The Mammoth Journey!

A welcome lie in on our last morning in SE Asia and we packed ourselves up for our Odyssey back to Brisbane. We had time for a bit of shopping and haggling around Ben Thanh market and more DVD purchasing. Bumped into the Irish teachers again and arranged to meet up with them for lunch. Comedy moment when a small Vietnamese boy escaped from his mother and grabbed hold of Bronna's bottle of water giving her a major shock and much apologies from the mum!

We got ourselves a taxi to the airport for $4 (Hotel offered to do it for $12!). Saigon airport is a bit strange - old and decrepit and certainly won the award for most uncomfortable seats.

The flight to KL was fairly boring and only took just under two hours. We got off at KL airport and prepared ourselves for our 14 hour wait for the Perth flight. Bought myself a replacement digital camera and got the next model up. Then we killed the next 14 hours drinking, eating and playing pool. We caught the Germany v Sweden 2nd round match too. About 2am we both tried to get some sleep by curling up on some seats (after having locked our valuables away in a left luggage locker). I had my carry on bag as a pillow and put my travel towel over my head and managed to get a few hours of kip. I don't think Dave got much at all unfortunately. I was woken up by a group of Indian man holding a conversation right by my head.

We had breakfast and a few more games of pool and eventually it was time to board our flight to Perth. It was a bit of an improvement from the Saigon - KL flight: we had movies and better food. Five hours to Perth and then another hour through customs and quarantine. We got grilled by customs agents on why we flew from KL to Brisbane via Perth. Apparently saving $500 isn't a good enough reason! My official wasn't too bad but Dave's was evil.

We declared all of our wooden goods and had to queue through quarantine but there was no problem once we had our inspection. Only took a few minutes, which was a nice change! Unfortunately it got worse as we had to wait nearly forty minutes for a bus to take us to the Domestic terminal, and it still managed to drop us off at the wrong end (right end for Qantas passengers though!).

We checked in for our flight and had about a six hour wait so we grabbed dinner and I called Mum & Dad before settling down to read. At one point, due to a three hour gap between flights we were the only people in the terminal. Eventually left for Brisbane just before midnight and managed to catch a bit of sleep on the flight.

Brisbane was a breeze compared to Perth as we didn't have to clear customs. We landed at half five and were at Jamie and Colleen's by sixish just in time to see Coll before she went to this place called w-o-r-k. Not sure what it is. Jamie, being a saint, had recorded England v Ecuador which had happened while we were in the air. Like all the other England games we'd seen it was very dull but at least England won.

Both of us put our heads down for a bit to get some sleep and then had a relaxing afternoon emailing and doing washing.

In the evening we went out for dinner with Jamie, Coll, Chalky, Rowan and Lieze. Really nice to catch up with everyone especially Lieze who was beginning to show a little! (i.e. she's pregnant for those of you who are a little slow...!)

We tried to stay up for the Australia v Italy game and just about managed it but I did fall asleep when the penalty decision happened (as did Jamie so only Dave was awake to see it!!).

The following day Dave and I headed off to the Whitsundays!

The Mekong Delta

A very painful 6AM start for our Mekong Delta tour. Bit of a debacle on collection - there were seven people on the bus when we got in and five were on the wrong bus. We also collected two people, drove around the block once and they got off again. Eventually we were off. About a three hour drive and we both slept most of the way as we didn't have much sleep the night before.

We arrived at the river and caught a car ferry across to the other side. The river was really wide at this point - at least a couple of hundred metres, and we aimed down the river, round an island and then disembarked at a port the other side dodging the cars as we got off. Our guide then took us down a side alley and we boarded a small thin boat and we pushed out into the river.

It was pretty cool cruising down the river, and it appeared even larger from our tiny little boat, especially as there were some really big vessels. We cruised past some fishing boats moored up on the bank and got off at a rickety little jetty and, somewhat gingerly, got off.

This stop was at a place that made coconut candy and we were handed a piece as we arrived. Tasted pretty good although it was hot. They showed us the process of making it from the coconuts all the way through to the finished produce. We bought a bar each as it was only 15,000. We were also given some quite foul tasting green tea before heading back to the boat.

Next stop was our lunch stop and we got a bowl of pho (noodle soup) and then the usual rice, meat and veggie dishes. After lunch we got some entertainment from a girl and two elderly gentlemen who performed various Vietnamese songs for us. The three French girls kept stifling laughter throughout and it was a bit funny as the notes seemed to be all over the place.

We then cruised through some of the canals that spread around the delta like spiders webs. We could see various life along the way from fish traps, houses in the reeds and we even got a little girl to wave at us. We encountered a small boat being paddled towards us and everyone got excited, got their cameras out and started taking pictures only to find out that it was a tourist boat and they were wearing Vietnamese hats. We were to go on these boats too but first was a quick trip to see a big snake which was nothing more than a photo opportunity before heading back to board the canoes and paddled our way out of the reeds to the main river. Well, we didn't actually do any of the paddling ourselves.

