Hanoi, Ha Long Bay & Sapa

The journey to Hanoi was the worst of our night buses so far. Don't get me wrong, i'm not fussy about where i'm sleeping on this trip as i'm starting to feel like we live on night buses and having an actual bed is five star luxury, but you would think that when you are paying probably ten times the amount for a seat than the locals, they would at least be a bit nice to you, but no. We were not allowed to choose our seats, and god forbid should we try and sleep on the bottom bunk (this is for locals only) we were shuffled to the back seats with our rucksacks too. Being at the back of the bus made for a bumpy ride which was annoying enough, but we were then woken up by being thumped in the leg a few times. The driver then clambered up on to the beds with us still on them, shoved us out of the way, pushed my bag on to me so I nearly fell off and then PINCHED me so hard. After throwing a few nasty words at him we got off the bus and hoped for a smoother journey to our hostel. 

I will never understand why taxi drivers come to bus stations to pick up tourists when they cannot understand a word of what you were saying. Hanoi Backpackers' Hostel had been recommended by numerous people along the trip, so thats where we decided to head. Quite a simple name of a place you would think? The name of the town, what it was, and who it was for. We pointed at our bags, made sleeping actions, tried saying it slower but nothing worked so we headed out to the main road where we finally found a taxi driver who knew his arse from his elbow and took us straight there. 

It was around 7.30am when we arrived and I have never seen anything like what we walked in to. The huge lobby was full of people in bright sombreros and you could not move so at this point, after all the aggravation it took to get there, we were expecting them to be full. Luckily, we got a bed each and it is definitely one of the best hostels we have stayed in yet. We were quick to get out and explore the capital and to be honest, we didn't find much. There was a rubbish market, and a 'city gate' that looked more impressive in the hand drawing on the tourist map we had picked up. The main thing of note was what was on the other side of the gate; we had head stories of the locals eating dog in Hanoi (although who can be sure that they haven't eaten dog when they've ordered chicken - we are in Asia) but what we saw is beyond what we imagined. We were walking up the road and there were various food stalls which is nothing new but then we noticed a lady using a meat cleaver to cut up what looked like the back end of a skinned and deep fried dog. In disbelief, we kept walking only to find a basket full of whole dogs, still with their teeth growling. Not too sure why this is a normal food here and it made me feel physically sick so on that note, we headed back to our hostel. 

Now, there are two Hanoi Backpackers, the original, and the downtown. Convinced we were following the map to the right one, we ended up at the original after about an hours walk so we decided to cut our losses and jump in a taxi - female map reading wins again! Every Sunday, the hostel have a barbeque evening with free beer. Never to miss out on anything free, we headed to the terrace and had a few drinks before heading down to the bar who give out free shots almost hourly. We decided to play spoons, and with this genius idea we made a lot of friends, albeit one enemy who did "not want to play this kind of game" and swanned off in her ballgown and full face of make-up (no love lost there). 

The hostel put on a pub crawl every night and all the hostels around the area start in the hostel bar and move on down the road at around 10pm. The bar was good, and everyone was together which was nice, but the one thing thats starting to annoy me is that every club in Asia start to play some amazing songs and mix them all in to the same dubstep, clubby horrible noise, but apart from that it was fun. The bar was shut down by the police as Hanoi has a curfew and we decided to call it a night, not before getting a laughing cow cheese baguette as drunk munch, which has now become a weird craving of ours because its so good! We later heard that the bar crawl then heads to a dodgy club under a motorway bridge run by the mafia, wow. 

The next day, we were determined to be cultured even though we were hungover, so we set off with two of our dorm roommates to see Hoa Lo Prison after taking an unexpected de-tour to the Temple of Literature (don't ask) and it wasn't really worth it. The artefacts in the museum didn't seem legitimate and after seeing S-21 in Cambodia, it was a bit of a let down. After this, we set off for our first massage, which was a slightly awkward experience all lying naked next to eachother, but hey ho, we are all friends here. We had an early night ready for our Ha Long Bay and Castaway Island tour which started at 8am. 

What an AMAZING few days. Although it quite an expensive trip, it is worth every penny especially since you get a bright castaway hat (those sombreros we were so confused about when we first arrived). Now most of the funny things that happened on this trip shouldn't and wont be written on here but as a whole, it went a little like this:

We arrived at the port where we all split on to different boats. We were greeted by our Dutch tourguide Michael who spent the entire trip calling us English C***s which made us feel right at home. Boating around the bay was amazing, it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen so at first I thought it was going to be a shame that we were about to spend most of the trip too drunk or too busy to really take it all but then I realised that was a stupid thought! 

