Aug 08

We loved Hanoi but could only spend two days there before flying to Bangkok where we would spend a week relaxing before flying to Dubai to live.

Our plan had been to go to Sapa but a cyclone that hit the area killing over a hundred forced us to change our travels. We talked to tourists who had been stuck there for over a week waiting for transport to get out. Apparently they tried a 'test train' which costs tourists up to $80US (when it was normally 15-20) and failed after the first KM or so!

While we were in Bangkok we visited the snake farm - the man leading the show asked Chris and I to come down and have a Python wrapped around our necks for good luck and a long life together.

We thought it would be a good omen before we set off to live in a new country
(He made Chris kiss my by the way - its all part of the show!)

We arrived in Hue ( a four hour bus ride from Hoi An) - all was well until we were asked to show our PASSPORTS when we realised we had LEFT them BEHIND in Hoi An!!!!

You should have seen the look on Chris face when he went to get them from his money belt and realised they weren't there!! It was my fault though as I had checked out of the last hotel and forgotten to ask for them.

Luckily the hotel we were staying in had fantastic staff who were able to ring the hotel (thank god we had kept their hotel card!) and organise for them to be sent on the next bus!

We only had one full day to spend in Hue so decided to go on a city tour. We went around the old city, a couple of tombs of old kings, a craft village where we learnt how to make the cone hats and incense sticks and a garden house.

We caught our last (thank god) sleep bus to Hanoi which was an event of its own...

Just when we though the bus was full, (well it was as there were NO beds left) a family of 8 got on and squashed up to the back of the bus (where we were) and made themselves comfortable in the aisle. During the night I woke up everytime the lady next to me pulled my blanket off and onto her!

It was an experience

One night at a cafe in Hoi An we met a man who organised private tours around his village. Basically he works at the cafe 2 - 3 hours every evening for free in the hope to find a tourist to go on his tour the next day. He showed us a book full of testimonies from a variety of people from a variety of countries and it all seemed pretty legit so we booked in for the next day.

It ended up being the best tour we had done in Vietnam. He was able to talk a lot about the war (he was fighting for the south) and the consequences of this for his immediate family and extended family. He also taught us a lot about the politics of Vietnam and we were able to finally find out (as we had been wondering) about the pictures we saw EVERYWHERE, in every house and restaurant, of Ho Chi Minh.

He also showed us around his village and we met a lot of the locals.

The family we spent the day with

One of the four grandchildren

Having tea with one of the villagers

Children from the village (who followed us around and wanted their picture taken)

A 3 month supply of rice for the extended family (most villagers pays for a small portion of land to grow their own rice on)

We spent a week in Hoi An and loved it. It's a very beautiful and reasonably peaceful place (for Vietnam that is) and the best part is the ridiculously cheap clothes and shoes that can be made!

I tried to not go to overboard but with the cheap prices and talent of the tailors (you can show them anything from a magazine and they will copy it exactly for a pittance of the price) I couldn't help myself. At this time we were tossing up between living in Dubai or the UK (two different extremes of Weather) so I decided to get two good jackets/winter coats made just in case.

Chris had two suits made and several shirts and I had skirts and dresses made for teaching in Dubai. Wealso had leather shoes made (Chris 1 wendy 6!!) Mine were very cheap at around $8 a pair.

While we waited for our clothes and shoes to be made we wandered around the beautiful 'old city' and along the riverside.

We watched a show with traditional dancing and music.

We were very pleased with our clothes and shoes and loved everyday spent in Hoi An!

We have finally adjusted to the heat - the temperature in Dalat was probably around 22 - 24 degrees but to us it was far too cold. So yes we can finally say we have adjusted (mostly) to the heat. This is a very good thing because we will be moving to the middle East in a month where I am sure it will only be hotter and more unbearable!

In Dalat it rained 24/7 so we didn't get up to much. The people were very nice here though and there were lots of nice cafes around the lake and river. We spent two days here before heading to Nha Trang.