HALONG BAY

The limestone cliffs that jut out of the water everywhere was a trip I'd been looking forward to out here for a while, although as previously said the Tet Festival meant it was cut short by a day in order to get South of Hanoi.

OK, so accidentally managed to get 0ne back on the moto guys as follows:
Got back from a trip in the North at one of the many rubbish border towns with 2 hours to kill before the train to Hanoi.
On the bus to this place I overheard some mention the word 'Casino' which given my lack of poker has the same effect as 'walkies' to a house bound dog!

Despite my best efforts I got no takers to join me in some gambling so after some comedy translation I managed to get a moto to the big hotel on the other side of the town where the casio was.
I'd negotiated 50,000 dong for a lift there and back, with the moto guy waiting 1 hour for me outside whilst I tried to spend my entire trips budget on a pair of aces / spin of a wheel etc.

I got into the casino (in my pikey backpacker gear) amongst 20 or so Chinese men in suits (they cross the nearby border to gamble there where it's legal) and what felt like 100 casino staff in bow ties all going about their business like a scene from a Bond film.

So I apologetially went up to the counter and changed in 500,000 dong into chips, thinking that as that is more than the average monthly wage that would be a sufficient amount....the 3 chips I got in exchange told me otherwise.

So, looking more and more like a complete amateur by the second my dialogue with the main guy on the floor is:

"can you tell me where the poker is please"
"sorry sir, no poker"
"OK, where are the roulette tables please"
"sorry sir, no roulette"
"OK, I'll just play some blackjack for a bit"
"sorry, no blackjack -only baccarat"
"what the hell is bacarat??"

As he began to explain the rules to me I stopped him 5 seconds in, as I'm bad enough with games where I know the rules let alone something I've never even heard of before!

So approximately 2 minutes after I got my pathetic chip stack I cashed them back in again in possibly the shortest time in a casino by a gambler ever!

So, once outside and feeling a bit stupid I dicsover that my moto guy has disappeared - foolishly believing that I would be in the casino for an hour as promised....so after contemplating the long and confusing route back to the train station I manage to flag down another moto guy to take me back for 10,000, presumably leaving my (unpaid) original guy aournd the casino area somewhere!

When I got back and killed enough time I actually tried to look for him but with no joy, no doubt leaving him putting a curse on my head forever after having conned him out of his 50k, although I like to think of it as: Vitenam moto guys 1 - 1 Me!

All I need to now is find the punk that took me to Hanoi from the airport and get my 100,000 back!!!

HANOI (again)

After returning to Haoi from Sapa, the cold weather I was thinking about moaning about in Hanoi felt tropical, no more socks, boots and waterproofs for me!!

Have pretty much done most of the touristy stuff in Hanoi by the time I left for Halong Bay, including the 'Hanoi Hilton', which is the slightly misleading name for the prision which US Pilots were 'entertained' during the American Vietnam war.

Although I've been seeing the many different sights and experiences on offer here, the continuing theme of Bia Hoi (and the associated late nights) have common throughout my time here!

Pic enclosed of the main partners in crime, Tom on the left and Dave on the right. And yes, for those aware of global drinking rules, Dave was accordingly punished for having being double parked with 2 beers!

I'm now leaving Hanoi to head for Halong bay for a couple of days, given the scenery is so good I would have liked to stay for longer, but the 29th is Tet (Chinese new year) meaning that the whole place (including buses) shiuts down for a couple of days , so being back in Hanoi would not be good as I would be bored, broke, hungover or all three!

SAPA
Leaving Hanoi on a cold day (as I say, hit and miss weather) didn't bode to well for Sapa, which is further North and higher than Hanoi...so was preparing myself for Baltic conditions when getting on the night train.

First day here has been a bit nippy, nothing that bad that a beanie and jacket can't fix but have been a bit dissapointed by the fog that was everywhere!
It never really lifted on the first day of trekking so think my photos will have as much detail as if I'd have just taken a photo of my white table cloth instead!!