We were given our bedrooms and quickly summoned up to the top deck where we were given the trip rules. No saying 'mine' or 'ten' or you had to do t-e-n pushups (you could opt to do girly pushups but only if you made sex noises whilst doing so) and you were not allowed to drink with your right hand. If you did, this was called out as a buffalo and you had to down whatever was in your hand. Luckily, I was caught out once, only with a bottle of water in hand. After our introductions, we were informed that it was shotgun o'clock (a time that seemed to roll around at too many times of the day) and we had to repeat the following chant:

MASTER SHOTGUNNER UP ABOVE, MAY THESE BEERS GO DOWN SMOOTHLY, QUICKLY, EFFICIENTLY, WITH MINIMAL SPILLAGE, AND MINIMAL AFTER-SICKAGE. SHOTTGUNNNN!

... and then shotgun our beers. After a few more shotgun's on the clock, we were off kayaking which was amazing. 

After this, we had a few more shotguns and jumped off the boat a few times before having dinner and getting ready for the evening. We mored up and had a boat party that night where one of the other boats of our 4 came to join us for a game of dragon: a game that involved alot of swapping clothes, drinking, getting naked, drinking, telling embarrassing confessions about yourself, drinking, kissing, guys lapdancing in girls clothes and more drinking. What a great way to all get to know your new friends!

The party carried on thanks to our legendary bar man Hank and after a few too many, we all crashed out knowing we'd be up at 7am to start it all over again but not before having a HANK SELFIE.

Breakfast the next day was not a good experience but most powered through as 9am rolled around and it was shotgun o'clock once again:

Even though I got a hell of a lot of abuse, I decided that a 9am beer was not for me but the other two powered through. GO ON GIRLS. Day two, and we were off to Castaway Island where we stayed in little huts on the beach with our party room friends and just mosquito nets for company.

The island was completely private just for the people on the tour and all of the boats were there together. The day was spent jumping off the pontoons, swimming, rock climbing, high speed tubing, playing volleyball, tanning and of course drinking. I decided not to drink all day considering my hangover but before dinner I finally manned up and got a beer, only for a good reason of course. A couple of years ago, one of the tourguides sadly passed away, so as a tribute to him everyone on the island goes to his memorial stone, the guides say a few words and then of course, you all shotgun to him. Before the shotgun, the last words were "to new friends, to old friends, and to absent friends" to which I welled up  and had to go for a secret cry with the girls in our hut. I find it so strange what little things can set you off when you have lost someone yourself but as the girls say, its better to get it out and i'm going to blame my ourburst on being drunk (on one beer). After my little moment, we had an amazing night, playing more drinking games, dancing, singing, late night DMC's on the beach and night swimming. The swimming was the most amazing thing as there is illuminous plankton in the sea so everytime you move, your body makes the water glitter around you, it was incredible and you cannot really imagine what it looks like until you get in the water. The hungover journey back to Hanoi the next day was horrendous - travelling home on a boat the day after consuming that much alcohol and having that little sleep should not be allowed. Thank you party boat crew, and everyone else at Castaway for the most fabulous time! 

After recovering from our very un-cultured few days, we decided to head to Sapa which is in the North of Vietnam and is home to 6 of the 54 different tribes in Vietnam, who all have their own languages. The scenery here is absolutely amazing as the mountains are all covered in staggered rice and corn fields. We thought the best way to see this (and detox from Castaway) would be to do a two day trek. We took the night bus from Hanoi and on arrival met our tourguide, Ya. Ya is from the Hmong tribe and was amazing, she spoke a lot of English and explained all about Sapa while taking us around our 10km trek. We visited her home and met her family, where her husband cooked us dinner, which was some of the best Vietnamese food we have eaten yet! She showed us how they weave, dye and make their own clothes and explained all about their religion and beliefs. Ya was so welcoming and really made us feel at home but for some reason the travel company make the trekkers stay elsewhere, which wasn't even half as good, so we took photo's of her house to take back to them to convince them to let them stay there instead, I hope we succeeded!