We got back into our little boat and headed back slowly up the river to where we started and boarded the ferry to head back. Fairly uneventful drive back and then we had a bit of a rest before heading out to dinner. We bumped into Laure-Anne while we out - she had just arrived in Saigon, and ended up sat with the three Irish teachers, Mike, Laure-Anne, Ben and Scott as well as two Irish guys we'd met on our Mekong Delta trip.

The Cu-Chi Tunnels

Up early (again!) for our trip to the Cu-Chi tunnels just 20km north of Saigon. It took over an hour to get there due to all the motos, then bad roads outside the city.

The Cu-Chi tunnels were where the Viet Cong hid from the Americans while staging their attacks on Saigon. There was a labyrinth of 220km of tunnels with areas to sleep and cook as well as hidden entrances.

We were first taken to see a video (thankfully nothing like as bad as the one in the presidential palace which we only sat through two minutes of before leaving). It was still full of propaganda though.

We then entered the main area of the tunnels. We were shown one of the secret trapdoors that the VC used to escape from the Americans. We couldn't see anything under the leaf litter at all until the guide cleared it away to reveal this tiny little door - only about six inches wide by fifteen inches long. He climbed into the hole and brought the door down over his head. A few other people went down but there was no way Dave or I would have fitted in there. A couple of fairly petite girls got in but one less so petite girl (and she was not in anyway fat) only just fitted in (her hips got a little stuck). We saw a couple of the not-so-secret entrances where they could bolt if surprised. The entrance was still tiny. If the Americans found the entrance and blew it up with a grenade it wouldn't matter as the tunnels led away quickly so no VC would be injured.

We saw a VC trench with tunnel entrances and a typical VC camp. The guide showed us some 'dead mines' which were essentially suicide grenades for taking out American tanks. There was a wrecked American tank in the middle of the forest too. We had a short break by the firing range where you could fire an AK-47 amongst other things. It added something to the atmosphere of wandering round the site because you could hear the firing all over the place.

After this was the opportunity to go through a section of tunnels. The entrance was fairly wide and we all stopped for photos at the entrance. The main section of the tunnel was about 3 foot high and so while it wasn't crawling on hands and knees it was still fairly claustrophobic. Dave didn't help by nicking the torch!! The tunnel went on for about 100m but there was an exit at 30m which everyone came out at except Dave and a guy called Mike who bravely pushed on for the whole 100m. Especially Mike who we'd had to persuade to go down in the first place!!

We finished off the tour with the kitchen area and a taste of some of the roots they ate - did taste a bit like potatoes. They showed us how they prevented the smoke from cooking escaping and being seen, which was by placing a large stone over the whole and thus the smoke escaped in tiny puffs all they way round. The stone was covered in leaf litter which further prevented the smoke (and the stone) from being seen.

We exited through our third gift shop for the day and headed back into Saigon. We met up with a few of the people from the tour including Mike and a collection of Irish teachers in a bar and had a good drinking night. Randomly saw several people from a travels in the bar including Ben and Scott who we watched the first England game in Hanoi with and two other English guys from the same game who's names I can't remember.

Final Destination: Saigon

The bus to Saigon was our last long bus ride and was fairly uneventful except for one girl being sick. She nearly made it out of the bus but threw up on the steps.

We arrived in Saigon at about 6 and headed to the place where we had agreed to meet with Shana and Fernando. Unfortunately we picked up a moto driver and he followed us in and exchanged a few words with the owner in Vietnamese and told us there weren't any rooms left. We found out later that it wasn't.

He continued to follow us around and so we ducked into the next place quickly and said straight away that he wasn't with us. It took a few hours for them to get a room ready but we went to an internet cafe for a bit first then checked in. Dave crashed for a while and I headed out for a walking tour of Saigon.

Our hotel was on Phang Ngu Lao which is the backpacker haunt in Saigon and has lots of small alleys off various streets with hostels, tailors and shops selling all kinds of stuff. Saigon was very active by now and I was getting the usual 'moto?' requests. The road ended at a large roundabout with a statue of Tran Nguyen Hai who is a Vietnamese hero. The other side was Ben Thanh markets, a big old style building where you could buy just about anything and I bought nothing cos I've got no money left. Ok, a little.

From there I wandered up towards the central district (called district 1) and to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. It had a few war remnants in the courtyard including an A-1 and a Huey. There was a wedding going on - well the wedding photos anyway but the museum was still open although I had to change direction a few times to avoid being in some of the happy couple's snaps. The museum was a history of Vietnam with a lot of historic artifacts but with a focus (unsurprisingly) on the French and American wars. I even got stopped by an old Vietnamese guy who wanted his picture taken with me. The perils of being famous!!

After the museum I wandered towards Notre Dame cathedral which was made of red brick and so wasn't that impressive and the main post office which was very impressive. Old colonial style and all that. I slowly wandered back to the hotel and woke Dave up at this point.

