So far in Vietnam...

We spent a full day in Hanoi looking round all the markets and shops before booking onto a 2 day 1 night cruise of Halong bay through our hostel. Arriving in Halong after a long and bumpy 4 hour bus ride the weather was a little cloudy and we initially couldn't really see much. After boarding our 'junk' and checking into the rooms we had a nice lunch before heading off for an afternoon looking round a large cave, kayaking and walking up to a hilltop pagoda for great views of the bay. By the afternoon the weather had brightened up quite a bit and the views were sensational! We both enjoyed the trip and were glad to have not booked a longer tour as the weather was a lot colder than expected. Our last day in Hanoi was spent exploring shops and relaxing in the hostel before our 14hr sleeper bus to Hoi An in the evening.

Traffic madness in Hanoi

Enjoying some of the street food

Our 'junk' on Halong bay

Kayaking on Halong bay

Sunset view from the hilltop pagoda

Poppy interviewing for a job as a street vendor

The sleeper bus was surprisingly comfy and we both managed to get a decent few hours sleep. Arriving in Hoi An we checked into our hostel, complete with a pool, and decided to spend a few hours tanning poolside before wandering into town. Hoi An is renowned for its tailors and almost every other shop in the centre was a tailor! Inevitably I couldn't resist having a blazer made for me and after seeing how well it fitted out I ended up getting three shirts made up as well! This all totaled a whopping $125...ludicrously cheap considering the quality.

Packaging my blazer and shirts to be posted home

Other than the tailors Hoi An was a lovely little town on the waterfront and had a range of restaurants along the river. So far dessert seems to have been a course than Asia isn't particularly fond of so we were both excited to find somewhere that served a wide range of desserts. I treated myself to a chocolate brownie with ice cream and Poppy went for a waffle. It definitely hit the spot! In general we both enjoyed the relatively relaxed and peaceful atmosphere compared with the bustle of Hanoi. Our final day here we rented some bicycles and rode over to the beach. We spent a chilled afternoon here, although I didn't venture out into the sun as I'd caught a bit too much the day before and was feeling a bit sore.

The lovely lanterns for sale. We have posted a few home.

Hoi An beach

A short 11hr sleeper bus later we had arrived in Nha Trang. Described as the beach capital of Vietnam this definitely had a 'costa del sol' feel to it with lots of high rise hotels along the beach front. Here we our first day at a nearby hot spring spa where we both had a mud bath and relaxed in the warm water. Feeling refreshed we woke early the next day ready to head over to nearby Vinpearl waterpark. This exceeded expectations as the park also included a mini theme park and an aquarium as well as the waterpark. To top it of we had been advised to wait around for the evening water fountain show which turned out to be our highlight of the day! Our last day was spent relaxing on the beach in the sun both feeling jealous that we had missed one day of sunshine back home in the UK...

The sleeper bus

Mud bath!

Mud bath

Welcome to Vinpearl

Heading up on the mountain coaster

View from the Mountain coaster

Poppy's amazing picture of Terry the Turtle

Vang Vieng pictures

Floating down the river in our tubes

Tubing Scenery

Jumping into the Blue Lagoon

The cave near the Blue lagoon

The Blue lagoon

The Blue lagoon

Our dorm in Vang Vieng

The Paxutai in Vientiane

Chiang Mai to Hanoi

Ready to leave Chiang Mai after a lovely few days trekking and looking round the town, we turned up at the bus station with plenty of time only to find out that all of the busses had already been booked up! Frustrated and unsure what to do as the next bus wasn't for another 24hrs and our hostel was now full we decided to just book a bus for the following day and try to find somewhere to stay for the evening fairly close to the bus station. After wandering around for a while we managed to find a guesthouse tucked in down a small street that was slightly more expensive but did offer the luxury of its own pool and a sunbathing terrace! The next day after spending our time relaxing by the pool we packed up again and headed for the bus station only to find our bus had broken down and we had to wait for a replacement! Finally after another hour wait we were on our way to Nong Khai, the border town between Thailand and Laos.