After lunch, we bought some souvenirs from the girls who came with Ya, who were obviously only there to sell us stuff, but nevertheless we got some nice bits, and took a dodgy headwear selfie on the sly. We spent the afternoon trekking to the village where we would be staying and at our homestay we were greeted by the biggest and scariest German Shepherd in the world. It was barking at the door and the owners didn't bother to do anything about it, just expected us to run past and try and dodge it. Even Ya was scared so we knew it wasn't just us being typical westerners. To be honest, I expected a lot more from a homestay. The family wasn't very welcoming, we spent most of it sat awkwardly outside, had an awkward dinner and made our excuses to go to bed for an extremely early night. Luckily, it was believable since we had been trekking all day. The next day Ya was waiting for us with pancakes and tea before we set off on the shorter 3km trek. She asked if we wanted easy or hard, we chose hard as easy was just walking along the main road back to the bus but were soon eating our words when we realised that the hard route was so hard because it had rained over night and we were slipping all over the place. The route may have been a third of the length of the day before but it was a lot harder since there were more up hill treks and you also had to concentrate so hard not to slip down the mud. We met with a larger group doing the same route, and just like us they had proper walking shoes on but we were all over the place. Suddenly, a group of local girls, who were no more than 7 or 8 joined the group with flip flops and sandals on who were there to hold your hands and help you down the mud. The embarrassment set in but it was safe to say most of us needed the help! We got to the bottom and found the waterfall which was so pretty but this was tainted by trying to be sold more rubbish! I should know by now that no one in Asia helps you for free. All the little girls were swarming around everyone saying "you buy bracelet from me" if you said no the response was "but I helped you so much" or "I not your friend anymore". It was so annoying as we didn't ask for the help, they just grabbed your hand! To be honest, if we hadn't already bought bracelets the day before, I probably would have given in but if I bought something from every person who asked here, I would have no money left by now and an arm full of bracelets that all look the same.

  

The trek was so good, and it was really nice to get back in to doing something a little more cultured than drinking. There is no stop for us at the moment so we headed back to town, showered, ate and got back on another night bus back to Hanoi where we arrived at 3.45am. Great, we didn't have a hostel booked, as we were expecting to be back at a more normal time of the morning when we could grab our bags from the storage room before leaving, and we didn't really know where we were. So we searched around for a taxi, which are surprisingly hard to come by as most of the drivers were asleep, and got them to take us to Hanoi Backpackers. We snuck past the security (who were asleep - got to love Asia) and headed up to the fifth floor where we bedded down on the sofas. Apart from being woken up by a few drunk people and being tutted at by the cleaners, it was a pretty good few hours sleep. After this, we grabbed our bags and headed to the airport. I will be really sad to leave Vietnam, it has been fabulous, but its time for the next stop. HELLO LAOS!

P.s, we finally got a selfie with some water buffalo - sod you Koh Rong!

Welcome to Vietnam.

The border crossing from Cambodia was much quicker than getting in as we already had our visas. It would also have been a lot smoother if we hadn't met a very lairy Australian who convinced most people on the bus that the driver was out to con them and to argue to walk through with their own passports. Of course, this pissed the driver off and took longer but the girl was happy. We also got conned out of $1 for a 'medical test' as we didn't have an international vaccination certificate (who knows how you get one of those) which involved you ticking a box if you have a disease and them taking your temperature. WHAT!! Next time we know to refuse this and argue that you do have your vaccinations and walk off. 

The sleeper buses are a million times nicer in Vietnam, we each have individual beds for a start and we have wifi, which still blows my mind. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as the locals still call it and it was such a weird experience. Every other time we have gotten off a bus, there has been at least 10 Tuk Tuk drivers waiting and literally surrounding you as you stepped off. This time, there was nothing and no one around. We tried to ask other people on the bus but they weren't very helpful. We decided to walk around the bus station to see if there was any Tuk Tuk's or taxis in another area and we found nothing. Still not sure if we had actually reached our destination, we left the bus station and walked the streets finally finding a taxi who took us to our hostel after we'd learnt our lesson about turning up to a main city without a booking. We only stayed here one night as it was down a few too many dodgy alleyways for our liking and moved on to Eco Backpackers which was a pretty good find. We private little pods for beds, so even though there were 10 people to a dorm, it felt quite private.

Ho Chi Minh City was a world away from everywhere in Cambodia, it has a much more western feel and it is the busiest place I have ever seen. Every road has a sea of mopeds and crossing them feels like you're gong to die everytime. The best tactic was to find a local and follow them and/or close your eyes and run. We spent our time in the city eating Pho, a traditional vietnamese soup, going to the market and buying too much (best market we've found so far), visiting the reunification palace and going to the war remnants museum, which basically seemed to be a museum that showed all the bad things that America did to them and didn't really explain the war at all which was a little dissapointing. 