After lunch we headed to the Presidential palace which was where the VC tanks crashed through the gates famously in 1975 after the American withdrawal. Most of the palace remains just as it was in 1975. The first floor was mainly reception rooms (different ones for domestic guests and for international guests and they looked pretty much the same. Oh the extravangancies...) Other floors had a games room and a cinema. On the rooftop was another Huey (the Americans seem to have left a lot behind) and two markers from a direct hit by a VC bomber.

We then headed to the War Remnants Museum (previously called the American and Chinese War Crimes Museum). This was on a par with S-21 and the Killing Fields as a traumatic experience. The first exhibition was about the journalists who covered the war, many of whom lost their lives doing so. There were some phenomenal photos including the famous photo of the girl just after a Napalm attack and a family trying to swim for safety. One I hadn't seen before was a plane about to crash.

The courtyard was full of tanks, planes and, you've guessed it, a Huey.

There was another exhibition full of photos of victims of the war - mainly disfigured by Agent Orange. It was yet another harrowing experience and we were very down leaving the museum reflecting on everything we'd seen.

Sitting on the beach in Nha Trang

We had probably our worst bus journey to get to Nha Trang - the only seats left were at the back and slightly raised so that when people in front pushed their seats back it squashed our knees. I was also sat next to a Vietnamese guy who kept falling asleep on my shoulder. We also had an unknown person (no-one took credit) who threw up in the middle of the aisle and we all had to gingerly step over it at the first break stop.

Got a fair bit of sleep though and arrived in Nha Trang at about 6AM. Our hotel was only a block and a half from the bus stop though so it wasn't too much of an effort to get to. Dave crashed and I went for a wander round the place. It was much more modern than Hoi An and sits right on the beach. All the Vietnamese get up early and were already leaving the beach by this time.

We headed down to the beach about lunch time and were finding a spot to sit when we bumped into Shana and Fernando yet again! We've decided they are stalking us. Although technically they get to places before us.

We set ourselves down with them - the loungers and umbrellas are free but you have to buy food and beer from the people who own the loungers.

We spent the afternoon sunbathing, drinking and eating with the odd dip in the sea. We also got chatting to two American guys and a Dutch girl sat next to us.

Fernando and I roped some Vietnamese kids into playing football with us on the beach and found it hard work as instead of just passing it round with fancy flicks and the like they ran around like duracell bunnies making sure that by the end Fernando and I were knackered. For the record, my team won 4-1!

We had dinner with them that night at a fancy restaurant on the beach front. We balked at the prices before realizing they were still really cheap - just a little more expensive than we had been paying!! It was both of our last nights in Nha Trang although they were flying to Saigon the following morning and we were following on an overnight bus. We made arrangements with them to catch up in Saigon and stay at the same place.

The following morning we were up early for an island trip. We were taken to the harbour and there was complete chaos. Thankfully we were guided through it all and stuck on a boat. It was a fairly small boat with benches fixed facing forwards. It had a cover but nowhere to sit up top. There were about eight white people and the rest were Vietnamese and Chinese.

We got chatting to an Aussie girl called Caz traveling on her way to the UK. She had had a moto accident and was sporting some seriously impressive looking bruises.

We eventually got going but then turned around just out of the harbour because we had some people on the wrong boat. Eventually we got going properly and headed out to sea past an impressive looking Cruise ship. Our first stop was the island of something or other, which was our snorkeling stop. After diving off the top deck we spent about forty minutes snorkeling around. It was better than Hoi An although a lot busier as there were a few other boats around too.

We then cruised around the corner for lunch which was a mixture of veggie spring rolls, various squid and pork dishes and, of course, rice! We got chatting to the other non-Asian tourists: an English couple called Chris and Anna, a Swiss girl called Laure-Anne and an older Aussie couple whose names I didn't catch it.

After lunch they got out the entertainment which was a guy on guitars, a guy on home made drums and our main guide singing. He did a mixture of Vietnamese, Chinese and English songs. Because Dave is Canadian (and everyone in Asia seems to know that Canada is part French) we got a French song: a bizarre rock and roll version of Frere Jacques!

Once the entertainment was complete it was happy hour. This was seriously bizarre. It involved our guide getting into a life ring with a crate of wine tied to the boat (the life ring, not the crate) and the rest of us on life rings drinking wine, whilst floating in the sea and trying not to let the current take us away. Firstly, it was the most disgusting wine I've ever tasted. Secondly, every time you got hit by a wave it became part sea water. All of this didn't stop a lot being drunk!! It was amazing we all got back in one piece although when we eventually stood up back on the boat it was with wobbly legs.

Next stop was another island (OK so I can't remember any of the names) which was just a beach stop. Except it had pebbles instead of sand. We hired some deckchairs and after a quick swim (and nearly getting run over by a boat) I promptly fell asleep for our entire stay.

Our final stop was another island whose name I've forgotten which had an aquarium which was made to look like a kind of pirate ship. It wasn't that impressive a place and the moray eels looked kind of pissed off which isn't surprising given how small their tank was. We lost a drunk Caz and found her later wandering around. Chris, Anna, Dave and I almost planned a turtle breakout but didn't fancy Vietnamese prison.

