Halong Bay

In Hanoi we purchased a 2 night 3 day trip to Halong bay. So on the first day we woke up early in the morning to catch a bus to Halong Bay. The ride there, once again was uncomfortably with seats way to small for our size. However, after a 3 hour bus journey we arrived at Bai Chay to catch are boat which we would take us to Halong where we would eventually spend the night. After several bad experiences of transportation in south east Asia, i was skeptical at best for are supposedly deluxe boat. But are tour guide who seemed reasonable cool at the time, who we nicked name T-Bone, was very positive about the boat. Once we got there we all pleasantly surprised, the crew where handing out face towels and most polite. The rooms on the boat were better than many hostels we had stayed in and the dinning area was very impressive. It wasn't long before we sat down for dinner with are 2 mates Will and Loz who we had met recently on are travels. The Boat ride still failed to disappoint with the food being delicious. It wasn't long before we had traveled through most of Halong and would arrive at Sung Sot Cave. Are tour group of about 18 jumped of the boat to check out the caves. Soon after departing from the boat Felly and I realized we had failed to bring any kind of foot wear and would not be able to go back and collect some. However, we battled through the cave with the 5 of us (us and our new mates Will and Loz) using are imagination at the many rock formations to take some hilarious photos and admire the caves. Straight after the caves we went kayaking around some of the many strange shaped islands and were able to check out some of the small caves that had formed in these islands. I was paired up with Grieve, we checked out most the views, however, it wasn't long before are mature side came out and we started splashing and ramming some of the fellow tour guide members. After kayaking we went back to the boat where we were free to jump of the top deck of the boat and swim around. But with rumors of numerous jellyfish swimming was kept to a minimum. The night on the boat was fun as most of the people in our tour guide we had either met in Vang Vieng or a the drift hostel, it was also the 20th birthday of one of the lads on the boat. This led to a funny night of karaoke and ring of fire (drinking game).

The next morning we left the boat and headed to Cat Ba National Park to trek up Ngu Lam Peak (the top Peak of Cat BA island). I was quite keen for a bit of trekking and all started well. However, on our way up to the top we were continuously followed by swarms of bees. We thought they might disappear the further we climbed, they didn't! They also had a special liking for Grieve who was constantly swarmed and supposedly stung on several occasions while most of the time they failed to acknowledge my existence. A little way from the top we were forced to stop as there was only one small path to the top and countless people trying to get up and down from the top. So in the end with countless bees around and a long wait to the top we decided to head back down. On our way our new hotel we were shoved onto a different bus which at the time we thought was not a problem, as our tour guide T-Bone said he would be waiting outside the hotel for us when we got there. Unfortunately the tour guide members on our bus were less than helpful refusing to speak to Felly. With us only recognising the right place because Felly remembered the hotel name. We arrived with T-Bone are tour guide nowhere in sight. However, reception was very helpful giving us our room keys and telling us the time to come down for dinner. Over dinner we were all looking forward to our next destination of Monkey Island. So after dinner we chilled in are rooms for 45 mins and headed down, all rather excited, to catch our bus at 2:30. Only to find the tour had gone on without us. We talked to reception who let us ring our tour guide. He said that we should of been down at 2:00 and that they had waited for us for 30mins, he also claimed they were already at the island which just didn't make sense. The 5 of us all fairly pissed of walked round town and found a really nice beach where we chilled with a beer and cooled down. Once the tour had returned we went to talk to our tour guide trying to explain, that due to us being shipped on to another bus we missed crucial information about leaving times and he could easily of called up to our rooms to inform us of departure times. However, our tour guide started to shout at us and refused to talk us. After getting nowhere with our tour guide, who we had renamed T-wat instead of T-bone, we tried not to let it ruin our tour and looked forward to the night ahead. We spent the night with 5 girls from Manchester who we had met in Vang Vieng and just coincidentally met in the drift and on our tour. After a late night which was great fun as the town was also celebrating the day Ho Chi Min had visited, we woke up early with minimal sleep. This day was less exciting than our previous days as we were just traveling back to Hanoi with the highlight being Felly's purchase of a gold and blue kimono. Today (1st April) we wait to hear if we can receive a small refund from our tour and wait to catch a night train to China.