We had been wondering what the local drinking culture was like here and whether the locals got as drunk as us Brits and were pleased to discover its not only us who cant handle it... While having a drink outside a bar where we were the only westerners a group of local girls came falling out of the bar trying to hold one of their friends up. I have never seen someone so drunk, she couldn't even hold herself up to sit on a stool. At one point she fell backwards and on to the floor right below my bench so even I had to get up and help her. We werent sure how the rest of the locals would react, some were laughing but her friends were crying, she was crying and we couldn't help but think 'she is only drunk, just get her some food and water, it isnt the end of the world' but it seems as though this isn't a regular occurrence. The worst part about this was how they got her home, her clearly very angry boyfriends turned up on his moped and after trying alot of times with her falling out of their arms, they draped her on the back of his moped and rested her head on his back and off they went... Mental.

The best place we visited was Cu Chi, which before the war was a little town of locals who supported the north in the war. As they were living in the south, they were targeted so they built tunnels and rooms underground so that they could hide from the American troops. It was really facinating to see and we even got the chance to crawl through one of the original tunnels (none of us three were brave enough as it was pitch black, you could hardly move and there were bats and other animals in your way. We did, however crawl through the newly constructed tunnels that have lights in and have been made wider for the fat westerners and even this was claustrophobic enough so god knows how these people lived in there. Our tour guide, Jackie was fantastic. He worked as a translator during this time so he knows everything you would need to know.

We were pretty lucky with our hostel this time round, we met a group of Dutch friends and had a night out with them, starting with a bar that consisted of sitting on plastic chairs in the middle of the road with mopeds dodging you and finishing by cramming 11 people in to one taxi to get to Apocalypse club. It had a good mix of locals and westerners and once again we were the ones having it the hardest! This made the local girls want to join in and slutdrop with us sometimes to the disappointment of their boyfriends but I love how much fun they seem to be having when they get in with a group of westerners, so keep it coming girls - we can all pretend we can dance like Beyonce together!! And then look like this the next day:

From Ho Chi Minh, we set off to Nha Trang, which is more of a holiday town but was pretty fun. Full of Russians as it seems to be their go to holiday destination and everything was in Russian, then Vietnamese then English which was bizarre. We decided to have a proper 'girls holiday' few days and booked a booze cruise, and a day at a water & theme park but not before spending the morning on the beach and visiting the mud and mineral baths which was such a bizzarre experience but quite nice dispite sharing a bath with a few strangers. 

Where do I start with the booze cruise?! Well first let me say that it was most definitely NOT a booze cruise which we slowly started to realise after we got on the coach and one by one, families with kids got on, mixed with one or two westerners and then an 80 year old local got on and sat next to Leanne. Oh god, we thought while Lisa tried to stay positive and thinking we'd be put on a separate boat. We weren't. The guide tried his hardest to make it a booze cruise and told us if we weren't drunk we couldn't go home and put Snoop Dogg's 'young and wild and free' on. It was laughable. We pulled up to the first island where we stayed for 2 hours to snorkel, had lunch on the boat and then it all turned. Suddenly a 'band' was set up and they sang us some songs, then got people from different countries to come up and sing something from their country. The Scottish boys got up and the band started playing Wonderwall, then the American sang along to Country Roads, then it was Korea's turn. They started singing along to a traditional Korean song and suddenly the DJ came over the top of themwith  Gangnam Style, the boat went crazy and they sang all of the words, somehow looking quite cool while doing it. After a few more beers, it was time for the floating bar. You could jump off the top of the boat and swim to a man giving out free cocktails which was basically a really strong vodka and fanta. On the last Island we decided to go on the jet-skis and for some reason the people you rented them stayed on the back with you which was a bit weird. Leanne was driving and went so fast that our man shot off the back and in to the water but he seemed to love it. 

After talking to the others on the boat, we realised that they had booked at snorkeling trip and were equally disappointed as they hardly saw anything. Never expect to be doing what you think you will be in Asia. After moaning alot before lunch, we ended up having such a fun day and went out for drinks afterwards where it was ladies night (free cocktails!!).

