Hanoi Vietnam

Right so we're heading off now in an hour all the way down to Hoi An. It's 16 hours by bus! I have some pictures from last night. Will add some videos of us crossing the street. It's mental here!

Chat soon

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I haven't really had time to write any coherent thoughts about the places we've been yet because we have so little time. But we'll have a quick run through our experiences so far. Ray you might wanna note some of this for your trip.

We started in Bankok. We had no hotel booked and arrived at the airport fairly smashed after a long flight. Straight away we were getting shafted. When you arrive at Bangkok airport you have to go down one or two levels to get a taxi. The taxis are multi-coloured (pink or yellow/green), we hit the top floor which is the deleuxe taxis. A taxi to town should only cost 400 baht approx or else you are being ripped off!

On Cheevers' advice we hit T.A.T. (the "Tourism Board"), except there is two TATs... T.A.T., who are imposters, and TAT the real tourist board! We went to the former and probably spent 50-100 euro over the odds. We booked 2 nights in Bangkok, a VIP bus to Chiang Mai, 2 nights in Chinag Mai, a 3 day trek while there, our visa to Vietnam, and the slow boat to Laos for 2 days. All this cost 250 euro, not bad at home but you can always haggle! Ask to see the exact amounts and breakdowns and question them.

Bangkok is crazy, ping pong shows, Westerns and Thai girls, bars, scam merchants and expenisve shopping malls. It's an experience and aclimatises you to the haggling world and the seediness of the place.

So off to the bus station for a 9 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai, near the north border with Burma. We got the VIP bus which costs 800 baht. If the travel agent tries to charge more say no I'll get the ticket myself and ask for the whereabouts of the bus station.

Chiang Mai is nice and quiet. We had a nice place and it was cheaper than Bangkok. We hit an "Irish Bar" and the market while there. Nice enough to see. We then went on our trek. You can be lucky with the trek. The quality of the experience depends on so many things, the people you are with, the distance you cover, the weather, the path you take, and the guides. We got lucky, great guides, great people and the weather wasn't too bad. Ponchos are a must in this season! We also got elephant rides and bamboo rafting as part of the trek. All in all a great few days.

When we got back we hit the town with the trekking crew and one of the guides. We had the guide drunk after 2 pints and a whiskey and he was off home. We stayed out and hit a night club. Good craic, seediest joint I've ever been in. Somehow we managed to get 6 in a Tuk Tuk after and neary broke the thing. The guy was not happy.

Next day we were up early for the slow boat. Books, iPods, PSPs as well as cushions are a must. 7 hours the first day and 9 the next. Laos is a lovely country, a complete change to the hustle and bustle of Thailand. We haggled a VIP boat the next day for $200 amongst 15 of us. This was a great plan. We had airplane bucket seats and a cooler of beer. Made the trip fly and we arrived before the other 60 peeps in LuangPrabang and got the choice of hotels in the area. Paid 400 baht for a room with four of us (8 euro). Some of the crew hit the waterfalls and they looked spectacular here. Blue water and deep plunge pools that you can dive into.

We hired a "VIP" bus to ViangVien. It was hell! No aircon and a 5 hour ride with no leg room! ViangVien is the tubing spot. Best laugh ever! Will post pics soon as I get them off Dave the Kiwi who brought his camera. A waterproof bag is a must BTW. Very handy for waterfalls and rivers etc!

On to the capital of Laos then, Vientiane. Nice place. Not much to do and quite expensive to stay. We had to pay $15 dollars to stay in a place because we arrived at like 9 at night. We got a flight to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Beware, you have to pay to get out of both Vietnam and Laos, no cost in Thailand. We had spent all our Kip in Laos so had to take out dollars!

In Hue now, waiting to catch a bus to Hoi An. 12 hours to here only to be told to get off the bus and wait for a 2 o'clock bus to Hoi An, another 5 hours. Playing pool in a bar with some Vietnamese now. Good laugh to pass the time. Oh and it gave me a chance to write some collective thoughts about the last 2 weeks and 2 days... Mad, 3 countries in 2 weeks. Check out our progress on a map of Asia. We've nearly travelled around Ireland 6-7 times in the number of Kms now. Oh the joy! We're getting suits done in Hoi An for a few days. Mum there'll be some suits heading your way soon! Whether I'll actually ever be home to wear them is another story!

YES YES!! Bring on Natrang!

And yes in defence of the waterfall pic, we were there about 6 days most of which was on a bus and of not with factor 50 involved. We're not on package holiday, it's backpackers tan all the way; arms, face and tops of the feet only! Meath farmers would be so jealous!

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Hoi An, Beaches, Motorbikes & Suits

Well we have our last night tonight in Hoi An. Really enjoyed the change of pace here. A lot of families here and of course clothes shops. Women call it heaven, men call it hell. Lads never bring your GF here, you'll never forgive her!

We arrived late four nights ago and got a crap hotel. Have stayed at a lovely spot since with a pool. Unfortunately Brian felt pretty rough the last few days and he slept quite a bit but we did a fair amount. Going to the beach, I got 2 suits, bought prezzies, I went partying at a beach party will 6 in the morn and watched all the footie. Really liked Hoi An but it's on to party town Nha Trang next!

2 nights there, then Dalat, then Hoi Chi Min adn back to Bangkok. We've had to skip Cambodia due to time constraints. Maybe we can go on the way home.

Hope eveyone is well and c'mon the 'Pool!!

Here's some more piccies to enjoy, I like the one where I display my chop stick skills!

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Nha Trang

Leaving Nha Trang today. Pretty cool place, although it's alot quieter than I expected. I suspect that most people are heading to Thailand for the Full moon party like us.

We basically partied for 2 nights here and not much else. We are feeling a little delicate today, but no time to rest, getting on a bus for another 10 hours today! Ho Chi Min, or Siagon, is next on the list. Then we fly to Bangkok to meet the lads. It's so weird to be seeing them in 3 days time. Feels like a lifetime ago that we last saw them and had a few drinks before they left.

Hope all is well at home, I checked the O'Connell street cam the other day and it was lashing. Pollard I love thee, good luck with the travelling and make sure you join facebook! No-one uses bebo anywhere else but Ireland.

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Good Morning Vietnam

Hey all!

Haven't posted in ages, so apologies all round. I haven't been online in a while for various reasons. First we flew back into Bangkok so I'll cover Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok first!

We went to the tunnels and war museum in Saigon. A great experience. Some gruesome pictures at the museum but the tunnel were cool. Myself and Brian had a quick fire of some AKs and M16s as we wouldn't be heading to Cambodia. The pics are fairly self explanatory. We saw the traps, walked through tunnels and met a Vet. The tunnels were so warm, how 15,000 Viet Kong stayed down there all day and night is unbelievable.

We flew out looking forward to meeting the lads for the first time in 3 months! It was nice coming in to Bangkok with a better understanding of what to expect and how to deal with it. The boys had a place on Koshan Road so we joined them for a night. We also met Will form Laos and partied all night! The lads were in great form but it was time to get to full moon so the train and Ko Pha Nang beckoned the next day...

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