting and he liked to practice his English and me my Vietnamese on each other. Couple hours in we stopped at a Station where a group of 7 or 8 Americans got on train. Got chatting to one guy from Arizona and he told us that they were all war veterans returning to Vietnam for first time. They were amazed at how much the country had now developed since their time here but also at how welcoming and friendly and accomodating all the people they met along the way were. He told us some stories from his time in war and all of them had scars and wounds as a reminder to them of the war in which they served. Really interesting to talk to him and hear from an American his thoughts on it all.

Now heading back to Saigon where spend a few days with Daz before he heads home and where I can make a decision on what to do next. Its a tough life having open plans and no work to worry about!!