The next day we were off to Vinpearl waterpark which was a fun day out and Lisa accidently walked around showing everything off after her bikini top had moved position after going down a slide without her noticing. Luckily (or unluckily), I saw and had to tell her accross a group of people. It was genuinely the funniest thing and everytime I think about it I crease up. I now feel like were even closer (and have seen them once more since). The best part of this was going across to the island on a cable car and seeing such a good view of the surrounding islands.

The next day we were off to Da Lat, which is only four hours away from Nha Trang but it felt like a whole new country. Da Lat was so very cold, which I liked for all of about five minutes then missed the heat. We stayed at Da Lat Family Hostel and it was AMAZING. It is a bit much when you first walk in, but they are the most amazing and welcoming people and really make you feel like you are part of the family. It is run by Mama, and her two daughters - Crazy and Sexy Annie. There is a lot of hugging, a lot of massages and a lot of free food. We went out for dinner with Sexy Annie the first night and Mama cooked for everyone the second night. There was about 30 of us sat round the table in their lounge and after paying $2 each, we ate like kings. Mama couldn't speak English but taught us a catchy song about Vietnam which we all keep singing now. 

If you go to Da Lat, YOU HAVE TO STAY HERE!! The only reason we went was to go Canyoning which was amazing. I left my inner wuss at home and braved the cliff jumping, abseiling and sliding down rocks. It was the most fabulous day and so much fun until I managed to fall from about ten metres up down a twenty five metre waterfall. I couldn't move my fingers for a while, and am now in a lot of pain but it was so worth it even with them shouting at you to "GO GO GO!!" And "LEAN BACK MORE, MORE MORE MORE". I don't think I would have done it without them shouting as nothing was scarier than looking down when you're at the top, with only two ropes holding you up.

From Da Lat, we went off to Hoi An, nothing much to say about here as all we did was ride bicycles to the beach as we thought it the safer way to travel after Lisa's leg and went out drinking that night. One off us strolled in a little later than the others on the back of a moped and found the hostel locked up and had to climb over the fence showing all of her modesty to her new friend Lo, the driver. At 5 in the morning, this was the funniest story and after being a little bit too loud we were shouted at by the hotel staff. The next day we spent in bed, all day. Leaving the room twice, both times for food. After not making the most of Hoi An, we were determined that at our next stop, Dong Hoi we would do lots. 

Dong Hoi is a small town with NOTHING TO DO. The only reason you go is to visit the caves, which we did and Paradise Cave was amazing to see but not worth the aggravation we experienced to get there. I will never understand why a taxi driver would pick you up, quote you a price, start driving and then noticeably have no idea where they are going. After argueing with the driver and thinking he would leave us in the middle of no where, we made it back and were so looking forward to getting the night bus and away from this town. Shock, the hostel had mucked up our bus but managed to fit us on another, not before driving us around town and dropping us at the wrong bus stops - what a day!!

 

Kampot, Cambobabs and a daily visit to the hospital.

Kampot has been my favourite place in Cambodia. It is a beautiful riverside town with restaurants, proper gift shops and little bars, most with fairy lights on at night along its bank and has a view of Bokor Mountain in the distance. If I were ever to come back to Cambodia, I think Kampot would be the destination. Its a fairly quiet place, but was a welcome break from the hectic streets of Phnom Penh. We stayed in the brand new Mad Monkey hostel, which was only 4 weeks old. The rooms were really nice for the $5 you were paying and the people even nicer so I would definitely recommend it. 

Boker Mountain is one of the main attractions in Kampot, it is a national park with waterfalls and a fantastic view over the surrounding area. We were told by so many people that the best way to see it is to rent mopeds and take the 45 minute drive to the top. As Kampot was so quiet we thought it would be the perfect place to try our hand at driving them - how hard could it be? 

After paying for the rental, and giving our passports in, we sat on our bikes and had to ask the lady how you used it!! The panicked look on her face said it all, she thought she was never getting these back on one piece! Off we went (at a snails pace) back to our hostel to get some things for our day up the mountain. Feeling not so confident, me and Leanne pushed ours off of the sloped driveway and straightened them up to leave. Off we went, and the next thing we hear is a bang and Lisa was on the floor. It was raining and the road had the worst gravel on it so her knee really took a beating. Without being too graphic, her words were "LOOK AT MY KNEE, OH MY GOD MY KNEE IS FALLING OFF". God, I wish I hadn't looked at her knee, the blood was pouring and a large flap of skin was almost not attached. She is so lucky that it happened there as the men that ran the hostel were straight on it with iodine and antiseptic. I hadn't realised how squeemish I was until this happened, my vision went and I thought I was going to faint on the spot. I had to sit on the floor and while they were offering Lisa sugary drinks for her shock I was secretly wishing they'd give one to me! Off we went to the hospital and luckily it is a brand new one so the standard was really great. All bandaged up we heading home to relax. We went back every day and now, 7 stiches later, the knee is looking like a knee again. Very proud of how Lisa dealt with all this and she was a very brave little soldier!  

