Gooooood Morning Vietnam!!!

It is now our sixth day in Vietnam and as with (almost!) everywhere else we've visited we love it here! We started of with a few days in Hanoi, staying in the Old Quarter. Whilst we were there we went to see the famous water puppet show, a very different experience but very enjoyable! As we made our way outside the theatre to continue our exploration we realised it was absolutely pouring down with rain so we decided to hop in a taxi back to our hotel. Having read our trusty lonely planet guide we were aware that a lot of taxi drivers rigged their meters for tourists and knew how much it should cost to get back. No sooner had we gone 100m in the taxi we realised we were in one of these delightful scam cabs! Instead of driving us straight up the road to our place he started to drive round in circles as the meter rocketed, we then asked him to stop and told him we were not going to pay more than the going rate for taking us nowhere - he was NOT happy! After giving him the money Geth got out but my door was locked so as I started to climb across to get out the other side I felt a very sharp and painful slap against my thigh - the bastard had hit me!!! And he was NOT going to get away with it! I rained down a torrent of abuse on him and by the look on his face (and Gethin's!) I think it did the trick! We ran the rest of the way back to our hotel!

We also went to visit the Ho Chi Minh Museum - not quite what you'd expect and not nearly as informative as I'd hoped! We also tried to go to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum but it closes at 11am so we'd missed it. Not one to be deterred we got up the next day ready and rearing to go and see a dead man's body only to find that that day they decided to close early so once again we missed it!!! So instead we went souvenir shopping to lift our spirits!

After Hanoi we booked ourselves on a tour to go down to Ninh Binh. We went to the old capital of Hoa Lu to visit the last two remaining temples where the Vietnamese worship the Emperors of the Dinh and Le dynasties. After lunch we then made our way to Tam Coc to go on a wonderful boat ride around the area. It is said to be 'Halong Bay on rice paddies' and the area is absolutely stunning and would be extremely peaceful if weren't such a tourist trap! With huge jagged rock formations soaring skyward out of the lushest of green paddy fields, travelling through caves and all done on a tin boat paddled by a Vietnamese lady called An! It was brilliant!

A tip for those who get tired when rowing long

distances - just use your feet!!!

We then stayed the night in Ninh Binh instead of heading back with the rest of our tour group. The next day we went on a trek through Cuc Phuong National Park where we visited the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre. We were incredibly relieved to see that the people working and doing research here were truly doing a good deed. The monkeys are rescued from dealers or those keeping them as as illegal pets, many of whom are endangered, are bred here in an attempt to stop them from becoming extinct due to poaching for meat, medicines or pets to people who don't have a clue. As a result of poaching still being rife in Vietnam they cannot release back into the wild yet and so instead they have set up semi-wild areas in the nearby park safe from harms way! They were cute as! We then trekked on to a 1000 year old tree and back again through thousands upon thousands of butterflies!!

Monkey!

Two monkeys!!

We are now in Hue. We took the sleeper bus down last night - in essence a dorm on wheels with sort of real beds which were a little too short for Geth! We were also mildly misguided with regards to the toilet facilities, it was a squat toilet. These are challenging enough for the western female tourist when stationary but add to that a moving, bumping, braking bus and only having one hand free as the other holds the door shut because the lock is broken and it becomes an entire new mission - needless to say I only went once during the 10 hour journey! On the upside we're staying a very good value for money minihotel and have booked ourselves on a tour to the Demilitarised Zone tomorrow - 6am start...

Love to everyone, especially Iago, Mabon, Cassie and Ellie!!!
Susy x x x and Gethin Smart x x x x x x x x x