Anna and Heidi Explore

Our second visit to Thailand was to the north. Arriving in Chiang Mai, tired, hot, sweaty, and in desperate need of a remedy for the most horrendous bus journey of our travels to date. We decided not to let ourselves get sucked into the ‘touristy tours/package deals’ and explore the region minus the traveller entourage.

Unfortunately our return to the ‘Land of Smiles’ was marred by the everlasting effects of a Laotian sandwich and Heidi was bed ridden for a few days recovering. Once she regained her strength we wandered around the cities maze of soi (streets) and the huge number of temples on a sort of self made historical tour. Soon enough we we’re templed out and in need of some more countryside so hopped on the local bus for 4 hours to the much recommended town of Pai. Managing to get ourselves a great room in the prime location of 'Mr Jans Medicinal Garden' with beautifully fragrant herbs and many resident frogs. Deciding to hire a motorbike for a few days we explored the surrounding countryside in style, comfort and ease. This comes highly recommended. Heidi took the reigns and I held on for dear life, obviously joking...Heidi is excellent on a motorbike. We made some friends who decided to join our two wheeled adventure so we all set off in search of the areas well recommended waterfalls, natural springs and spa’s. After a few days of Heidi in charge I decided I needed my own set of wheels so I hired my own bike and the two of us set off on our own adventure along the 110 km of high and winding mountain roads to Mae Hong Son. The ride took over four hours and saw us through sun, rain and some of the most spectacular views over the regions countryside. Mae Hong Song is set around the town’s lake and boasts many Burmese style temples, which although similar to other Buddhist temples inside, are very different architecturally from the outside, and very beautiful. We rode up to the sunset spot on the mountain to overlook the city and its surrounding mountains as the sun set, truly spectacular, and it reminded us of Udaipur in India. We had started to feel a little lazy after ignoring the use of our legs in favor of our new wheels but it’s just so much fun!

The following day we set about to find the local refugee tribes who had been set up in camps or villages in Thailand to escape tribal conflict in their homeland and now neighboring Burma. This village was set up as a refugee camp around 20 years ago. The village of the ‘Long Ear’ and ‘Long Neck’ Karan tribes was 14 km out of Mae Hong Son and despite everyone telling us we couldn’t go it alone, especially ‘on those automatic bikes’ we proved them all wrong, and we’re very glad of it as we didn’t want to visit the tribes as part of a tourist group, but as two passers by. An fee of 500 baht was paid to cover the costs of the set up of the camp and protection for the tribe members, and we bought some jewelry and cards to support their crafts. Many of the women we’re selling crafts to visitors and we realised what a tourist attraction the tribes really we’re and the fact we’d come alone, really didn’t matter. We spoke to many of the women who we’re very friendly but you could tell this is not what they really wanted, to be an attraction. We both felt quite bad about being there after seeing how the tribes we’re trapped in tourism to make a living. We did find out a bit about the long neck Karan culture though, from the age of 3 or 4 the young girls start wearing the gold rings around their necks, adding more as they get older, a full set weighs 3 kilos, the bruising it caused on their necks and collar bones was immense. The rings are wound round the necks from shoulder to chin and are not easily removable (and can't be removed for bed etc). Some of the older women had noticeably longer, stretched necks and before we’d visited we’d been told they could not remove the rings as their necks could no longer support their heads because of it...although this myth was dispelled by the tribes women. The younger women no longer have to wear the rings and other tribal clothes but many still do out of choice. The village had a small school with seven classrooms where the children ranged from 4 to 16 and we’re being taught to speak english. We left the village with mixed feelings of joy and guilt.
After our tribal adventure we rode the 110 km back to Pai for a few more days of relaxation before our return to the SE Asian hub...Bangkok.

We decided our third trip to Bangkok should be done properly. No unwanted taxi’s or tuk tuk’s, it was all going to be on foot, bus or train.

