Thursday 14 June 2007

Good morning Vietnam

Hanoi up north was our next stop after Thailand and while we were there Scott and I bussed 3hrs to Halong Bay (Decending Dragon) for 3 days on a junk boat. Activities included: Swimming (pic), kyaking, cycling, trekking, cruising, drinking and a lot of laughs as we were lucky enough to have a great group on our boat. The weather has been hot and muggy all through Vietnam. 33 degrees and 90% humidity. Halong Bay has definately been a highlight so far in my trip and i would come back one day.

Nha Trang was our next stop in Vietnam, about 3/4 of the way down south of Hanoi. Usually a peaceful beach town but when Scott and i arrived we had no idea that the Bien Festival (Sea Festival) was on the very next day. Accomadation was hard to find and with 20,000 Vietnamese tourists flooding the town we somehow manged to find a place to stay tucked away down an alley way. During the festival there were a lot of performances from local idols and celebrities that the crowd loved but i had no idea who they were. The next day we went on a boat cruise to the islands around Nha Trang. We snorkeled and drank wine swimming in the water with floating rings in the sun which was a lot of fun. During lunch, the boat band were entertaing around 100 of us as 4 boats all moured together to watch the performance. This is when Scott and i gave a fantastic vocal performance (pic) singing the kangaroo song (Waltzing Matilda as Australians know it).

Ho Chi Minh City down south was our last stop in Vietnam. We visited the Cu Chi tunnels (230km all up). We clambered down just a 90m section where we both just could fit. By the end my legs were fatigued and sore and because it was so hot down there was once again perspiring all of my body fluids. As well as crawling around, i fired 5 rounds using an AK-47. I feel that i was quite accurate being my first time ever shooting a gun and by the end of the first shot i was completely deaf as the bang was so loud. I then visited the war museum after that which was both very graphic and very sad.

Next stop is Hong Kong for 2 days then Japan for 10.
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