Day 14 Patong – Thurs 6th May

Managed breakfast again today, pretty surprised as we didn’t arrive until after midnight and had to check in which takes some time over here. Decided to have a walk this morning and check the place out to see what was around the hotel. You want a Tuk Tuk? Jesus we must have heard that around 20 times before we arrived back at the hotel so decided to spend the day chilling at the pool. No sooner had we lay down at the pool fixed our beds out and opened my book then it started to rain, Never mind it will pass in a couple of secs so we decided to sit at the bar with a soft drink and wait. It wasn’t until we started thinking about calling Air Asia to book flights back to Vietnam that the rain finally stopped. Anyway the weather cleared up and we managed to spend the rest of the day relaxing at the pool.
I reckon we will have an easy couple of days and then maybe take a trip out to James Bond Island, Will post some more pics when we see anything worth taking a photo of. I think we’ve photographed just about everything so no surprises now. Sure we’ll find something though. Away to meet Bobby for a few beers here in Patong so could have some interesting pics tomorrow.

Day 13 - Ho Chi Minh to Phuket - Wednesday 5th May

Just scraped by making breakfast this morning. We're blaming it on George 'n Charlie from good old Norfolk we met at the hotel bar. You have to blame someone. Got our breakfast and headed up to the pool for our first bit of r&r in vietnam. Every day's been full on here since we arrived so it was nice to get up and chill out. Managed to keep the room 'til we checked out (for a small fee). Did a bit of jiggery pokery with the luggage and got checked in nae bother. If we'd known that, Andy wouldn't have had to throw away all his clothes. Oh well, I'm sure we'll manage to find him a pair of cheap charlie shorts in Phuket.
Now sitting at the airport trying to negotiate our dinner with chop sticks. If I'd known there wasn't any johnny foreigner cutlery (forks 'n knives) I wouldn't have ordered the noodle soup.
Really sad to be leaving here as it's a brilliant place, even better than Thailand but will definitely have to return at some point for a full tour of the country on scooter. Angie's not so keen after experiencing all the traffic and risking our lives just crossing the road but I'm sure I'll manage to convince her.

Day 12 Ho Chi Minh

Yawn, early night last night didn't exactly go to plan. never mind we made breakfast again and headed off on another tour but south this time down to the Mekong Delta, We arrived there and was taked off the mainland and over to Unicorn Island, We tasted honey and Royal jelly, really nice but decided to pass on the offer of buying any as im sure Singapore Airlines have a share in these companys and my luggage was heading over to the wrong side of the scales already. We even managed to get Angie to put a snake around her neck, It must have been tired as she says it didn't manage to squeeze her much, We then walked a little further to get a taxi, really nice but then we noticed or should I say smelt the toilet. It was a board with a hole cut out placed over the top of a small stream. Bloody awfull but at least it kept the flies accupied. Our taxi turned out to be a boat which was quite nice as the small river was really nice and plenty to see along the way. We eventually stopped and headed off for lunch which was fish, shrimps, and probably more stuff that I wasn't to keen on but I was hungry so needs must. I was determined to eat what these people eat. I have posted the picture of the fish as I was shocked when this thing arrived, It wasn't the prettiest of things but hey I was bloody starving. As things turned out it was really nice and so was everything else, we sat there and finished our drinks before heading back to our boat. Our driver decided to untie the boat push off the jetty and power up past other boats that were tied up along side, Looking at the other mooring ropes I decided that he must know better than me so I never bothered to mention that they would be pretty close to the prop of our boat. 20 mins later after the guy came out of the water with a knife in his hand we started our journey again back to the main land and back to Ho Chi Minh in the taxi. We almost made it back to the hotel but on the very last corner some bloke in a scooter decided to rip the side off the car, he didn't manage but he didn't even stop. our bumper was hanging off and the door all dented in so I hate to think how his bike was looking. Time for a lazy beer and some more people watching.

Day 11 - Ho Chi Minh

Good morning Vietnam... Managed breakfast today before we headed off to the Cu Chi tunnels, We had our own mini bus, driver and tour guide, little bit cheaper that you get fae tarves but still a crapy sprinter. Anyway we set off and around an hour later we arrived at the tunnels, these guys had done some serious work here, 250km of underground tunnels all linked together. We managed to go down as you can see by the photos but there wasn't much room to move around and Angie wasn't so breave once she learnt that they were full of scorpians. We even managed to fire a few rounds of on an old AK-47, I think the barrel may have been a little bend as I never seemed to hit the target. After the tunnels we went to the war museum for a look around, Really interesting but i left there shocked knowing what the Americans had done over here in there desperate attempt to win the war. Next was the Reunification Palace we never went in but at least we saw it, Headed back to the hotel for some more people watching and had an early night.