We visited the famous 'Wat Po' which houses the giant reclining Golden Buddha, a marvelous site of gold and opal, and outside are many tiled monuments filling the temples courtyards. We also tried to get into the Royal Palace and to see the minature Emerald Buddha, but turned up in inappropriately revealing clothing...shorts and t-shirts, so we had to cue for sarongs and long sleeved shirts! And when we got to the gates we realised we’d forgotten the memory card for our camera! So we ventured onto Chinatown. The next day we met Anna's Dad’s friend for dinner, he took us to the famous Cabbages and Condoms for some traditional Thai cuisine, then onto some bars for some Bangkok style entertainment!

With under two weeks left in SE Asia we’re having to move on pretty quickly now, so off to the train for an overnight journey to the Malaysian border, (through the sometimes unrestful separatist southern region). Joy fills us as it always does before a long and probably eventful journey!!!

And indeed the train journey did deliver it's own charms. Sadly we had to get the air-con option as they we're the only one's left - maybe some luxury is allowed?! Bangkok to Hat Yai was uneventful and maybe even categorised as mundane by comparison, but uniquely there was sleep involved - thats a new one! We had to change trains to head east on the local connection for 4 hours. This train was heavily guarded by machine gun wielding army officers marching up and down the carriages, in-case the separatists attacked our train, even though we're cruising along with every window and door open - easy targets? They did chill out somewhat and we we're able to score a few cheeky snaps of them sleeping too!

See you in Malaysia! xx

So Laos...first stop was the capital Vientiene, and considering that, it was very quiet and peaceful, the quietest capital city to date. The accomodation wasn't up to much and it was pretty pricy but the city itself was worthy of a good stroll and time enough to sample all the great cafe's and bars (although Laos is pretty strict about its midnight curfu)! We're visited a few temples and the Laos homage to the Parisien 'Arc de Triomphe' made from concrete donated by the Americans with the purpose of building an airport runway! The Arc is much better - despite its gaudiness. This was enough to satisfy any ailing historical/culture hunger at that point!
Sadly we only had one night to enjoy Vientiene's delights as it was onto Vang Vieng for some much awaited 'tubing'. All over SE Asia, right from the beginning of our travels here, we've been asked "are you going to Laos?...agghh...you have to go tubing!' And so off we went. Vang Vieng is a small town made up of a few roads and the Nam Song River, sadly all the bars play 'friends' and 'family guy' on eternal repeat but if you tired it helps to while away an hour or so! Tubing itself consists of renting a rubber ring and getting a lift 3km up the river so you can cruise back towards town on the river at your own pace and visit as many bars along the riverbanks as you so desire! Since rainy season was definately in full flow the river was a raging torrent of muddy water and getting into the bars was pretty tricky work. As the current was so strong you always needed the help of a fishing line style device to be thrown out to you and then pulled into the bars...and once out of the rings the beer and vodka buckets we're flowing. We started our first tubing adventure early afternoon so the vodka buckets hit you pretty quick and from then on its a frenzy of mud volleyball, mud table tennis, mud slinging...and thats all before you even get to the mud bar! There you can dabble in much more of the above and of course, mud baths. Heidi managed to convince Anna that a go on the swing rope to plunge into the strong currents was a good idea, so we climbed the steps and hung about seven meters above the river on a little wooden platform...regret has already seaped in! Be both grabbed hold of the bar trying to fix our grips and lept off the platform...as soon as Anna's toes felt water her weak attempt to hold on was all over and she plummeted with a slap straight into the water...and had the bruises to show for it! But Heidi being a bit more gracefull managed to hang on enough to swing through the air a few times and drop into the river of her own accord. Almost immediately swept away downstream it was a mad struggle to get back into the bar and collect our beers! After a good long afternoon of bar hoping along the river with drinking and dancing we braved out way back out into the water for the long cruise home. Unfortunately the beer clouded our judgement and we didn't leave until it was dusk, and after a twenty minute sail home it was pitch black which made deciding on our exit point much more difficult! Heidi made it to the right side of the left fork - and yes that was tricky to remember...but Anna had been swept to the other side of the river with a few others and so had to navigate an alternative exit in the pitch black of night, not an easy task and one that left her scratched, bruised and pretty scared and worn out, and she nearly lost her rubber ring. Meanwhile Heidi is sipping buckets in the Sunset bar...hmm!
We gave ourselves a day to recover and then hit the river for another day of tubing...it's the most surreal experience we had to do it again!
Next stop, Luang Prabang. The largest and therefore central point in the north for trekking and, well trekking, the beautiful rolling Laos landscape lends itself to this activity without question, only thing is, since it's rainy season and we'd been warned of the local leaches about 2 months ealier we decided to skip it. Instead we enjoyed the beautiful mixture of French inspired architecture with quaint shutters and many european bakery's, needless to say we relaxed her for a whole week, getting massages and lots of reading done. This was the height of our SE Asian inspired relaxation, or was it lazziness?

