Good morning Vietnam

And just when I thought that all that was over, Jay tells me that I have to write a dissertation on our recent travels! However I've promised myself and Jay a stress-free year so there won't be any long pieces of writing coming from me.

We're still in Hoi An, Vietnam, and at times today it looked like we might be stranded here for a while. Central Vietnam is still being hit by typhoons and plenty areas are flooded (you were right mum, as always) A river runs through Hoi An and by late afternoon it had flooded over the nearest two streets. We're gutted as last night we found an amazing restaurant on the river front and Jay was meant to be going for a cooking class there this evening (fi was just going to eat, as per) Their speciality is fish grilled in banana leaf with lemon sauce- delicieux! .

Generally, we've been eating  like kings and queens and have some great recommendations for anyone who's travelling around south east asia. Thai food was probably our favourite, however the local specialities here (fried wanton and shrimp wrapped in rice paper) come a close second. The buffalo in Lao was also scrumpcious. Not tried anything to adventureous yet though, like spiders or cockroaches...

There's more to our travels than dining out though. We've also come across some very tasty coffee and it's interesting to see how different each country's coffee tastes (different ways of making the coffee involved too!) The beer has been good too, though I'm looking forward to drinking wine again in Australia and NZ.

On the whole we've tried to avoid the very touristy areas, which is harder than you might think. Chang Mai, which was our second stop after Ko Chang, is the departure point for tourists heading off into the hilltribe villages. It's incredible to see how the tourism industry has exploited these indigenous cultures. We tried to chose the most 'ethical' experience with an Akha hilltribe (tibetan roots, now living in Burma, Thailand, Lao and China) but even there we could sense a deep sadness and almost resentment amongst the villagers. Our guide, Achui (picture with Jay at the bus station) is an unbelievable person, who has an incredible ability to absorb languages, though it doesn't matter that we all speak different languages because 'we all laugh and smile'. Despite not having a home, this guy is so unbelievably cheerful and entertaining (jay learnt some tricks from him- to be performed when we get back)

Living in the jungle with the hilltribe was a great experience (apart from being haggled by the women who wanted to sell their goods- all hand-made of course! but they all set there wares out beside eachother so you couldn't buy from one without offending the others!!!)  I must log off now, to be contd......all our love, fi and jay xxx