Arriving in Nong Khai after a long bus ride still feeling sleepy we found a local bus to the border, passed through and then made our way to the hostel in Vientiane. We arrived at the hostel and chatted to the lady about our intentions to head up to Vang Vieng in a few days when she suggested that we could just get on a bus that day as there were still a few spaces left. Unsure about the prospect of spending yet more time on a bus we decided to go for it and were soon on our way to Vang Vieng.
On the bus ride there we met a few other travellers who were planning on staying in the same hostel as us so we decided to book out one of the dorm rooms and all stay together. The hostel was basic but very cheap and had fantastic views of the surrounding scenery. On our 1st day we got up and headed off to go tubing. This used to be the big attraction in Vang Vieng until a few years ago when most of the bars along the river were shut down due to it being deemed too dangerous (alcohol, shallow water and rocks). After picking up our 'tubes' (big rubber rings) we headed upstream in a tuk tuk and jumped in, stopping at one main bar along the way and enjoying the scenery/chatting to everyone in our group. The following day we headed out to the blue lagoon which was a lot less visually impressive than it sounds. Despite this, in many ways it was more fun than tubing and we spent the day jumping into the lagoon from an overhanging tree, exploring the cave and relaxing by the edge with other travellers.

Sadly me and Poppy had booked a flight to Hanoi, whilst the others were heading further north to Luang Prabang so we had to part company and head to Vientiane. We'd heard from a lot of people that Vientiane didn't have too much to offer so hadn't planned on spending long there at all. After a look round the night market and a brief visit to a rendition of the Arc De Triumph we were ready to leave for Hanoi. Whilst we both would have liked to go to Luang Prabang neither of us fancied the 6 hour bus ride there from Vang Vieng and then potentially the 33 hour 'bus from hell' to Hanoi. 

Landing in Hanoi we were initially surprised by the cool temperature and low humidity compared to other places we've visited so far. Getting the bus to our hostel we were shocked by the sheer number of mopeds driving around and the madness of the traffic here! Still, we're all checked into our hostel and ready to head out and see what the night market has to offer. 

O & P

A few pictures so far

At the Royal Palace in Bangkok

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Royal Palace

Our Hostel in Bangkok

Poppy by a statue in Sukhothai

Both of us in Sukhothai

Our trek in Chiang Mai

Trekking in Chiang Mai

The hill-tribe village we stayed in on our trek

Doi Suthep - a temple on top of a hill

Doi Suthep

Sukhothai

The Royal Palace in Bankok

Trekking in Chiang Mai

During our 1st few days in Bangkok we looked round the Royal Palace and some of the famous Buddhas nearby. The Royal Palace was absolutely stunning and probably our highlight from Bangkok! Before leaving we knew that we had to see one of the infamous 'ping pong' shows that everyone talks about. Asking a few people in our hostel where to go we wandered down Khao san road waiting for someone to approach us. This proved surprisingly easy and we were quickly being driven off in a tuk-tuk to the show. A little apprehensive, we both went in... The show was pretty much as expected however there were one or two surprises that both of us were shocked by! 

On departure from Bangkok we decided to get the bus north to Sukhothai before moving on up to Chiang Mai. Our first leg took around 6 1/2 hours on a bus with all the locals. Arriving fairly late in Sukhothai, the town seemed really quiet with virtually no other travellers to be seen. We woke up early and headed off the the ruins of the ancient city early to avoid the mid-day heat and also to catch an earlier bus out to Chiang Mai. The temples were stunning and we enjoyed looking round, but were both excited to get out and move on up to Chiang Mai. 

Arriving in Chiang Mai  after 5 1/2 hours, we were instantly swamped by local tuk-tuk drivers. We'd already reserved a room in a hostel inside the old part of the city so agreed on a price and jumped in. The guesthouse is nice but slightly basic, however, for 70 baht (around £1.20) per night we can hardly complain. My 21st birthday present from Poppy was to do a trek here so we organised it on arrival with the hostel and packed a day bag each for the following 2 days. 

The trek started with an hour or so drive into the surrounding hills. From there we began with an elephant ride which proved to be a lot more uncomfortable than expected! Our seat had no rail to keep us in so when going downhill we both had to cling on for dear life so as to not fall off! After this we began the trek, walking for around 2-3 hours through the jungle to a small waterfall where we swam and cooled off. To finish the day we had another hour or so of walking to a hill tribe village where we ate and slept for the evening. The beds were not the comfiest but everyone was very tired after the long days walking! Waking up the next morning we had a quick breakfast before walking for what seemed like an age uphill to another waterfall to swim. We finished of the trek with a short amount of walking through a crop field, where I managed to fall down a ditch head first, to a river that we were able to raft down on long bits of bamboo tied together. This was a great end to the day and we all finished off soaked and ready for a good shower! 

Tonight we're off for dinner with the the others in our trekking group and will then most likely pass out in bed this evening after the amount of walking we've done! Tomorrow we're planning to look round to city a bit more and maybe visit a local temple situated on the top of a large hill called Doi Suthep. 

I shall try to put some pictures up soon but there's no computer here and all of our pictures are on our cameras! 

Ollie