The perpetual daily rainfall eventually told us to get up and move on, we evaluated our options to get to Chiang Mai, or at least the Thai border.
Option 1: 2 days, 1 night Slow Boat, upstream.
Option 2: 14 hours overnight on the public bus.
We thought we'd get in over and done with on the bus, plus overnight saves a nights accommodation! The best choice all round...or so we thought!
When we arrived at the bus station and got our bags on the roof, we got our tickets, '49(chair)' and '50(chair)', hmm, buses don't normally have 50 seats do they? We checked it out and apparently the '(chair)' actually means a chair...as in a plastic picnic chair in the aisle...what?! 14 hours overnight, winding round the mountain roads? We had a little huff and realised it was probably our turn for such an event, despite hideous journeys we had been pretty lucky to date. We made our peace with the situation although the 'feeling so sorry for you' faces from the other travellers didn't help! Apparently sleeping wasn't an option on this bus anyway, every time we turned a corner (about every 5 minutes) our chairs lifted off the floor, but at least no-one else could sleep either - the driver had the cheesy asian pop/love songs blaring out a full volume all through the night! Thankfully, once off the bus our transit over the border and the river into Thailand and then onto Chiang Mai was pretty smooth, and we even got a sleep in!

Woo, we're writing this with some delay to the events but as I'm sure you can appreciate finding the time is sometimes tricky considering all the adventures we're having! So, where we're we? ...Of course it wasn't all plain sailing from Siem Reap to Bangkok...what we thought was to be a five hour bus journey turned into ten hours because the Cambodians stopped at every restaurant or shop along the way...literally! The bus was packed and everyones massive rucksacks were pilled up along the back and down the central aisle, meaning that when we stopped every half hour the entire bus had to clamber over the bags and seats for some fresh air and a much needed leg stretch. And then most arduous border crossing to boot...they held Anna back for about 20mins to simply stare at her passport??? Frustrating but nerve racking nonetheless! Then you are met with a billboard sized notice about all the convictions that deserve the death penalty...welcome to Thailand!!!
So that aside the Thailand part of our journey was much more luxurious and to the point...we arrived in the infamous and touristy Bangalampu area in the evening and we're immediately ripped off for a taxi to a hotel, but you have to hand it to the cabbies, they'll rob you blind right infront of your eyes without even flinching! Oh dear...I hope we havn't put a downer on this for you...really it was an interesting day and the journeys are always full of suprises which make you laugh, and cry.
After a refreshing cold shower we went for a wander only to find we'd landed in a great spot...2 mins from the crazziness of the Khao San Road! The next few days were spent in a Bangkok stupor of shopping and drinking. Although we must tell you about the Ping Pong show! A must on any tourist trail, or so we thought. We did feel a little uneasy when we turned up outside a dodgy back street entrance with no signs, thankfully two other westerners pulled up alongside making us all feel a little more sure of the situation! We went in, paid the extortionate entrance fee (because apparently you can stay as long as you like) and sat down in the front row in a darkened room wih mirrors on the walls and a small stage in the middle. The show incorporated much of what we expected, the women pulling razor blades, flourescent strings, popping banabas and pouring coke from themselves! The actual ping pong bit was another thing altoghether, the poor girl missed the glass she was aiming for and it flew across the stage and rolled down the sari of the woman sat next to Anna - way to close for comfort, and then she had to climb naked off the stage and retrieve it...also to close for comfort, everyone in the front row was in hysterics because my face was a picture of pure horror! The rest of the show didn't go according to plan and we left seeing way more than I've told you about (for now) and feeling really bad for the women and man (maybe you can guess what I don't want to put into writing?!) because they all looked so bored and really didn't seem to be enjoying themselves at all. We should have gone to the 'Lady Boy show'!
