Sitting on the purfume river in Hue Vietnam

Hello from beautiful Hue, Vietnam!

Things couldn't be going any better in this beautiful, peaceful country. Vietnam is a very beautiful place that is entirely different from the world of Thailand. This country's poverty is a lot more in your face than Thailand and there is alot less of a tourist infrastructure. These things aside the people of this country have really touched me and the laid back kind nature of the people will never be forgotten. Since the last post we spent a few days in a beautiful town called Hoi An. Hoi An came onto the international scene for thousand years now. It was a very important trading point for many asian but as well as european countries. It is also a UNESCO world heritage site and its easy to see why. The town is set along the river on one side where the majority of people are fishermen or merchants of some sort. The other side of town is on the ocean and there are some breathtaking views from the beach. On our first day we arrived exhausted from our 24hr bus ride so we took it pretty easy and did some wandering around town and found a very nice little restaurant with a really cool old vietnamese man that we ended up going back to very often. The next day we took a tour to another UNESCO world heritage site called Myson Holyland. This was an ancient place of worship and the people who maid it were from the same era of Angkor Wat in cambodia. Unfortunatlly though this site was heavily bombed during the vietnamese war by american war planes, and the damage was very apparent. This is just one example of how america attacked peaceful people and places, sites of worship, schools, Buddhist temples, hospitals, so many needless deaths in this horrible war. The Holyland was a very cool place and it was very interesting to see the carvings and brick laying methods of these people. The next day we spent touring around town and checking out some of the local sites. Various museums as well as beautiful houses with history going back hundreds of years, all in all it was my favorite day in vietnam and I would actually say that Hoi An has been my favourite place that I have ever been. A wonderful experiance. We have now made our way to Hue located in central vietnam. It is a fairly large city so there is a lot of hussle bussle but it does have its quiet relaxed side aswell. Today we did a tour of the city and went to the Forbiden purple city, royal gardens, vietnamese kung fu show as well as a couple tombs. Very interesting stuff but it was extreemly hot today 34+ degrees so we were sweating the entire time. The weather in veitnam is alot hotter than in thailand and the humidity is much much higher so it is a very sticky heat. Well i had best be off but I will try to keep you all up to date as we go!

All the best
D

Good morning Vietnam!

Greetings once again! Much time has passed since my last post so i will do my best to fill you all in. Pai was a really chilled out place, very small but beautifully tucked away in the mountains of northern Thailand. We didnt really accomplish much but we managed to meet a crew of very nice Spanish people and ended up chilling with them the majority of the time, and went out to dinner as well. The next day we headed back to chang mai but not without me stoping the bus on the most hazzardous road on earth so that I could go pee. (Appaerently drinking a bottel of water, fruit shake and 7up before you get on the bus isnt such a good idea, who knew?) Back in Chang Mai we stayed for one night and then the next morning we grabbed out vietnamese visa and headed straight to mae sot. On arrival of mae sot we showed up late so we had a very hard time trying to find a ride into town, and once we did it was little more than a motorbike with some seats attached to the back. Then once in town i started to ask everyone if they knew about highland farm and did my best gibbon imprestion but no one had any idea what i was talking about. So after alot of hassle we decided to stay a night and wake up early the next day. The next morning we made our way to the Burmese border and refreshed our visa's (which expired the next day) and then made our way back to town to catch a truck to the farm. The truck was full of what turned out to be illegal immigrents and on the first police check stop the men gave the police a small bribe and he sent us on our way. But not 5min after that another police truck heading in the other direction pulled us over and procieded to arrest the burmese people, very sad but unfortunatly this is a daily reality in this part of thailand. Then about 1 hour later we finally arrived at highland farm. Khun Pharnee almost had a heart attack when she realized it was me and i was also filled with joy to see her once again. We only spent a short day and a half at the farm and then we made our way on a 9 hour journey back to bangkok. Once in bangkok we had great difficulty in finding the guesthouse Stavros was staying at as the taxi driver had no idea where it was and even proceded to ask me directions in Thai. After alot of circles his transmition actually exploded in his car so that was the end of that ride right there. Luck was on our side tho and we managed to find the guesthouse without to much difficulty, and thankfully stavros was still there. The next day we went to the airport and headed to Ho Chi Minh city in southren Vietnam. On first sight this is a VERY crazy place. There are over 3 million moterbikes in the city and the traffic is nothing less than chaos, just crossing the street you are taking your life into your hands. The next day we went to the Chu Chi tunnels an hour outside of the city and learned some very interesting history about the war. We also went crawling through some of the tunnels that the gorrilas had made it was a very cool experence. Then that evening we caught a bus at 8pm and arrived here in Nha Trang at 6am, pretty brutal ride. Now this evening we are catching another bus at 7 to arrive at 6am yet again but this time in Hoi An. So far Vietnam is a wonderful place with excelent food and very friendly people and i am very glad to be here. Well i must be off but untill next time all the best and take care everyone!