Other than that, it's still been good and although all the treks I've done so far involve stops at the local tribal villages, there are 5 different ethnic groups here which all adopt a paticular colour / style of dress which has been pretty good to see other than just knackered old western clothing they wore in Thailand / Laos.

Weather on the second day was pretty much as the first, although getting lower into the valleys meant the mist wasn't so heavy....not sure how that works but first 2 pics came out clearer than anything I could manage on the first day (last pic).
Also shown is myself and the group I went with...

Back to Hanoi this evening on the train so will update with more from there as I've not covered as much as I'd like before I move south....

HANOI
After spending the last month in Laos in relative peace and quiet I was actually loking forward to something a little bit more lively.....that said Hanoi is absolutely crazy!!

Crossing the street is Russian Roulette, and after many of those awkward (nearly fatal) moments where you're not sure which side of you the moto driver is going to swerve, the best policy seems to be the stupidest in just walking out in the middle or the road regardless of what's coming! (Apart from Buses, they can't move so quickly and would hurt more than a 25cc screaming moped!)

Having walked the first few hours in Hanoi paranoid of death and in a fragile state of mind the place has appealed more by the day. Although the weather hasn't been as warm as Laos and has been a bit hit and miss, it's still OK to wander around and see / do things.

So far have been to Lenin Park and after reading a book on the U.S war here I actually went to a museum to find out a bit more, not the most likely of places to usually find me, and despite the slightly sore head (which makes reading displays a bit difficult!) it was pretty good.

The sore head owes a massive thank you to a guy from Oz who enjoys drinking games as much as myself, as well as the incredibly cheap 'Bia Hoi' which they serve on street corners, at which you sit on little stools....all at the price of 1,500 dong (not quite 6p) per glass!!!
It's not quite as strong as regular beer in the bars (20,000 dong), but at that price it doesn't matter if you get through enough to fill the bath!!!

In order to keep in line with some of my entries I can also update some more of my misfortunes on the road as well....managed to get ripped off by the airport taxi (paid 50% too much taking GBP exchange rate and not USD as agreed!!) so that's a hard record to beat - getting ripped off in a place before I've even got to my guest house!!

The other incident wasn't quite so much money, but a bit more amusing....got a moto driver to take me back to my hotel at about 3am....fare came to 20,000 so handed him a 50,000 note and asked him for change, he then said "yeah, no problem" and looked into his wallet before buggering off at high speed down the road!! Nice.

Am heading off to Sapa (10 hours North) to trek in the mountains for 3 days so will update that trip when back....

VIENTIANE (again)

So....back in Laos capital again after the 12 hour bus journey from Pak Se, as previously discovered any journey advertised as a 'sleeper' appears to do the trick so although I was awake at 7.00 when I arrived I actually felt OK enough to go out and start my random wandering for the day.

To be honest, as far as the city itself goes there's not an awful lot to report more than my first visit, but as it's the last place I'll see in Laos I have found more things to do that seem to eat up the day without me knowing.

Not so much else to report really, although after much prolongued abuse of alcohol and nice food I took the only sensible option that anyone would do if worried about weight gain - getting my overgrown mullet cut off!!

My Laos haircut was quite an amusing experience in itself, as well as the benefit of losing 2 stone without exercising (meaning beer is still OK)...to get it cut I had to nervously wade through a 15 year old catleogue of David Hasselhoff lookalikes to pick the style that my man/woman (really not sure!) hairdresser was going to copy!

My initial fear of 'psychiatric patient' sideburns and 90 degree angles was actually misplaced and to be fair was actually well worth the $6...and for those who know that's been the cheapest haircut I think I've ever had!

Today I also did something i thought I may never actually do and went to the shooting range to fire a gun!

In a country like Laos that can be both developed and undeveloped at the same time I was wondering what to expect of the shooting range....either a high tech air conditioned laser scoring centre or an abondoned field where the guys run after and pick the bullets up once you've fired them!