We headed back to the harbour in time to see the cruise ship leaving. More chaos ensued as we disembarked and were met with about forty advertising leaflets, lots of moto and taxi drivers. Thankfully our bus was there to rescue us.

We pretty much had time for a shower, dinner with Laure-Anne and to catch our bus to Saigon and our last stop in Vietnam.

Hoi-An and the My Son Temples

We arrived into Hoi-An at about 5:30 and were greeted by a throng of people wanting us to use their hotel. We had arranged with out Hué hotel (family connections) to stay at a specific hotel in Hoi An and there were two tiny Vietnamese girls dressed in pink waiting to collect us. When they saw our luggage they looked a bit worried and we realised that they intended to drive us to the hotel by moto. It was certainly a precarious ride with my big backpack on my back, holding onto my hand luggage with one hand and the moto with my other hand. Her hair kept blowing in my face and there wasn't anything I could do about it!!

The hotel was just what we needed: two beds, aircon and a bathroom. We showered, unpacked a bit then headed out for dinner and the England game. It took us about 15 minutes to walk to the centre past a million tailors, shoe stores and other various shops. We found a bar called 'Treats' that had a projector TV and were just settling down with the menu when someone said to us "England Sucks" (note: we were both wearing our England shirts). We looked up to see Fernando and Shana sat there!

It was good to see them and catch up. They had had a worse experience with the trains than we had: they caught the 7pm train but it took 18 hours instead of the advertised 12. I think I'm glad ours left at 11. Do the bus next time! Fernando wasn't happy and we learned the Brazilian word for 'Son of a Bitch'! They had only done the beach so far at Hoi An and a whole heap of shopping.

We were up early the next morning to visit the My (pronounced Me) Son temples just outside Hoi An. The minibus collected us and dropped off at the entrance. The group was particularly chatty which was a bonus. We met a Vietnamese American guy called Kevin who was particularly chatty.

When we got to the site we had a complicated arrangement of buses to get in where our first minibus dropped us off outside the site, we crossed a small bridge, then another bus took us 100 metres to the area we were going to start our walk from. Our guide sat us down in front of a big map of the site and pointed out the main temples we were going to visit. They were given the very original classifications by letter.

We walked up into the temple area. The first group was B, C and D. Our guide gave us a short introductory talk. The temples were from the Cham Kingdom which was what Central Vietnam was originally before they were conquered by the Vietnamese a few hundred years ago. The temples were not in good shape and also suffered during the war when American troops used some as target practice. We were then left to our own devices to wander around. It was a shame that we hardly knew anything about them though.

Group A was most interesting as it was the ones used for target practice. We could poke our heads into all the temples. Like the Cambodians, the Cham didn't get round to inventing the archway which gave all the temples a slight run down look, as if they were about to fall over.

We were then ferried back to our minibuses and then returned to Hoi An via the river and a nice boat trip down some river that I have no idea what it was called. We were served lunch on the boat and then we stopped at a village where they made crafts. It was very interesting to see it being made, and the finished products were really good and also suprisingly cheap! We both made a few purchases and then headed back to the boats and headed back to Hoi An.

We had a bit of our own shopping in the evening and had some shoes made specially for scary prices i.e. $10 US for a pair! Wait to see how good they are though!

The following day was another early start for a trip out to Cham Island about 10km off the coast. It was a very weird start as we were the only people on the minibus and then sat on the dock for about half an hour waiting for something to happen. Eventually we boarded the boat with four Vietnamese tourists and we set off.

It took us about an hour to get cross over to the Island but it was an enjoyable journey nonetheless. We arrived at the little fishing village on the island - the only inhabitation there. It was fun wandering around as we only spotted one other white face while we were there. We got to see the villagers preparing and selling their catches - mainly shellfish and octopus, and we even saw a minor fight between two vendors: one a pregnant lady and a guy. The lady won hands down!! We also got to see an ice factory where they produced ice to keep the fish fresh.

Our guide gave us their local delicacy which was a pastry ball wrapped in some kind of fruit. It was pretty disgusting to be honest.

We hopped back on the boat and headed to a small bay for some snorkelling, which was good fun although there weren't too many fish. I nearly got left behind as everyone had finished and was just waiting for me. We then continued round to a beach where we had (unfortunately for Dave) a seafood lunch which was fantastic. Nice and fresh. The rest of the afternoon was spent sunbathing, swimming and snorkelling. The snorkelling was much better here and I saw a conga eel hiding under a rock.

We headed back about half three and got back to our hotel about five. We spent the evening getting some clothes fitted. Kind of weird as they gave us a next catalogue and we just picked out styles. The girls in our guesthouse all seemed to be going crazy over the clothes and coming back with bags and bags every evening! Met a couple in the evening who had beentravelingg for 11 months so far!!