Day 10 Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh

Yawn, had to get up at daft o'clock (04:30) this morning for our shuttle to the airport. Was a bit concerned about the visa but wasn't a problem. Our biggest problem was being over weight on the luggage and that was with being allowed 25Kg each. We managed to get away with it though but may have to dump some of Andy's clothes before we get our normal flight home - 20Kg each. Bug*ger, how has that happened? We've only been here about a week and already we're over. Ah well, we'll sort it out.

Had burger king for breakfast and then jumped on the plane. Arrived in Ho Chi Minh about 0930 and got a taxi to the Metropole Hotel. Sure we got ripped off again, there's going to be a lot of happy campers by the time we leave Asia. Couldn't believe this place, thought Bangkok was bad? This place is mental. There is absolutely no rules on the road whatsoever, just a matter of who's got the biggest balls or vehicle. Never seen so many motorbikes in one place. Crazy. So we dumped our bags and headed out of the hotel. Luckily we're smack bang in the middle of Ho Chi Minh so everything's within walking distance. We sat at a road side cafe and contemplated how we would cross the roads. As we sat down, we met an old Oz guy called Doug who was on the same flight as us from Bangkok. He was over here reminiscing about the vietnam war and the last time he was here was 1968 or there about when he took a bullet in the arm whilst flying a helicopter. Really nice old guy and was full of stories along with his deformed arm. He kept us amused for a few while. He also told us the only way to cross the road was to keep looking straight ahead and not to make eye contact with the traffic otherwise they'll mow you down. We told him not to fly helicopters with your arm hanging the window. Turns out he was right about the traffic though. Just hit the road and keep walking and they all dodge round you - so far, so good. It's great, it's easier crossing the road here than Aberdeen and you wouldn't believe how many cars and bikes are on the road. We did a little test this afternoon. I told Andy to cross the road before me and then I would go on my own to see if I would make it. Well, as Andy started to cross the road the lights turned to green and he disappeared in a sea of motorbikes. I think he picked the wrong moment but they all managed to dodge him. I thought he was playing hop scotch. Then it was my turn, so I waited til the lights turned red and strolled on. We've only been here less than a day and we're playing chicken with the traffic already. If it was Aberdeen, we'd both be in A&E by now. Not here. We had a wander around the streets but every 5 seconds all you hear is do you want a taxi, a watch, a lift in a rickshaw, how about a genuine rolex,begining to get bored now with all this crap we decided to head for the streets that were a little more quiet - Taxi, rickshaw it was all the same same until this guy offered me some Vietnamese herbs, thought of my little brother for a few seconds and the sunshine in his pocket but then turned him down and strolled on throught the bustling streets to play with the traffic instead.
Went to the local market but got stressed with the heat so didn't stay long. Just read Lonely Planet and found out that's where you can buy dogs but only sandy coloured ones because they taste best. (Rory you'd be safe enough to come on your hols here, black 'n white dogs taste sh*te). We're going to go back to take some photos as really want to see some of the crap they have for sale out the back of market, will post the pics. Don't get offended Rory!!

Going to bed now as we're away to see the tunnels tomorrow where they foiled the Americans, seems like a lot of work to me as all they had to do was build a donut shop and bomb it when it was full. Never mind Angie and I will be getting a shot of an AK-47 and an M16 so if the blog's not here you'll know what's happened.I caught Angie dumping my clothes. :-)

Day 9 - Hua Hin to Bangkok - Saturday 1st May

Woke up 0730 this morning, had breakfast & then headed to the pool for a couple of hours before packing up. Got our taxi to Bangkok. We argued for a bit about the price and then realised we were trying to knock about 4 quid off a forty quid taxi ride for about 120 miles. Had a think to ourselves and then put it into perspective and gave him what he asked for. Had to make a pit stop about an hour into the journey. The driver opeoend the bonnet and the car was boiling. He just filled her up with some more water and soldiered on. Thankfully we arrived at the airport hotel about 4 this afternoon. Had lunch then took a walk up the street and found a McDonald's. Bought a cheeseburger just in case we get hungry in the middle of the night. Will be lights out early for us tonight as we leave for the airport 0530hrs tomorrow morning for our flight to Vietnam. Not sure what to expect when we get there but I'm sure it will be fine. Will keep you posted.

Day 8 Hua Hin - Friday 30th April

Sorry for the late blog but Friday was a very lazy day after a very late night partying in the Hilton hotel. Went to see a live band and met a couple who had just arrived on honeymoon, Helen & Fenton. Helen was from Manchester and Fenton was from Dublin. We had a good night and they invited us back to their room in the Hilton for a few beers. It was an amazing room (suite) with amazing views but the price they paid for their holiday was also amazing. We're quite happy in our cheap charlie hotels, no problems so far. So Friday was spent lazing by the pool doing as little as possible. Early night for Angie & Andy.