D

Chillin in Pai

Hello once again!

We have made our way from Chang Mai to a small town in the mountains famous for the hippy scene. We had a really awesome time in Chang Mai, and it is a very beautiful city with a very laid back atmosphere. The first night we were all extremely tired from the 36 hour journey from Krabi town in southern Thailand. The next day we took it pretty easy and found a good restaurant near by and got some cheep eats. That night we hired a Tuk-Tuk to take us to the night market and we did some looking around there, but the markets are all the same so i didnt find anything of interest. The next day went to a Muay Thai boxing stadium and watched 11 5 round fights, it was really somthing. At one point 2 boys came out no older than 7 and proceded to kick and knee and puch the crap out of eachother. And the gambling amongst the thai's was so feirce you dared not put your hands in the air for fear that someone would think you wanted to place a bet. Chad was so banged up he wanted to leave before the fights were even over and then just passed out on the wooden stands, crazy times. The next day we hired the same Tuk-Tuk that drove us home from the fights to take us around to some of the attractions outside of town. First off we went to a butterfly farm that was very beautiful and full of life, then after that we went to the orchid farm next door. I was really in my glory there and it was so amazing to see the splashes of colour. After the farm we settled in to a huge buffet meal. I really got my moneys worth that day and pretty much ate untill i couldnt move anymore. After that we piled back into teh Tuk-Tuk and headed down the road to a tiger farm. For about 30 bucks we got to spend 45min total with the tigers. It was truly an amazing experiance that i wont soon forget. The next day we went to the Chang Mai zoo and Aquarium, and that was a really cool thing to see. The aquarium was deffintly the highlight of the day and we say many amazing fish and sharks there. Now we are about 3 hours north of Chang Mai just relaxing and trying to catch up on some sleep.
Well i had best be off but best wishes to all of you reading this and untill next time, take care/

D

Back in Bangkok

Hello once again!

Forgive me for not updating the blog sooner, the Internet down south was rather expensive and the last comp i was on shocked the hell out of me. So since the last post ALOT has happened. We did some more snorkeling on Ko Phangan that was absolutely stunning. The last day on the island we went to the center of the island (On our rented moped) and went and saw a absolutely amazing king cobra show. At first we didnt know what we were getting in to but it turned out to be incredible. The man was a record holder for kissing the most king cobras. The man and a lady came out with several snakes and danced with them and at some points actually put the head of the cobra in they're mouth....crazy stuff. Then at the end of the show we were all allowed to come down and hold the snakes and get a pic taken with them, all in all a very cool experience. The next day we had to wake up at 5:45am to take a taxi across the island, and we got charged double the rate because it was so early (only in thailand) from there we took a boat to Surat Thani (an arm pit of a town) and then tranfered on bus to beautiful Khao Sok Rainforest and national park. Our first day there we did some elephant trekking that was a blast but it was deffintly not long enough. After the ride we got to feed our elephants which was very fun. My elephants name was Siim and he was a gentle giant. The next morning we headed out into the jungle for a 17km treck that involved seeing the largest flower on earth as well as repelling down a waterfall, as well as visiting several sets of falls. It was a wicked experience and we all enjoyed it very much, and were very lucky to see the big flower as it only blooms a few months out of the year and i was very proud to have somthing like that under my belt. From Khao sok we made our way to Krabi town and boarded a longtail boat to take us to Railay beach. Railay is famous for its world class rock climbing and lime stone cliffs and is really a beautiful place. Although it is full of large scale resorts and can be quite an expensive place. We managed to find a decent bungalow but it turned out we wernt the only inhabitents of the room. After we heard some noises from the roof we realized the top of the bungalow opened into the bathroom, so we took a look at the prime king cobra territory and found a small mouse living up there, he was the least of our worries. Not long after finding him a huuge discusting cockroach made his way under the door and into our room, needless to say we all fliped. The next day we went and bought some super bug killer 80000000 and sprayed the place out really good, there was also one on the sink at this point and we made sure he wasnt coming out alive. Now i am currently sitting in bangkok just passing the time untill we can catch a train up to Chang Mai. Its really weird to be back in this awfull city, almost like we never left. Well i think that is all for this post and i will try to keep you more up to date!

Take care everyone and thank you for those following and making comments!!
D