Got up early (seeing a trend here?) to do a bit of a walking tour round Hoi An. It is a fascinating place with lots of Vietnamese architecture. Definitely my favourite place in Vietnam so far.

I wandered down into the centre to the Japanese covered bridge which is very similar to the one in Hue. I crossed over and wandered along the street for about half a mile before heading back for breakfast at a little cafe overlooking the bridge. The architecture of Hoi An is very traditionally Vietnamese including the fact that they all have two eyes above the door which are the eyes of the house. Hoi An is also made more picturesque by the trees with pink and purple flowers.

I headed down to the docks and then wandered along the harbour front which was bustling with boats and stalls. Weirdly, I wasn't getting too much hassle either which was a pleasant change. At the end of the harbour the road turned inland and I came to a Vietnamese market. It was good to be out of the hot sun and the market itself was fascinating. I was completely ignored in here as this was a market for Vietnamese.

I continued to wander round the streets and slowly headed back to the guesthouse to collect Dave and we went for our fittings and to collect a pair of Dave's shoes that needed to be corrected. We finished off the day by playing pool before being collected by bus to head to Nha Trang.

Hué and the Citadel

The train journey down was long and pretty uneventful. The annoying %^*(%(%()% woke us up at 6 with a PM announcement and I still have no idea why. The stewardess then came in to get the Vietnamese family ready for their stop which was Doing Hoi. They got their tickets and a bit of breakfast. I rolled over and went back to sleep.

We arrived at Hué station at about 11 having dropped the Vietnamese family off and had an elderly Vietnamese lady as company for the last three hours. We got a taxi into the centre of Hué, which wasn't far and checked into our hotel which we had selected from Lonely Planet, and was called Phuon Hoang Hotel. It was a little place run by a Vietnamese couple down a little alley off the main road which ran alongside the river.

We checked into our room and then went for a wander to find food. A few guys asked us if we wanted a moto but then one offered to take us to a good place for lunch and take us round the sights for $5 each. I got a good vibe from him and so I hopped on the back of his moto and Dave on another that was nearby and he took us to a place called the Mandarin Cafe. It was a great little place and I had my usual chicken with noodles which is becoming a firm favourite.

After we finished we boarded the two motos, collected some stuff from the hotel and off we went. My moto driver's name was Tri and he spoke passable English. Dave's driver didn't speak any!

We headed south out of Hué towards the tomb of Tu Doc who was the emperor between 1848 and 1883 during the Nguyen dynasty. It was a majestic place set around a lake filled wililiesies. There are tombs there for his wives and concubines too. We wandered round for about half an hour (stupidly in the hottest part of the day) although there were other tourists there at the same time as us.

Next stop was an American bunker. It was situated on a hill overlooking the river and, according to Tri, the VC were literally the other side making it a vital location.

We visited a small pagoda next called Tu Hieu Pagoda. This was only a quick visit as it was a workimonasterytry still. The setting was quite nice - around a small lake and enclosed by forests. Tri even tried to set us up with some Vietnamese girls who were there.

We headed back into the city - across two bridges that had their own moto lane (very narrow though), which were actually railway bridges. We then headed west for a few kilometres to Thien Mu Pagoda, which is an iconic Vietnamese place. It was an octagonal shaped building, although fairly small, with seven sections and stood raised above the river on a bluff. It was easy to see why it was such an iconic building as it looked very impressive and was so different to all the other pagodas we'd seen. It also became central to various uprisings and demonstrations.

The weather appeared about to turn at this point as the wind picked up and there were some nasty looking clouds in the distance over the mountains. Dave was convinced it was going to rain but Tri was equally convinced it wasn't!

Our next stop was Hué's most distinguishing feature: the Citadel. Hué was the capital of Vietnam during the period of the Nguyen emperors and there was a beautiful palace within the Citadel walls - unfortunately destroyed by the Americans. The walls themselves remain and several buildings, and the old town has grown within the walls too.

We entered the citadel through the Quang Duc gate and passed by four of the nine cannons which represented the four seasons, and then across the moat into the main citadel area. It cost us 55,000 dong to get in (about $4US) and we passed through the main Ngo Mon gate.

Once through, we crossed another small bridge set over a pond liliesllies in and were greeted by the Thai Hoa palace which was used for official functions. The throne was pretty spectacular - all gold leaf and drapes. The hall was made from wood and was very impressive.

We walked out the back to the forbidden purple palace of which only two small buildings remained, both of which were effectively museums now although with a few interesting pots and pans in.

We met Tri back at the entrance and drove around the old city with a stop at a display of American tanks and artillery - all captured by the VC during the war - and then past the Tinh Tam Lake which was pretty stagnant. From there we headed out of the city towards the Thanh Toan Bridge. It's about 6km outside the city and it wfascinatingating drive through rice paddies and small villages to get there.

The bridge itself is a covered bridge and when we arrived we found plenty of villagers sitting there hiding from the hot afternoon sun. It was a nice setting on the river and we stayed here a while. There was a couple on the bridge and the girl was getting her palm read. Apparently if she spends $100 she'll make $100.