Tubing and Ha na na na noi (Hanoi)

So we arrived in Vang Vieng after a few hours on the bus from Vientiane, getting ready for a few days of tubing. After checking into our hotel, the night started quietly with everyone informing us most people were in fact asleep of resting from a day of tubing. However, after visiting the infamous "Q bar" we then went to the "Bucket Bar", deciding to start how we meant to go on. The next day was our first day of tubing, and we thought it best to get tubes. For a quick run down of what tubing is, just type in tubing into Youtube. While being labeled as "tubing virgins" on our first day by a guy who had been there over 2 weeks and being set upon by every bar tender, the day was in fact awesome. However, most of the bars were located within 30 metres of each other, and so for the remaining days we ironically didn't bother with the tubes while...tubing. So, we mostly soaked up the sun at the river and chilled at the bars, while also heading out a couple of nights. After a while we slowly started getting to know most regular people around there, and while it was all great fun, it started to take a toll on us as Grieve had to take a day off while Walmo and I got more and more tired. As well as this, it seems there was a flip flop thief since Walmo's had been nicked 2 days in a row, even after he bought a new pair. We HAD to leave. So, we booked a bus to Hanoi, a mighty 24 hour journey apparently. The few days in Vang Vieng had turned into 6 days. To be fair this was probably one of the last places we would get a lot of sun! We finally got the bus on the Thursday, after a late night all round. This however proved wise as the overall journey turned out to be nearly 30 hours, and with plenty of time to do nothing we could catch up on the sleep we all needed. Still, the beds we were in were not suited for anyone over 5ft 8. After getting to Hanoi, we elected to go to the Drift Hostel, meant have been voted one of the best in the world last year, and after an attempted scam by the bus company we eventually go to our current destination. So, we checked into our dorm, had a look around, and yesterday we went to see the Ho Chi Minh Museum as well as the "B 52" site. Having met a couple of guys at the hostel, we are all going to go to Halong Bay in the north of Vietnam, where we will be trekking and kyacking through the jungle and rivers on the Monday (tomorrow).

Vientiane

After a good night's sleep we spent the next day having our last hours chilling on the Nha Trang beach before embarking on what was to become a nightmarish journey.

We got a sleeper bus overnight to Hoi An (A UNESCO World Heritage City due to it's prettiness, supposedly) but sleep wasn't exactly what the bus seemed designed for. Not only were the beds way too small for us three but we were put at the back of the bus where 5 beds are jammed together. Throw in an American dude and his girlfriend it makes for one cosy night of sleeping. Not to mention the fact that the back of the bus is not only the bumpiest but also the closest to the engine therefore the loudest part of the bus. Felly shotgunned the window seat and I quickly shotgunned having my feet dangling into the aisle; leaving Walmo to sleep in the middle where there was the least leg space. Luckily after about an hour's worth of travelling, the bus attendant told one of us to move into an actual bed in the row ahead. I stepped up and slept in what could better be described as a straight jacket.

All of this however was manageable. The main problem was an incessant beeping noise beeped every second at a high pitch - much like an alarm intended to wake someone up from a sleep. I got about an hour's sleep that night.

We arrived in Hoi An all a little grouchy and tired not knowing exactly what our plan was. We wandered around the quaint city for an hour, seeing the market and the Japanese Bridge (so famous in Vietnam it's on the 20,000Dong note); then we got a taxi up to Da Nang, the major city in central Vietnam. We then bought a bus ticket from a travel agency swarming with kittens from Da Nang to Vientiane (800mi from Nha Trang). We got on the bus a few hours later to Hue to find out when we arrived that because the bus driver was driving slowly we had missed our connecting bus. However it took then 15minutes for one of them to finally explain to us what had happened. Pretty annoyed we were forced to check into a hotel for the night - although thankfully for me I got to catch up on some much needed sleep. After many jokes, mainly revolving around the fact that Hue is pronounced Whaayyy; we were ready for our next mammoth bus journey. This time, leaving Hue and changing buses at a city named Vinh, near the border.