Gladly it was more the former than the latter, and felt secure in the knowledge that there were no holes in the walls and no stray bullets would be pinging around the place!

Despite wearing aviator specs and giving it the 'Beverly Hills Cop' large ones it actually transpires that I'm a terrible shot and completely missed the target with 3 of my 10 bullets!
A good experience nonetheless, although I won't be rushing back to prove my lack of hand-eye coordination again!

Leave for Hanoi in a day or two, so will be updating next from a new country....nice!

(Pictures to follow once I actually remember to bring my camera with me to internet cafes!)

TADLO

Farily similar in terms of the remoteness and seclusion to the 4,000 islands but the outrageous luxuries of hot water and electricity were good - if only just to charge the ipod, and spend more than 10 seconds in the shower in the morning without making monkey noises!

The place itself is very scenic and the steep cliffs and rivers make for a lot of waterfalls, which in the way of things to do besides swimming and chilling out is pretty much it. Spent 3 nights there all together, and after taking a 1 day trek though the hills to see the villages and waterfalls meant that I'm ready for somewhere a bit livelier now where the bars and restaurants are open beyond 10.30, and have more than 6 people in them!

Pictures show the waterfalls and height that I trekked to, as well as a picture 0f some of the village kids...also check out the cheekly little critter on the right hand side pulling a face for the camera!
Although the language barriers remain, I always have time for a bit of cheek so this photo is one of my favourites so far!

Am back in Pakse now, not much more to say about that than last time, although a night of food poisoning last visit here (damn my love of pizza!) means I'm not stopping overnight this time and heading straight back to Vientiane, where I'll be flying to Hanoi after a few days.

DON DET ISLAND

Once arrived in Pak Se, which is the main tranposrt hub in the South of Laos. I knew I would be here again so the plan was to try and get straight to Don Det as quickly as possible, as the thought of spending 24 hours in a place that seemed to offer very little besides concrete and guest houses didn't appeal.

It must have shown that me and a couple of others were pretty tired after the 12 hour journey from Vientiane, we somehow got fleeced into taking a local transport van thing with benches to go the 145KM instead of the nice air con buses tourists can usually acquire.

This meant that for 4 hours we were playing a game of how many people you can fit on the bus (26 by the way) in something that resembles the van from the Sooty and Sweep show...only smaller!

Turned out to be quite an amusing journey, although was quite relieved when we arrived so that I could shrug off people leaning on me when sleeping and feel the blood rush back to the numb parts again!

Don Det Island itself is about a 10min boat ride from the mainland of Laos and is the Southern most point you can get in Laos without being in Cambodia, which is literally 100m away.
The island as you may expect is pretty small and quiet, and only has limited electricity...so much so that you can tell when the barman is making a fruit shake as the power from the blender dims all the lights!


I've also been on a couple of trips to the waterfalls around here, one of which involved my bad ass bicycle (in the pic) and it's chain coming off over a dozen times, as well as getting 3 punctures!! The future is clearly not orange, and it made 1 hours worth of riding take 3, as well as a stop to the local mechanics, who was the only one who knew what to do!

All very amusing in retrospect, although am glad the island was quite deserted when I shouted obscenities at the top of my voice after the chain fell off for the 12th time and I'd wiped my black greasy hands on my face by accident!

The second trip to the bigger of the waterfalls (biggest in SE Asia) was also good, and again not just for the scenery....we stopped for lunch before heading back to Don Det, and our fascination with the random foods on offer involved me and my tour group that day chipping in for a bowl of deep fried frogs and having a go....and they were actally pretty good!

Although they were very salty, the crunchiness of the little critters was pretty good, and I had a bout 6 or 7 with my beer...not sure if they were that good for me to order them again as a regular snack, or if they would replace the 'mighty peanut' as beer snack of choice but were still good none the less.