We headed back into the city and to the hotel and relaxed for a bit. Tri was keen to head out in the evening and take us to dinner. Dave wasn't keen but I was. He took me to a small place where I was probably the only white person for a few km. Beer was 9,000 dong for two litres (which I had to drink most of because Tri was driving). Unfortunately the menu was only in Vietnamese (unsuprisingly!) so it took a while to try and get translations from Tri and we came down to ordering something called Ech - which, from what Tri said, I thought was fish, but turned out to be frogs. Deep fried. Whole. Ate about half of them to be polite. Tasted like crisps to be honest.

The following day was another travel day so we had a lie-in and did some shopping for rice-paper pictures which Hué is famous for. We caught our bus at 2 and headed to Hoi An.

Halong Bay

A very early start but unfortunately no water so showers weren't available so killed time watching the end of Argentina v Ivory Coast. Two people from our hotel were going on the tour too: a Brazilian couple called Fernando and Shana who are, if memory serves me, the first Brazilians I've ever met. We were picked up by minibus and joined four Norwegians (Daniel, Tyler, Hanna and Jeanette), a German (Annika) and a South Korean (Maisy). It was about a three hour trip which was split by a shop with every other travel bus for breakfast and a craft shop.

I changed seats for the second half of the trip and sat next to Fernando and Shana and we talked football all the way there and I impressed them because I've heard of Garrincha (Did you know Garrincha wanted to buy a radio during the 1958 World Cup in Sweden but decided not to because he could only ones that spoke Swedish?).

We arrived at the harbour to find about 80 Junks all waiting. Our guide, Bac (pronounced Buck) sorted our tickets out and we climbed on board our Junk. It had three levels - the bottom was cabins and the middle deck was tables for chatting and eating. There was also a roof terrace with deckchairs for sunbathing.

We had a little dilemma when Bac wanted all our passports and I, and three of the four Norwegians had left them back in the hotel (no-one told us we needed them!!) and this delayed our departure for about half an hour but then Bac 'borrowed' some passports. I never found out my new identity!! We eventually got going and heading off into Halong Bay. Didn't bother us too much as we'd found the Esky full of beer.

It was very nice sitting on the top deck with a beer as we cruised through the islands (there are supposed to be about 3,000!) although I confess that a mixture of the beer, sun and lack of sleep the night before meant I fell asleep. Nice sleep though!

I woke up in time for our first stop which was the Hang Sung Sot Caves (or the 'Surprising Caves' as they are known). They were well lit up but we'd seen plenty of caves on the trip so it wasn't that amazing. Although it did have a rock shaped like a penis which was lit up.

We headed back out among the islands and stopped somewhere (all the islands kind of look like one another) for swimming and kayaking. I didn't have the courage to join in the others jumping from the top of the boat but I was the only one (with Maisy) to take the Kayaks out. I had to teach her to paddle properly but she got the hang of it by the end! We circled the small bay before heading back cos she thought we were going to get attacked by sharks.

We headed to where we were going to spend the night and joined all the other boats. On the way Dave, Fernando, Shanna, Annika, Maisy and I sat up top and chatted. In keeping with Dave's favourite subject content (Famous Canadians) we had to come up with famous Brazilians, Germans (remember Hitler was Austrian!!), Brits and South Koreans. We didn't do so well with South Koreans and my contribution was mostly footballers. OK entirely footballers.

We had dinner about 7 and it was another stretch or starve occasion. Vietnamese spring rolls have been a surprise - have to find somewhere to get them back in Bristol! Unbelievably we managed to get some TV reception to watch the Dutch play Serbia. Annika, who didn't watch the game, reported that there was cheering from all the other boats when the goal was scored!

The following day saw an early start to the morning as the sun was shining in through the window. I sat up on the top deck enjoying the morning sun before Fernando and Shanna convinced me to go swimming. Very refreshing!!

After breakfast (French bread and jam again!) we were dropped off at Cat Ba Island with the four Norwegians. Everyone else was only on the two day tour and was heading back. We said our goodbyes and got packed into a minibus and drove along the concrete causeway onto the island. The causeway snaked its way along an estuary before heading up into the mountains.

The island was like something out of Jurassic Park with jungle and mountainous peaks and it was a fascinating drive. There was the odd settlement here and there. We passed a funeral on the way through. It was a procession of musicians and about 50 people. Unfortunately one of the ladies dressed in black collapsed and we waited while she was put onto a motorbike and driven back to her home. It was a very moving scene.

Our morning activity was a trek in Cat Ba National Park and we were dropped off with another group in the park. We joined an Australian couple (in their 30s) and three 60-somethings (two Aussies and a Brit).

We headed up into the mountains at a fairly steady pace with plenty of stops and eventually reached a ridge with great views both out towards the Bay and also into the island (further reinforcing the Jurassic Park comparisons). This wasn't the peak though and we had to climb down a way and then cut across. This involved a lot of scrambling over rocks and was fairly hard going. Not surprisingly we started to leave the old folk behind and when we got to the fork where one route led up to the peak and the other down, they started to head on down while we aimed for the peak.