When we finally got our act together we booked ourselves another lovely bus journey to Ko Phangnan...for the Full Moon Rave. Our travelling buddies Ted and Sarah went to Ko Tao for a few days whilst we went straight to the party destination, and lucky we did because we met with two crazy ladies from Manchester...Lou and Jess. We all settled in a quaint bamboo bungalow right on the Sunset Beach in Haad Rin...and let the debauchery begin! We spent 6 days in Haad Rin, maybe too long but with the sun blazing, soft sandy beaches and the buckets flowing we weren't able to leave. We can't go into too much detail about those 6 days other than they we're filled with pool parties, beach parties, lots of people and did I mention buckets?! The highlight was on the Full Moon Night when we we're raving our socks off to some much much needed Drum and Bass and the set was as if we we're in Birmingham and Jordan was behind the decks, it took us back and made us miss everyone but it was the best music we could have wished for on such a wicked night.
Following that fun filled week we needed to douse ourselves in relaxation, so we headed for Ko Tao, the next island north, otherwise known as the diving capital of Thailand. We did dabble and didn't really get the rest we longed for as we we're in a classroom for a day learning all about Scuba and then did our training in Scuba skills in a shallow cove then four open water dives in two days. Diving was a very surreal experience for both of us but we really loved it and took to it really quickly, the sites of the coral reefs and tropical fish we're amazing (I'm affraid our photo's don't do it justice). Unfortunately Heidi suffered really bad sea sickness on one of the rougher days, so Anna ventured for her complimentary fun dive alone... This last dive was the best, as the weather had settled we could go further out to sea and to deeper locations, even a few sharks we're spotted (not by Anna). We did see Blue Spotted Stingrays, the rare Yellow Box fish, Eels, lots of Angel fish, Trigger fish, baby Barracuda, Clown fish, anemones and many many types of coral and other fish we can't remember off hand. Hopefully we will get to build on our experience by diving at other sites along our travels. Aside from the diving Ko Tao was a very small island with one main town brimming with good bars and late music, we spent our evenings chilling on the beach soaking it all in.
Leaving Ko Tao was a bit of a mission as its so isolated, but we opted for the night boat...and immediately wished we hadn't when we clapped eyes on it! It looked like a very run down oversized dive boat and when inside we saw two mattresses running down each side of the upper deck, big abough for about 25 people to sleep side by side with not an inch of personal space to speak of! Luckily the storm the Thai's had try to scare us about didn't materialise that night (the end of the Philliphines cyclone)...but we did get the bad weather in Krabi which was our detination for the next few days. It rained and it poured for almost 48 hours so we twiddled our thumbs and drank cocktails to pass the time with Lou and Jess who we'd managed to catch up with again before they departed to California. Whilst the rain stopped for an hour or so we managed to jump on a boat to see some caves and a brilliant fish farm where we could hold the box fish and blow fish, watching it inflate is pretty hilarious.
When the sun finally decided to put its hat on again we had decided to go on a little tour of some of Krabi's best islands, a brilliant day was spent visiting Tup, Poda and Chicken islands for snorkelling, swimming and sunbathing and then to Princess Cave for a suprising and interesting discovery. The limestone cliffs and stunning sandy beaches amongst torquise sea made for one of our favourite days. Hat Ton Sai was our destination and came on good recommendation, a very small beach on the mainland with bamboo shacks, fire twirlers and rock climbers, it was very very relaxed and gave us the opportunity to check out nearby Railay beach (voted Thailands best). Our next trip took us away to Ko Phi Phi for even more Sun and Sand and another day of exploring uninhabited islands, finishing off at Maya Beach 'aka The Beach' for a little dip before out into the open water for a spectacular sunset. Phi Phi was great for the beach bars with a little circus performance and another lot of fire dancing thrown in...they love their fire here...and we loved watching it! Again, we we're liking it so much we stayed for a week and found it hard to leave, but visa's being what they are, they have to run out at some point and so we found ourselves darting back to Bangkok to make our way to Laos.

photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/annaandheidi/ThailandTheIslands

Onwards and upwards. Until Laos! xx

It all began in the vast and varied capital Phnom Phen, with Sarah and Ted. A sprawling city with one of the biggest contrasts in wealth we have seen. For this reason it was difficult to fall in love with this town. The river is dotted with swanky bars and cafe's for the city's elite and western clientel but a few blocks in and the squalor is astonishing in comparison. Baring in mind Cambodia's horrific and very recent event's at the hands of Pol Pot and the Khymer Rouge we visited S-21 and the killing fields. S-21 was the school turned prison used for holding and interrogating hundreds of people for crimes as unfathomable as wearing glasses, speaking a foreign language or being able to read. The killing fields were 10km out of the city and need no explanantion other than the victims from S-21 were taken there for their fate. All in all it was an eye opening and gut wrenching day.

Our journey then lead us to the small dirt track town of Ban Lung in Ratanakiri Province. We travelled for 12 hours in a mini bus crammed with far to many people for the number of seats, along a dirt track made up of pot holes the size of kitchen sinks. Amazingly we got there in one piece and so did our vehicle. We settled into the quiet town pretty quickly with a beer and a bbq dinner. The following day we sorted ourself a driver to explore the surrounding waterfalls. We hopped into the back of his old dusty toyota and drove through villages of stilt houses and forests of rubber trees that the villagers farm earning themselves a staggering low wage (because a rich westerner has bought the land and they have to pay to farm it!) The waterfalls were vast and beautiful but we were to scared to jump the 7m drop into the murky rain disturbed lake at the bottom! Our day ended at the stunningly serene crater lake, a perfect circle of clear shrimp infested water surrounded by jungle. We did brave it and worked on our water acrobats to swim in the soothing warm water. Always watching the shrimps who were after our toes! After a tiring day we returned for a deep slumber to prepare for the return bus journey to Phnom Phen. We made sure we'd got our own seats on a big bus for the return journey, but in true Asian style this did not mean it was going to be a smooth ride! The bus left at 6:30am, not long after 7 there was an almighty crunch and the bus came to a halt at the side of the road and we all piled off to see what was up. It turned out it was one of the back wheels...literally lifted up off the road from a broken back axel and protruding from the wheel arch! We spent hours in the growing heat all trying to cram ourselves in the ever decreasing shadow created by the bus, playing cards and dancing in the road, all to the Cambodians amusement! All the men sat huddled around the back wheel looking at it...we attempted a few times to ask what was happening but their reply was a blank stare, so after the first couple of hours had passed we feared we would spend the rest of the day there! After the third hour hasd passed and we'd stopped looking at oncoming vehicles for rescue we heard an engine stop close by, and turned to see...a replacement bus...our luck was in! We all moved quickly to get our bags and a seat on our new bus, which turned out to be much nicer and had air con!!