We arrived at Vinh at approximately 1am where a bus heading to Vientiane was waiting, with a few seats left. Bus company employees told us not to bother going onto this one as we had paid for a sleeper bus with beds, and a sleeper bus was arriving in about an hour. This gave us time to have dinner and chill. At about 2.30am our sleeper bus arrived. The same employee who told us not to bother to get the last bus to Vientiane then told us, laughing, that this bus to Vientiane was full. Not only was it full but 4 people were sleeping on the floor so there was literally no space. Luckily there was a Korean tour group parked close by so we eventually managed to swindle our way onto their tour, as they too were next stopping in Vientiane. Joined by a fellow traveller named Nathan from Brighton, we eventually were able to sleep on a bus without worry.

After border control and a further few hours travelling through the country to the capital - we arrived 10km outside of the city where were we left on a roadside of a highway. Luckily we waved down a tuk tuk after about 15minutes and got to the centre.

Today we're getting a bus to Vang Vieng, home of the infamous Tubing; where everyone goes on the river with a tube, stopping at bar after bar after bar. Sounds like something we'd do.

Nha Trang

Over the past several days we have been chilling in Nha Trang. The place has been thoroughly westernized with lots of western restaurants and bars to go to. Most of our days have consisted of similar routines. Mostly waking up and chilling at the beach for a couple of hours and then headed out to see what the night life has to offer us, with felly doing the odd bit of scuba diving and us exploring to see what the city has to offer. The night life has been great with some great parties at the local sailing club and numerous busy bars such as "Why not Bar" which have provided nights of hilarious entertainment meeting plenty of new people. However, we have stayed far longer than intended once again. This became obvious when we started to walk down the street with most bar staff knowing us. We have finally bought tickets for a night bus tomorrow heading to Hoi An. We're now ready for some good traveling after our short break, especially when we need to be out of Vietnam and into Laos by the 22nd.

Ho Chi Minh City

After waking up at some god awful early hour in the morning to catch our bus, our hotel concierge told us that the 7am boat was full up and they booked us on the next one at 11am instead (thanks for telling us guys..). After going back to the room to sleep for a few hours we headed down a little fresher and took an hour's minibus to our boat.
We found out that the other bus of people had broken down, and we didn't get to embark on our 3hour journey until about 2pm (we were supposed to arrive at our destination at 3pm). This was no real problem as it was a time to eat/sleep/chill/tan. After cruising down the river we arrived in Chau Doc, Vietnam at 5pm - secured our sleeping arrangements for the night then hit the town...... except there was nothing in the town to do - so we went home again. The next day again we had to wake up at a silly hour in the morning for a 7am departure time - we visited a local Cham village and subsequently went through the river people's houses to a fish farm where the net income is a staggering $400,000 a year. Not bad for the old Vietnamese women who owns it. We then got on a minibus with zero leg space for 3 hours to a random city where we finished our triangular movement with a 5 hour journey on a much more spacious bus to Ho Chi Minh.
After getting a hostel room on the 7th floor with no elevators we hit the town. Sampling the local nightlife we decided to move on to the renowned "Apocalypse Now" nightclub with some Australian fellas we met in a bar (unsuprisingly). We have noticed a trend of how to pull women in different countries - in the west the male has to do all the work. When we came to Thailand and Cambodia the women approach the men but now in Vietnam I was taken aback when some guy comes up to me and says "This is my sister... she likes you". This was arguably too easy so for a change I actually felt bad saying no to someone. When the club closed we were talking to some Belgian people who Felly had met and they lured us to their hotel with the promise of a pool party (in hindsight; why there would be a pool party going on at such an early hour I do not know). On the walk there I was razzing out some french to the natives and I was pleased to hear that my English French accent was both adorable and very attractive (which is in my eyes better than speaking perfect French with no accent). We arrived to their hotel which just so happened to 5* called Legend hotel. As it happened, the pool was indeed closed and whilst Felly and I tried to persuade the security guard to allow us to go in; Walmo was cowering in the hotel lobby. After not even bribing seemed to get this untouchable guard to allow us in - we bailed home.
The next day was somewhat of a write off as we didn't get too much sleep the night before and Walmo was feeling a little queezy. We had a chilled evening and booked tickets to go to the Cu Chi Tunnels.
Today Walmo felt he wouldn't be able to last if he came to the tunnels so he stayed at home whilst Felly and I visited the underground tunnels - fascinating but we were both too big to fit through the last section of tunnel. Tonight we are getting an overnight train to Nha Trang - Vietnam's answer to Sihanouk Ville and Koh Phangan, a good place to chill on the beaches and party at night.