The scrambling became even harder at this point and we also discovered some HUGE spiders. I hate spiders. Especially big ones! We came to a false peak but we couldn't find the route further up but after climbing a bit of the way up we discovered it and headed upwards. Eventually we made it to the top. The view was brilliant - a 360 degree view of the island from the forested interior, Halong Bay, inlets in the island and a small fishing village below us.

We headed back down and caught up with the rest of the group about half way down. By this point there was not a single space of clothing on my body not soaked in sweat and it started to get hotter the more we descended. I was not alone by any means!! We reached the bottom and found ourselves in the small fishing village we had seen from the peak. We were herded into a small cafe by our guide for some very welcome cold drinks.

The bus came to collect us and we were worried that there was no sign of our guide or our bags but there wasn't much we could do so we got on and were driven into Cat Ba Town. People were dropped off at various hotels along the way (and then picked up again to be deposited at the right hotel) and eventually we were dropped off at a hotel on the sea front to be met by Bac with our bags.

Had a quick shower in our room, where we discovered that we had only been given one double bed then down for lunch which was an identical meal to every other one we'd been served so far on our trip.

We decided to hire motos and explore the island and managed to get five motos (Jeanette wasn't driving). All our moto drivers drove us to the outskirts of the town, allegedly for 'police' reasons, but we suspect so they could fill up with petrol and make us pay. It was only 25,000 dong though (about 75p).

I remembered how to drive one fairly quickly although my down shift pedal didn't seem to work so well.

Our first stop was the Hospital Cave, which was a cave that had been converted into hospital and living accommodation during the American War. We were given our tour by a Viet Cong war veteran ('Officer!' as he kept telling us).

We climbed a steep stairway to small concealed entrance with a steel door at the back of the cave. This opened up an elaborate network of brick tunnels and rooms including bedrooms, wards, operating theatre, a meeting/singing room (we got a five minute rendition of a song which had the words 'Vietnam' and 'Ho Chi Minh' repeated ad nauseam to the same tune and clapping lots. It was excruiating by the end!), a cinema, a swimming pool and a secret tunnel to where a Gatling gun was mounted. What is more amazing is that the Americans didn't know it was there!

Our guide then showed us lots of pictures of him with various tourists so we had one with him and he made us promise to send it to him.

We continued up the island towards where we were dropped off but forked off towards Phu Long - a tiny fishing village. It was great driving through the countryside and along the coastline.

We passed through Phu Long and went right to the end of another causeway where there is a small ferry that links to the mainland. On our way back we stopped at Phu Long at a cafe which was really just a wooden balcony overlooking the river with small plastic chairs, a cooler and a keg.

We soon attracted quite a crowd as its not a tourist spot and they probably hadn't seen too many white people! Hanna and Jeanette in particular attracted a bevy of admirers who demonstrated with hand gestures what they couldn't in English about how beautiful they were, which embarrassed the pair of them no end. To be fair, they weren't getting any help from the rest of us who thought it was hysterical.

Despite trying to get our beers for free by leaving the girls, they only cost 5,000 dong each. We headed back to Cat Ba Town but couldn't find where we started and went to where we originally got the motos and managed to hand them over to their rightful owners.

On our return to the hotel we managed to get a room change so we had two double beds and a lot nicer room too. It was also three floors lower down which helped considerably.

Dinner was slightly different in that it had a squid dish and a fish dish meaning that Dave ate rice and chips but he wouldn't ask for anything else.

We headed to a bar called the Green Mango to watch the Australia game (although I had no idea that it was on) where I met a guy from Liverpool who had lived in Japan so I was supporting Australia and he was supporting Japan. Thankfully a three goal last seven minutes saw the Aussies home after a joke of a Japanese goal. He wasn't too bothered though because Cahill scored twice and he's an Everton fan.

Yet another early start the following morning mainly due to being woken at 5:45 by a foghorn. The Vietnamese certainly like their horns and were making a lot of noise at that time.

We had to leave early anyway to meet up with the boat to get us back to the mainland and breakfast was bread and jam again. We were collected at 8:20 and driven back through the island to the causeway.

It's all very well organised as everyone was shuffled onto the right boat. WE were joined by the Japanese loving Englishman and his mate who promptly slept the entire way back.

The rest of us sat on top and sun-bathed as we cruised between the islands. There weren't too many 2-days we joined though. We stopped about half way for a swim and, after Tyler jumped off the top deck, I summoned up the courage and jumped. It was only about 5/6m but very exhilarating. I did it a few more times too and we ended up doing tandem jumps for the cameras. I think we did five at the end at the same time.

We then headed back to the mainland although we were sitting inside by this point as the temperature gauge was hitting 37.

We got back to the organised chaos of the port and headed off to grab lunch at a nearby hotel, and all the other groups did the same. The air conditioning inside was very welcome!! Lunch was another identikit meal but Tyler and I polished off the Vietnamese spring rolls between us. They really are fantastic!