This was also the first stage of an eating challenge I have set myself which will be attempted in Cambodia...those who know my girlie phobia of a certain creepy crawley can guess already but will let you know what other random creatures I'll be eating before the 'main event' in Cambodia!

Have just got into Pak Se now again this afternoon...all being well I'll be heading East to the Bolovan Plateau tomorrow which is equally as remote, so will update with my time there once I've left and heading North again before Vietnam (Hanoi).

VIENTIANE

Not a long journey south from Vang Vieng, and for once was also not a pot hole fest on the road so actually was able to read / listen to music etc. without wondering when the next brain rattling bump was coming from!
After nearly a month in places with 5 ft doorways and narrow entrances it's nice to give a few of the cuts on my head some time to heal!

From what I've read and heard up until now, the capital of Laos hadn't really recived much good press, with many people just stayinga night or two on the way to everywhere else....which is pretty much what I'm doing as well!

Although that said, one of the reasons I'm not staying too long is that I'm off to the South (Pak Se, to cross to Don Det Island) to the 4,000 Islands, which is about 16 hours south by bus to a place where the river separates into lots of small islands....with only 2 weeks on the visa left I want to get down there to see what that has to offer as well as the Bolovan Plateau to the East of that.

Sticking to my original route, the plan would then be to head back up to Vientiane again to get to Hanoi. I had orginally said to myself that I was going to go 100% overland, although the prospect of a 24hour bus journey over roads that look victim to a meteor shower a flight is looking an attractive option, the condition of my head has taken presedence over the ocnduition of my wallet!

That side, the place is actually OK, it hasn't got the whole backapcker area of bars etc that other places have had which is good, although it means that people and places are very far spread out not making it that social a place.

Photos are of the main drag in Vientiane, as well as Buddha park (with me at the mouth of hell - maybe a sign of things to come??!!)

VANG VIENG

After a 6 hour bus journey south from LP is where I'm at now in Vang Vieng, this is a place I've been unsure about before arriving due to the fact that the place is supposed to be over run with bars showing Friends on loop to stoners all day.....that didn't disappoint (but did if you know what I mean). However, the weather here has been a lot better than anywhere else so far whilst not being too hot for a pasty milk bottle such as myself (30-33 degrees - nice!).
Aside from the bars the scenery here is awesome, and booked myself into a bungalow about 5 mins out of town by the edge of the river. Photos are of my less than 5 star bungalow, although given the view from the front door in the other pic I reckon I've done alright for 2.50 dollars a night!

Depsite the noises of canned laughter as you walk down the main drag at night the place does have a pretty good nightlife, with lots of chilled out bars and a few later night places that will stay open as long as you stay awake!
However, the chilled out atmosphere is perhaps something to do with all the 'happy' products that are on sale in every bar and restaurant. 'Happy' products contain brain bending ingredients such as Opium, Magic Mushrooms and regular old weed and can take the form of Pizzas, shakes, cakes...pretty much anything you can eat or drink!

Although for those still up for spending 2 days twitching with paranoia can buy a normal joint off the menu as well.... and as a few people seem to be reading this blog, and to defnd my excellent (??) reputation I can say that I haven't had anything of a menu that would bend ones brain....Beer Lao doesn't count though!

With the night activities sorted and great weather, the main activity of choice here is tubing. This basically you and an inner tube (you can see what they've done there) floating down the river, whilst getting pulled into one of the many bars along the 4-5 hour route for a beer or two, volleyball or mentally high rope swings. This is awesome fun, whether you want to play Ratan ( volleyball with your feet and a smaller ball and court) or just watch petrified people munching it into the water from 30 ft!

Have also had a go myself at the big swings and so far have managed to face plant most of them! However, no matter how painful the angle of entry into the water I've managed to maintain discipline to remain in 'bomb' position which seems to get a good laugh from the crowd!
Will be leaving here in a day or 2 I think to probably head to the Laos captial Vientiane, although am still undecided which direction I should go.

Until then, happy new year everyone and hope whatever you got up to was fun and the hangovers were worth it!