Phnom Penh and Sihanouk Ville

We had booked a driver to drive us round the main sights in Phnom Penh, and so we got up early on the Monday to go and visit the infamous "Killing Fields", as well as other memorials to the vicitims of the regime of the Khmer Rouge. The Killing Fields were where many Cambodians, who were seen to be enemies of the party doctrine, were taken and executed by the Khmer Rouge. This proved pretty chilling, not least because the first memorial in the area was a tower of skulls of the vicitims killed, ranging from 5 years old upwards. After looking around, we went to a small musuem, before leaving for the next memorial, and old school turned tourture chamber during Pol Pot's rule. Known as S21, this was even more vivid, as most of the area had been left exactly as it had been after the Khmer Rouge demise in the city in 1979, with old school black boards next to leg chains and barbed wire. While all this sounds highly depressing (and to be fair some of it was) we found it really interesting as we got to get to know quite a lot of the history of the country we were in. We left there for lunch, before visiting the Imperial Palace of Cambodia and the National Musuem. While these too were impressive, by the end we had been overloaded by history, with Walmo remarking that his brain "hurt"from over use. He had a small point however, so we played a few relaxing card games, before heading back to the hostel to shower and crash for a few hours, before eating near the centre of Phnom Penh. Knowing we had an early start, we hit bed. AFTER chilling. However, with promises of a 8-15am bus, we got up early, only to be told we had to wait until 1pm for a bus to Sihanouk Ville. After waiting a while for a bus, we arrived in the South of Cambodia at 5pm, been shown our room by a guesthouse staff that we duely dubbed "Chuckles", as while we all know how funny us 3 are, she seem to find anything we said hilarious. The fact that everytime she came to our room we were topless/trouserless watching tv probably had something to do with her embarrasment. We think she loved it. Anyway, we hit the bar, where we found out beer was 62 cent. A good night ensued, and we hit the local beaches to have a look around. We all returned differing times however, Grieve and I were too busy finding fellow lads, while Wamsley had gone AWOL. The next day was unproductive until the evening, as I was the only out of bed until about 3pm. We wandered down to our local beach, "Victory Beach", sunbathed and ate, while trying to be convinced by local Cambodians to get a massage. We passed. After trying to throw Walmo in the sea, we headed back to the guesthouse, chilled then headed to the bar for a pub quiz. It must be noted that most of the questions were way before any of us were born, and while we only got 11 out of 50, the top score was 26 out of 50, with at least TWO groups coming behind us. Oh yea. Grieve got MVP for his 5 right answers, while I came second...with 2. We got help with 3 of them. Walmo got a question about HURDLES wrong, while I got an obvious HISTORY question wrong. We preceded to head out, getting some food late in the evening, before hitting a casino with a Tuk Tuk driver. We placed our huge bet on the Roulet Wheel...and won double our money. With Grieve remarking how his 10 whole dollars was the best note he had ever held, we hit bed hard. Today, got up quite early, and got a bus back to Phnom Penh, where we are now. Plans are to get a boat up the Mekong River into and up Vietnam.