The next day, we thought going up the mountain would be a little too much for Lis to walk on so we decided to take a Tuk Tuk to the 'rapids' instead. It was quite underwhelming but it is apparently the place to be for the locals. There are little huts with hammocks in and they go down to the river for picnics and a day out and apparently go for a swim although i'm not sure you'd ever make it out as the current was so fast.

We had more time before Lisa's appointment at the hospital so we decided to go and see the caves, thinking it would be a small cave you walked into, looked inside then left, but no, we ended up full on caving with the help of two small guides who cant have been any older than about 7 or 8 and one small torch. Now, I have been caving a few time in Wales and love it but there, we had proper equipment, a hard helmet, proper shoes and our own head torches but here all we had was some rubbish slip om shoes and a dress. Not the most sensible way to do it, but fun anyway! We ended up coming out at the top of the rock face and making our way down through the overgrown jungle. This probably wasnt great for the knee as Lisa got told off for walking on it by the doctor (we didn't mention we'd been climbing through tiny, dark and wet caves all afternoon).  

The day we finally made it up the mountain (in a car with a driver), it was definitely worth it. We saw a lot but also think we might now be cursed...

We came across and abandoned church which was creepy enough but we decided to go inside. After looking around we quickly wanted to get out but not before I decided to go up to the alter and touch the ripped and falling apart bible. After the girls shouted at me, we walked outside to find that the nice blue sky had turned grey and this thick layer of fog was coming over the church towards us - freaky, right? 

We found another abanodoned building and freaked ourselves out walking around that but found the balcony with an amazing view of the sea and Rabbit Island. Unfortunately, we couldn't see much because  of the fog (as the girls kept reminding me was my fault for touching the bible). Bokor Mountain is worth a trip but I do think doing it on bikes would be the best way, just try to avoid the gravel. 

The best part of our time here was visiting Cambobabs English school. The teachers and pupils were so welcoming to us and made it am absolute pleasure to be there. The school was set up a few years ago as a charity project to teach English to local children of all ages and they have a very talented few teachers who actually learnt English at the same school!  It is a free school for them to attend and they have 3 evening classes per day teaching at all levels. After we spent some time chatting to the teachers and some of the pupils who wanted to practice their conversation skills, the classes began. Leanne started in the youngest class where she taught them the names of Vegetables and myself and Lisa taught the middle level some sentences where we had to include their six new pieces of vocabulary: swim, use chopsticks, do a cartwheel, fly a kite, make a sandwich and play the guitar. For the final two hours, all three of us taught the upper level by doing a roleplay of a conversation about going to the beach. You would not believe how difficult it is to explain some words, like 'should' which comes so naturally to us or 'lifeguard' without speaking Khmer. 

The school was fantastic, all of the pupils seem to love going and the project is only getting bigger. They are trying to raise $30,000 to build another classroom and a library as they have a growing number of pupils. It was a great experience for us, but also it helps the children so much too to hear the accent and pronunciation of English people so if you feel like doing some volunteering or even donating some books for their new library then Cambobabs should be on the list!! 

After a few days in Kampot, we decided to move on to the sleepy beach town of Kep, just a short ride away. Kep was not for me, its is famed for its seafood and chilled vibe but it was a little too quiet for me. I tried some fresh steamed crab for the first time (wont be eating that again in a hurry) and sat by the sea for a while but there really was very little to do and not even a decent beach to chill on. Kep came with the worst room we have had yet, none of us slept well as things were falling on us, the roof seemed like it was going to blow off and i'm sure something was crawling around in our bed. We were all awake when we checked the time at 3.30am and all wish the night would just end!! Safe to say we were glad to get on our minibus that morning.

And, now here we are, a new country and a new hostel. The up side: we have little pods for beds, so not seeing the other 10 people in the room makes you feel a bit better. The downside: its an eco-friendly hostel that only has the aircon on a few hours a night.

Things are looking up, Lisa's stitches will be out tomorrow and then we are on the road travelling to the top of Vietnam with many stop off's and a huge list fun things to do on the way.