Well what can i say except that vietnam is incredible, loving every second of it, arrived here about a week ago now and been upto so much!! Flew into hanoi from bangkok and spent a day exploring hanoi, place is so busy with motorbikes, roads are mad!!! Doesnt seem to be any kinda system goin on every one just drives without looking and dont stop u have to just cross the road and let all the bikes go around u, seriuosly must have witnessed about a million accidents, crazy!!! Love it tho, has such a buzz about the place, really different to thailand, all the streets are heaving with people and bikes, barbers set up shops by placing a mirror on the wall, houses are all brightly coloured and look very french, stunning countryside and psycho cities! Hanoi was really good, went to see ho chi minh mauseleum, the bakery quarter, and the old prison run by the french. Best part was sampling some native food, they do the most amazing summer spring rolls which are basically fresh spring rolls, not fried, full of shrimp, mmmm wow! We did a tour to the nearby perfume pagoda which was brilliant, got to take a long boat along the river thru rice paddies and forests by women wearin those funny conical hats, really felt like was in vietnam place was beautiful, got to do a mini trek upto the top to see the stunning views from the top of the mountains.Next day went on a 2 night trip to the infamous halong bay, limestone karsts rising out of the sea like a big magical dragon, breathtaking does not even come close to describing it, it was simply stunning. Did some kayaking which was incredible, and had some drunken fun on the boat, made some great friends and lost some too but hey thats all in the name of travelling!!! spent the first night on the boat then next day with a stonking hang over walked to the top of one of the limestone rocks to an ancient temple for a fab panaramic view of the bay, visited some caves and had some fun jumping off the boat. we docked at our very own private island with 4 beach bungalows on a secluded beach, so so so beautiful!!!! The whole trip was fantastic, loved it!!!
Last few days iv spent in north vietnam in a little place called sapa, up in the mountains, been told how cold sapa is but weather was awesome on first 2 days, met some great guys and spent some time with them exploring the village, really quaint, full of women in traditional dress selling cloth and jewellery to the tourists, this is real vietnam, spent next 3 days on a trek, got to go up into the mts and look at the ancient hill tribes and see some truely untouched scenery, and met people in villages that are completely off the tourist trail, incredible, got to visit schools and talk to the kids, ate in traditional vietnamese way with proper yummy food, best 3 days of trip so far!! Stayed overnight in two villages, u stay with families who live there and help them prepare food on the open fire and play with there children and fully immerse urself in there culture, honestly the best thing i have done, they truely welcome u into there homes and make u feel like part of the family. Its unbelievable how hospitable they are, and the way they live is phenomenal, some houses had 4 generations living under the same roof, now that is family (not that i could do it think me, mum and nan under one roof wud end in tears he he). Group i trekked with was amazing and guide was fab, Trek was intense tho, first day was tough but second day was really cold and wet so was sooooo slippy, literally had to slide down the mountain and fell on my arse on several occasions, was unbelievable tho, loved every second of it and would take the aches and pains again, 45km in 3 days not bad ey!!!!! Next mountain please!!!!
speak to you soon xxxxxx