Beard's on Tour: October 2011

Hello

Im sorry its been a while since the last blog the internet here is not great and well to be honest we have just been having to much fun and had no time !!! lol only joking...

We got to Lak Sao a very small town just before the Thursday and we had a walk around the local market not a very nice experience they sell everything and anything dead animals like squirrels and rats they had bee hives sitting there not sure what that was about we didnt spend long in there !!!

we didnt arrive there til late afternoon so relaxed until our evening meal out at the only restaraunt in the town we the locals who asked if we minded if they started singing we said no after a few minutes they were up one on the stage singing and the rest dancing around and a couple of the girls in our group got puled up to dance with them was funny. After dinner we found a small fair well not really a fair lots of the locals gathered together playing games they had a massive bounze castle and a small ride for the kids they had these game where you had 3 darts and you had to pop the balloons this game was very addictive Lee had 4 gos until he won and he was the first person in our group to win which mad him even more happy he won a can of pop !!!! ooohhhh.

The next morning we head to the border only took 45 mins before entering Vietnam you have to have your passport stamped that you have left Laos all going good until one of the gourp Tina from Oz didnt have a Vietnam Visa only a letter of approval which is only valid if you are flying into Vietnam not going through the land border this was a big problem they wouldnt let her go through we all got back on the bus and the tour leader promised the guards that once he had delivered us the the new guide the other side of the gates he would bring Tina back we go through, meet our new guide for the day we move bags over and say goodbye to TIna who has to go back to Vientiane to get a visa before she could depart Laos and get into Veitnam but we think she will just to Bali where she was due to go 2 days after we got into Hanoi.

So fun and games over we head to Vinh which is were we stay for a few hours until we get on the sleeper train to Hanio. We got onto the train at 10pm long day so far the sleeper cabins arent that bad same as what we had in china we chatted for a while drank some beer and then tried to sleep !! we arrive in Hanio 4am only took 10 mins to get to hotel the down side they only had day rooms available as check in wasnt until midday we had 4 rooms between 11 people me and lee could share a single bed that was fine we had 2 sisters they shared a bed two guys had a room we a bed each and two ladies had a room a bed each which left 2 guys and a girl sharing a room with 2 beds Antonio slept in the bath !!!!! problem sorted !!!

So we had a few hours sleep then up and meet at 8am for our walking tour of Hanio, this city is mental ive never seen so many scooters on the roads in my life there are not rules as to the right of way or lights crossing the roads was fun you just walk and they go around you !!! on the walking tour we went to Ho Chi MIns Mausoleum, His living Quarters, The temple of Literature and Hanio Hilton (The Prison) all vey good to see even though we were all really tried. we finished thr tour aaround midday back to the hotel check into our own room and then met with Jane and went for lunch and catch up with Jane it was nice to see a friendly face after being away this long !!!

We spent 3 days in Hanio after the walking tour the rest of our time there was free to do what ever we wanted we went to the Womens Museum which was about women during the Veitnam war and abour how single women manage within in this culture we spent 2 and half hours walking around this place it had 5 floors and honestly me and lee never spend more than hlaf an hour in Museums we get bored but we both really enjoyed this one.

We went out for a group meal with the new people joining the tour as well as jane which was a good evening after dinner we found a nice bar to relax and and have a drink in i had a glass of red wine it was lovely to have wine you dont get wine over here much and when they do sell it normally its by the bottle and oits so expensive so we have been drinking beer Lee had long island ice tea and a glass of port !!! lol

The next day we headed to another sleeper train this time is was going to be all night not just 6 hours, we got on at 7pm and got off at 8am in Hue. We had an hour or so to freshen up and then we headed off on a biking tour... Turns out the 30 minutes of flat cycling was Vietnam time (so basically 3 hours and very hilly!!!).. Me and Lucy were fine but a couple of people in the group struggled..

We went for a nice lunch on route, went to a temple and got wet (it rained!!!)... That evening we went out for dinner at a local restuarant and they have a very unique way of opening the beer bottles.. We will post the video up when we can...

The next morning we got on a local bus at 7.30am to go to Hoi-An... It took us 4 hours and we stopped off on route at a beach which was nice... We went on a walking tour when we got here and they took us to a tailors where we can get stuff made... 3 suits, 7 shirts and a dress later we were done...

Last night we went on a cooking class where we cooked our own food... There were 7 of us and it was a great laugh... We cooked Spring Rolls, Snapper wrapped in Bannana Leaf, Chicken Salad and fried prawn wontons...

Today we had a lazy morning by the pool, Lee got sunburnt.. In the afternoon we went and tried our clothes on and arranged for them to be shipped home...

Tonight 5 of us met up and had a nice meal at the hotel... Tomorrow we have a 9 hour train ride to Nha Trang...

Hope everyone is well

Lots of Love
Lee and Lucy

Hoi - An Pics