Macao and Hong Kong

After a 3 hour coach journey we arrived in Hong Kong to be greeted by Hilary and her sister Jil. Straight away we were to get an hour long ferry ride (aptly named 'Turbojet') to Macau - the Las Vegas of Asia. We got picked up by Jil's boyfriend Sergio and his friends in their sports cars - as if it was a scene from The Fast and the Furious. We were escorted in their Japanese tech sports cars through the three Islands of Macao (Macau, Cotai and Taipa) where we looked in awe at the huge neon lights illuminating the giant casinos and surrounding streets. We went for a barbeque where once again we encountered a language barrier - Sergio could speak pretty good English but his friends, such as Wa Jai, couldn't really speak any. Nonetheless we had a good meal - then we checked into our hotel for the 2 nights. From then it was time to hit the casinos - we started at the Grand Lisboa casino before visiting Wynn, MGM Grand and L'Arc casino. Walmo, Felly and I all tried our hands at blackjack, with various different results - I was worst off by being down about 80pounds. At about 4am we decided to call it quits on our casino-crawl and went to bed.

About 12hours later we woke up and went go karting with our boy racer escorts. This was followed by a quick tour of the streets of Macau and a visit to their main historical site - the frame of a cathedral that burned down.. this was coupled with the fact that Hilary and myself might have lost my camera by leaving it on top of the car - fortunately it was left in the back seat of one of the cars. After a Portuguese style dinner we went for a round of bowling - with Mr. Fell coming out with the best score of the day. Afterwards we headed to the Grand Waldo casino followed by the gigantic Venetian casino - where I went on to practically win all the money back I lost the previous night. Once again we lost track of time after a busy day and went to bed again quite late.

The following day we got a ferry ride back to Hong Kong where we went to the police athletics championships to watch Hilary's mum, Sandra, in a cheerleading contest. After her team won the event with a beautiful rendition of Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8 she took us back to the Kowloon side of the river police headquarters where we were gifted with some great police 'stash' - including two polo tops and another t-shirt. With the knowledge we were going out that night with Hilary's friends, we insisted we were to be taken to a cheap place to buy some reasonably nice clothes (compared to the tracksuits/swimming shorts we've continuously been wearing prior to HK). We each bought jeans and a shirt in the market area of HK, called Mong Kok (meaning Crowded Corner), then finally reached Hilary's house outside of the city in a residential suburb called Sai Kung. We had a family meal and then proceeded to encounter 'Ladies night' in the area of Wan Chai. The next day was a bit of a write off, where we mainly watched films on Hilary's projecter screen, but in the evening we went to the Hong Kong yacht club for dinner courtesy of one of Hilary's friends and then it was time for Ladies' night in the area of Lan Kwai Fong! Again, the next day we literally lay about the house and did a little swimming in the pool. We went for a 3rd night out in a row but for the first time we actually had to pay for drinks rather than get the girls to give us their free ones as sadly there were no Ladies Nights going on in the city. After spending Wednesday, Thursday and Friday all witnessing the nightlife - Saturday was actually an open house at Hilary's, as her parents were having about 40guests over. It was really well done with a massive spread of food and drinks - however once again there was quite a language barrier with many of the guests, and moreover we couldn't join in their gambling games as we had absolutely no idea how to play (some sort of mixture of cards and dominoes it seemed). We ended up spending most of our time with some family friends who spoke English and Hilary had a couple of English friends over too.

Today was probably our most productive day since arriving on Wednesday. We went down to the Sai Kung marina for a dim sum breakfast. Then we travelled to a place known as 'Monkey Hill' which was exactly what the name suggests. We walked up a hill which had loads of monkeys around... however quite a few of the monkeys can get quite violent and protective of their territory/family... so when I tried to sneak up to a big monkey that was lying on a picnic table to get a great photo of a chilled out monkey - said monkey became distinctly less chilled, got up and ran at me and Hilary - we both ran off and it took Felly and Walmo a little longer to realise what was going on - and Walmo was hiding behind our newfound alpha male Felly who was waving a stick in the direction of the monkey who'd gone bananas (no pun intended?) whilst rapidly backing away. The monkey then stopped chasing us (perhaps because I decided to put my camera away) and as we all sighed in relief the monkey suddenly started doing some crazy war dance and then ran at us again. This time we decided not to hang around (it was arguably the biggest monkey we encountered) and walked down the mountain extra cautious of the cute monkeys who now menacingly lined the road. After this adrenaline fuelled experience we went to another part of Mong Kok to do visit the night market, then went to the harbour where there is a fantastic view of Hong Kong from across the river. We then walked down the Hong Kong walk of fame (where famous residents have their handprints in the ground) before retiring back to Hilary's - watched the epic Lord of the Rings 2 on the massive projecter screen then everyone went to bed and I wrote this.

It's now hit us how we're going to be back in England in 3 days! Do we really want to go back?

China

Nanning and Guangzhou, China

It's been a long time since we've been able to update the blog as we couldnt access the blog in China due to 'The Great Firewall of China'.
We got the overnight train from Hanoi to Nanning, China without any problems - although we could collectively complete the China Health Quarantine form (where they list a load of symptoms and ask you to tick the boxes of the ailments you have). We arrived in Nanning to find out it was the beginning of a Chinese extended weekend so loads of people were using the trains, so the prices had gone up. We opted out of spending over 200quid for a train ticket to Guangzhou and instead got a sleeper bus there in the evening. During the day, due mainly to the fact I felt really ill and Felly and Walmo were both quite tired, we went to 'Shoppingland' (not quite a theme park) which was filled with Chinese shops, mostly clothes. After going a few hours around the city, Felly and Walmo hunting for cheap t-shirts that they could actually fit into (a chinese extra large is like a British small) and I was always making sure I knew where the toilet was, we got bored of shopping, and headed towards the bus station. Suprisingly we actually were able to fit into the beds, though Walmo didn't get a good night's sleep as he was starting to feel a little under the weather. This meant Chinese buses 1 - 0 Vietnamese buses.
The next day we arrived in Guangzhou and eventually (after many many language difficulties) managed to check into a hotel where we all slept for a few hours in the vain hope of recovery (though Felly wasn't feeling unwell) - however sleep became a tricky feat as Walmo's blocked nose and sore throat meant that he snored like a constipated rhinoceros. That day we didn't really do much, Felly went for a walk at one point, and later on Felly and Walmo went to dinner. Otherwise we didn't accomplish much. The next day I felt a lot better and we were all up for seeing a bit of the city. However as Guangzhou isn't really much of a hot spot for tourists, there wasn't really much to do - especially if you don't speak Cantonese. After failing to find a cheaper hostel for the night, we booked our coach tickets to Hong Kong for the following day then we went to The Temple of the 6 Banyan Trees which was a traditional, beautiful and tall chinese temple 17 storeys high. That night after a very plain chicken and rice we took an early night so we could go to the most beautiful park possibly in the world the next morning before our bus to Hong Kong.

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.