We must be gluttons for punishment because as soon as we arrived back to PP we booked another all day bus to Siem Reap. A lovely arty crafty town with lots of markets, the old, new and night markets - all selling the same thing obviously but with three girls and Ted we managed to cruise them all! The restaurants we're great, particularly the 'Dead Fish Tower' which housed multiple make shift levels of tables in a maze conrcted by ladders and a crocodile farm! We fed the greedy monsters with tiny fish but we're unnerved by their eager jaws! The night life was also pretty happenning so we got stuck into swanky cocktails and not so classy buckets of voddy!!! Siem Reap is a lovely place in its own right, a small chilled town on the riverside, but obviously the main attraction of the area is Angkor Wat.
When we eventually managed to drag ourselves out of bed early enough we journeyed to Angkor Wat for sunrise. It was truley spectacular, the sky growing in orange and red, lighting the dusky clouds as the sun rose behind the infamous towers of the mighty Angkor Wat Temple. We spent the morning venturing the 'small circuit' of the sprawling empire, taking in the many temples of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom - the larger of the ancient cities particularly stunning was the Bayon temple, made up of hundreds of faces of 5 different people from the ancient kingdom, it grows into a towering point in the middle - also seen in Lara Crofts Tomb Raider!

Our Cambodian journey ended on a definate high, and quite different from the somber beginning in Phnom Phen. Cambodia certainly is a country of extremes but endering nonetheless.

Don't forget to check out our photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/annaandheidi

Off to Bangkok we go!

Vietnam blew us away, everyday was an adventure and we're sad to have left. After a slightly extended and traumatic stay in Hong Kong (visa issues!) we arrived in the chaotic and crazy city of Hanoi. We stayed in the Old quarter where you cant move for fear of motorbikes running you over and Bia Hoi (draft beer) is 10p a glass on the street corners. Obviously we spent most of our time on these street corners passing the hot and sunny time away in child size plastic chairs and nibbling on the odd kebab.
A cultural visit on an over night train took us to a mountain region near the chinese border to a town called Sapa. We spent three amazing days trekking through Bamboo forest and teetering on the edges of thousands (literally) of Rice Paddies. After our first day of trekking we arrived at our home stay in the village of Lao Cai where we stayed with a Han tribe family. To rejuvenate ourselves after the long trek we went for a slightly dangerous swim in the river - almost being washed away by the strong current and heavy storm that had just started! The six of us in our group and our guide Chung who was from the 'Black Mhong' tribe all helped to cook a delicious feast of spring rolls, and various chicken and vegetable dishes, and our hosts insisted we wash it down with several shots of rice wine, before we knew it the karaoke had begun!! (We found out the next morning that all the other groups staying in surrounding homes in the village had heard us, how embarrassing!) After the rain the second day of trekking proved more difficult to manage the muddy tracks, so a few bruises later we arrived at an amazing waterfall, we were able to walk half way across it to appreciate the stunning view. The tribes we saw and met we're Black Mhong, Red Mhong and Han, and that wasn't all of them. Their clothes we're truley beautiful, many layers all hand made and hand decorated with a cross stitch style to make each tribe and then each member individual. Sapa is one of the few remaining places where they still wear their tribal clothes, and not just for the tourists. We we're also lucky enough to be there on a Saturday when the 'Love Market' takes place, all the local tribes people meet and dance near the church in Sapa town and a couple gets together by the men throuwing an object into the air and the a woman catches it, this is enough for them to have babies together (but does not require a commitment like marriage!) From beggining to end of our three days we never spent more than two foot away from a tribes woman trying to chat us up so that we would buy some of their handicrafts, although beautiful we would have spent our entire travelling budget from the sheer number of them and the way they hassled you! We left Sapa tired, our purses a lot lighter and having had the best few days of our trip so far.
We returned to Hanoi for a brief shower before hopping on a bus to Halong Bay. Our home for the next few days was a junk boat cruisng round Halong Bay in the South China Sea (also when the devastating earthquake happened in China, we had a lucky escape, especially since only two weeks earlier we had been climbing mountains in the Sichuan Province). The landscape was made up of thousands of limestone karsts jutting from the clear green sea, we stopped for some kitsch cave exploration and swimming (only brief due to jellies) and a first for both of us - sea kayaking. Going off on our own we explored the floating fishing villages and almost managed to ground ourselves on some rocks! The fishermen had some really cool fish, squid, crab, catfish and a prehistoric shelled number - no idea of its name. We also managed another trek on Cat Ba Island, to one of the highest Karst peaks, through rainforest and narrowly avoiding a snake...our guide reasuringly informed us he didn't know if it was venomous! Cat Ba Island was amazing and the landscape made us feel like we we're in 'Lost'! A short stop on Monkey Island which was quite far out to sea in the Bay was like setting foot on a deserted island.

