April 2010
Skipping through South Vietnam
Tue 6th Apr 2010 — drewWe spent a very pleasant few days in Saigon, enjoying our relatively expensive hotel room and cheap beer! Getting around the city took a bit of getting used to - in contrast to the cool, efficient public transport systems in places like KL and Singapore, Vietnamese cities seem to be totally ruled by the motorbike.
Sabidee Pimai - celebrating the Lao New Year
Fri 16th Apr 2010 — drewVietnam is very narrow around Hue, so it was only a 4 hour bus ride west into the hills to reach the Laos border. We had set off early in the morning, so reached the border around the midday sun (when we often seem to find ourselves outside!) Despite reading several horror stories of tourists being left stranded in the middle of nowhere on these border crossings by bus, we had a very hassle-free experience and soon found ourselves back on our bus in Laos admiring more stickers and stamps in our passports.
Laos PDR - Please Don't Rush
Tue 20th Apr 2010 — drewOn the third and last day of the Pimai water celebrations, the weather decided to join in the fun with huge forks of lightening, deafening thunder and torrential rain. Although it seemed a little redundant some people carried on the water fights, but generally festivities tailed off and once the storms passed over the streets became eerily quiet. We found ourselves walking a fair distance through the town with Drew carrying a large super-soaker, and the looks on most people's faces as we approached certainly suggested they wouldn't be too amused if he opened fire.
Hanoi and the mountains of North Vietnam
Wed 28th Apr 2010 — drewAs we had expected there was a dramatic change in pace as we arrived in Hanoi. The city is renowned for many tourist scams especially to catch those unaware fresh off the planes, with overcharging taxis taking you to the wrong hotels, lots of copycat hotels set up with the same name as reputable establishments and general skulduggery. We were quite happy to have arranged a hotel with an airport pick-up so we were greeted at the arrival gate and quickly whisked to a very nice hotel down a quiet alleyway in the old town.