vietnam

Local worker found snake in the grass at Lang Co

Steve with mozzie zapper

Halong Bay-very touristy but beautiful all the same

Our boat on Halong Bay

Tania matching the men!!-no wine though!

Tania getting a lift to the toilet from Bia Hoi bar in Hanoi-these bars are generally only frequented by men so toilets not good!!

Local girl in Hanoi

Thousands of mopeds in Hanoi

Steve on boat Halong Bay

Lake in old quarter of Hanoi

Locals parking up bikes for drinks at Bia Hoi bar

View of street from hotel in Hanoi

Tania joining local on beach at Lang Co

View from our bungalow at Lang Co

Steve catching up on reading material

Tania on Lang Co beach

Chameleon in Lang Co undergrowth

Sunset at Lang Co lagoon

Tania buying traditional hat in Hue

Local scene in Hue-cyclo driver

Colourful bridge from very nice riverside restaurant we found in Hue

Local seller in Hue

Our hotel in Hue (Vietnam)-only $15/night

Countryside on the way to Hue from border with Laos

A bit of Laos karaoke with rather drunk local

At last we get proper rain at Laos/Vietnam border

I think these were for pets- not eatingl

Weighing snake for sale at local market

Local food-our bus driver pulled the wings off and ate with big smile on his face then a handful of ant larvae to wash it down!!

Since the last blog we left Laos and headed for border with Vietnam-arrived at border after 5hour bus ride stopping off for locals to shop at the various markets selling snake, frogs, bugs, ant larvae etc only to find that our visas were dated wrong and we could not cross until the next day so had to turn back and stay at border town which was full of scammers and dodgy money changers trying to rip you off. The malaria tablets seem to be causing some very strange vivid dreams and amongst others I dreamt that Lulu was doing a singing striptease with Mrs Slocombe from Are you being served waiting for a bus with us!!! We found a cheap room and joined a nice local family for dinner of bbq duck- I joined in the karaoke with local drunk then it p.....d down with rain and restaurant was struck by lightning. Managed to cross the border the following day and took another 5 hour bus ride to Hue in Vietnam.

This was a very nice town where we found cheap hotel with pool. We took a tour of the royal palace which was scene of fierce fighting in Vietnam war and a boat trip down the Perfume river. We then moved on to a beach resort in Lang Co where we spent two very peaceful days apart from the day trippers who turned up for lunch.

Arrived in Hanoi three days ago and have taken a trip to Halong Bay spending the night on a boat in the bay. Our driver to reach the drop off point seemed to have a death wish and wanted to overtake everyone on the road while guzzling red bull but we got there and back safely. There was a bit of a set to on the boat after one of the Spanish in our group lost an oar while kayaking and was asked to pay $30 to replace it. This did not go down well and after a lot of threats and shouting it was eventually agreed that they should pay $15.

Now back in Hanoi and in our quest for the cheapest beer in S E Asia we found a local "Bia Hoi" cafe where they serve beer straight from the barrel on the street. One bar was selling for only 12 pence /half pint but the ones at 25 pence are a lot nicer so we have been joining the locals and tourists at these bars and have met lots of interesting people from all over the world. The only problem with Hanoi is that everyone is trying to sell something and the moment you set foot outside your hotel you are set upon by locals trying to sell books, stamps, coins, food of all sorts, taxi/motorbikes, shoe shine etc. while trying to avoid the thousands of mopeds that fill the streets, hooting at

every opportunity. Overcharging is the norm here for everything from sweetcorn on the street, to hotel rooms short changing and fiddling exchange rates. Everything is very cheap though so you have to take it with a smile -it can get quite tiring even so.
Staying here for another few days befor heading back down south to Hoi An and onwards towards Ho Chi Minh

Local transport-our boat up the Nam Ou and Mekhong

They actually drink this!

View from boat travelling north from Luang Prabang

Elephants washing in river

Still travelling up river

Our salubrious room in Nong Khiaw

Washing salad in river

Cant remember where but somewhere north of Luang Prabang

View from balcony

Muang Ngoi

Jasper and Lynsey our canadian friends we met in Muang Ngoi

UXO they now use for ornamental purposes!!

River trip up Nam Ou from Muang Ngoi

Great day with Jasper and Lynsey on river

Small village

Local children

Dinner for the locals

More local children

Beautiful north of Laos

Our river tri

Me trying to cast net not very successfully

Jasper with better attempt

Jasper and Lynsey from Vancouver

On the river

Barbecue fish on riverbank

Our bungalow Muang Ngoi

Praying Mantis

Our latest hotel with swimming pool-bit more expensive than recently but very nice!!

View from hotel in Vang Vieng

Tania in hammock in Vang Vieng

Playing with the kids in Vang Vieng

Pretty bugs!

Bizarre sign!!

After water slide

The slide

Someone else being stupid

Vang Vieng

Kayaking

Water swings at Vang Vieng

Me after falling out Kayak

Other kayakers

Tania tubing into cave

Tubing down river in Vang Vieng

Suzy and Tania at start of tube down river

Not sure if you can view this but at least you can see the splash!!

Since last blog we headed north to Muang Ngoi from Luang Prabang on a one day boat trip. We then stayed the night in a grotty 'hotel' in Nong Khiaw befotre heading further up river. Muang Ngoi and the surroundings were beautiful. We met a very nice Canadian couple, Jasper and Lynsey from Vancouver and spent three fun days with them going on a one day river trip with barbecue fish caught by our Laos boat driver/guide for lunch on the bank. Drank far too much of the local brew - Lao Lao and had a very good day. Jasper proved to be totally mad and seemed to have a death wish, already been mugged for his motorbike in Cambodia, hurt his foot and managed to get stung by a praying mantis while proudly showing us his find. His girlfriend Lynsey wasnt far behind managing to hurt her back on one of the water swings in Vang Vieng and stub her toe while with us also. Touch wood their bad luck hasn't worn off too much on us yet although I did bang my head while tubing in a dark cave and didn't do my back much good on a water slide in Vang Vieng.

After Muang Ngoi we headed south to Vang Vieng which is the backpacker party capital of Laos with tubing down the river via about 13 bars on the way.You can imagine the state of most participants at the end. We all arrived back in the town on the back of a truck singing Hey Jude, American Pie and any other somg that was known to all the various nationalities in the truck.- Great fun although I think I was old enough to be most of thems Dad!! I may have converted a few of the ravers to the delights of AC DC though when I took over the DJ stand at one of the bars.

We have also been kayaking where Tania proved very adept but I managed to be the only one to fall out fortunately only in three feet of water.

Tania has now found some wine in one of the shops in Vientanine and after a nice lunch of baguettes and pate - (it is very French influenced here as previously French colony) she is happy and I am just off to watch the rugby I am told is on. Heading south next to 4 thousand islands and then to Vietnam a bit behind schedule but who cares!!

Hope you like photos