The bus ride back to Hanoi was fairly uneventful although the bus driver was one of the worst drivers in Vietnam and that's some accomplishment.

We dropped off everyone throughout the Old Quarter and eventually reached our hotel. Unfortunately they'd bollocksed up our train booking and we were on the 11 train instead of the 7. Allegedly there wasn't a 7pm train. Believe that and you'll believe anything!

They gave us a free room to have a shower and change then we wandered to bar street for dinner and a beer then we headed to the polite pub to watch South Korea v Togo. We saw two of the English guys from the Paraguay match who looked like they hadn't moved!! Chatted to one guy who had been in Hanoi four days and had done bugger all. Takes all sorts I suppose!

The hotel owner/manager arranged for a taxi to the train station and helped us get our bags on board and find our berths. Each cabin had four bunks and Dave and I had an upper and a lower berth.

We were settling in when our cabin mates arrived: two Vietnamese women and a small boy: grandmother, mother and son. I gave up the lower berth for them. We had a duvet and pillow and the beds were pretty comfortable. The Vietnamese ladies chatted a lot but eventually shut up!!

Hanoi

The flight from Phnom Penh to Hanoi via Vientiane was fairly comfortable. I'm certainly getting a lot better at this flying lark, although we had the pleasure of a nice jet-engined Fokker 70 rather than the propeller job of the last one!!

We arrived in Hanoi about 6 and then had our (well my) worst experience with customs. Several flights had landed all at once and so there was several queues. Dave and I got in separate queues but about the same way back. We moved fairly steadily until, with about ten people in front of me, my queue ground to a halt as the customs agent spent about five minutes with one person. She proceeded to do this with every one, and all the other queues sailed forward and I even saw, with about five people in front of me, Dave collecting our bags from the carousel. Needless to say I wasn't in a good mood!!

We taxi-ed into Hanoi and made for the Old Quarter. Our hotel was nothing special but then we didn't plan to hang around too long! We checked in and then immediately headed out because it was World Cup time and Germany were playing Costa Rica. We were directed towards a promisingly named Bar Street and a bar called the Funky Monkey. It was pretty much empty but they did promise to show the football so we had a few beers and watched. The game was good but the bar wasn't so we had a quick look to see whether there were any better alternatives for the England game the following day.

The next day we had a bit of a lie-in before heading out to explore Hanoi. We wandered back down past the bar towards Hoan Kielm lake in the centre of the old quarter and the Ngoc Son (Jade Mountain) Temple. The temple itself wasn't anything special but its location was - set on a small island in the middle of the lake linked by small bridge. It was very picturesque and made even more so by the light rain which was almost ever present during our stay in Hanoi.

We then had an entertaining half hour trying to send a parcel which involved getting various too big boxes and then after having sealed everything in with tape, the lady told me she needed to see everything. Thankfully she then found a decent sized box and wrapped it all up in brown paper for me. Now we just have to see if it gets home!

We headed towards the Hoa Lo Prison (better known as the Hanoi Hilton where American Air Force POWs were kept) but that was closed for lunch so we got our own before heading back. On the way I bought a 'Good Morning Vietnam' t-shirt and also found their international football shirt. I bought them from a delightful old lady who spoke no English at all and we communicated by hand signals.

The prison was a strange contrast to all that we had seen earlier in Cambodia, as although it was obviously a place that seen a lot of suffering, it didn't compare to the Cambodian sites.

Most of the prison exhibits related to the Vietnamese political prisoners held there by the French during its time as a French colony.

This included a large model of the prison before part was demolished for a hotel; two guillotines; examples of a large cell where many prisoners were kept shackled up and a small cell for solitary confinement and, most impressive of all, a section of the sewer used by a large-scale escape (successful too).

The American section was a bit of propaganda overload:

From August 5,1964 to January 24, 1973, US Government carried out two destruction wars by air and navy against North Vietnam. The Northern Army and people brought down thousands of aircraft and hundreds of American pilots. Though having committed untold crimes on our people, but American pilots suffered no revenge once they were captured and detained. Instead they were well treated with adequate food, clothing and shelter.

They showed lots of photos of the American pilots being treated well and the captions were also more propaganda overload. Of course, given the Americans never declared war on Vietnam technically the Geneva Convention doesn't apply (Guantanamo Bay anyone?) but there you go.

The prison was very interesting but it is a shame they knocked so much down.

We wandered back through the Old Quarter and past the lake. Got chatting to two Vietnamese boys about English football. Amazing how much they knew but sadly nothing at all about Vietnamese football.

Packed up our stuff ready for our Halong Bay trip before heading out to watch the England game. We were planning to go to an outdoor cafe but met two guys in England shirts who told us they were going to a place down the road. We ate at the first place (Vietnamese style Lemon Chicken) and then headed over. There was a good 20 English people in the pub and it had a good atmosphere even if the game wasn't.