After returning to Hanoi once again we hopped on a (supposedly) sleeper bus down the coast to Hue ('supposedly' sleeper because the beds are long enough for children and you have to put your feet in a box which is restricting and does not induce sleep!) Hue was a lovely small town with cheap acomodation and many ancient tombs and pagoda's which we explored solo on motorbikes. We also stumbled upon an incense making village, so smelt like cinnamon for the restof the day. We stayed there a few days to chillout after our fun filled week all over the north. Next on the agenda was Hoi An, the UNESCO listed cultural town on the Thu Bon River. We ventured into a tailors and had some clothes made and wandered around the old streets before discovering the stunning white sandy beach...it started to rain when we set foot on the beach so we scarpered to Nha Trang where the sun was blazing, the drinks we're cheap (and travellers we're everywhere!) We ended up staying for a week because we we're having so much fun. We'd also bumped into an Irish couple we just couldn't get rid of...Sarah and Ted who we'd first met in the visa office in Hong Kong and then several places in Vietnam! (We ended up staying together for the rest of Vietnam, Cambodia and now Thailand). We hired two (non) Easy Riders (the local motorbike tour guides) for a day trip to the salt mines, some waterfalls (where we we're supposed to swim, but jumping of 6 meter high rocks into unknown water didn't take our fancy when we got there!) and the cities Buddhist Temple and sitting Buddha. The salt mines we're not really in operation because of the time of year but we also went to a salt cooking factory where they refined the salt by cooking it in massive vats in a scorching hot warehouse, it was really cool to see. Another day was spent on an Island water park which was great as we had the whole park to ourselves. We tried out Parascending over the bay - it was really fun but scary when they stopped the boat and we descended towards the deep blue!
After Nha Trang we took off on our own again for a few days to the mountain town of Dalat, it was quaint and kitsch with different coloured buildings and apparently is the Honeymoon destination for the Vietnamese - not sure we appreciated its romantic charm but we had a lovely time all the same! Dalat was also a refuge during the war years of the 60s and 70s due to its remote and difficult location (our bus broke down several times with burst tyres and overheating on the way up!) The highlight for us was the 'Crazy House' Vietnam's answer to Gaudi...a higgeldy piggeldy maze of concrete mastery. Uneven floors, odd shaped rooms and even odder beds all conected to make an Alice in Wonderland style experience.
From Dalat we made our way to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City, a wonderfully vibrant city with lots of sites, the War Memorial museum (truly harrowing) with photo displays, peoples accounts of horrific experiences and a display of weapons and vehicles and some of the prison cells used for interrogation. A visit to the Cu Chi tunnels was enlightening, telling us of the Cu Chi guerrilas who lived beneath ground to hide from the Americans, their intricate maze of tunnels with living quarters, escape routes, secret fresh air holes and kitchen chimneys and booby traps was astounding and very impessive, we had a crawl though a small section of the tunnels and its frightening to know that the Cu Chi guerillas spent weeks at a time in these tiny spaces.

So thats Vietnam in a nutshell, we're onto Cambodia next so keep an eye on the blog for further tales from the travelling two.

Lots of Love xxxxx