gap year!

After an over night stop in Savannakhet, we arrived safely in Vietnam, with no hassles at the border... mainly because a Vietnamese border official arrived on his motor bike to check we had all got visas.

We drove straight to Hue. It is an old town just south of the De- Militarisation Zone (DMZ). The ancient palace had been badly battered by the Americans, and while others went on a river trip to visit various temples or the ruins, 5 of us did a tour of the DMZ. We saw the museum on the old US Base and then went to the coast and went down a tunnel used by the army to get supplies to the south.

Off to Hoi An the next day... fantastic beach, tailored dresses, coats etc and a couple of days of relaxation, although some of us did a trip to see My Son... again a bit damaged, but good to see a UNESCO World Heritage site.

A long journey down here to Nha Trang and our first puncture on any transport since we left the UK. This is a busy city, but still very few cars and lots of bicycles... there are so few cars... no parking problems here. I even went on a rickshaw to the big post office to send a parcel.

Last night I was told that I had won a prize for my blog! This is because only 4 of us have managed to keep them going, and despite the lack of pictures (Sorry about that) I have 680,00 Vietnamese Dong (40 US$)to spend in a beauty/ Massage place... that is a lot of massage! The other 3 won diving lessons valued at the same ammount... I will keep this going now to justify my prize... so watch this space!

We made it here after a cautious drive from Luang Prabang... another group of overlanders have been held up by a landslide whch has blocked the same road... we may leave countries which collapse into civil wars, but we seem to be one step ahead so far.

Vientiane has that French touch to it. The baby "Arc de Triumf"... sorry French friends I can remember how to spell it... had avenues leading to two sides of it. Any way, Jo, Kirsten and I did a Tuk Tuk tour of the city... we did all the sites and tried to see the National Museum, but it was shut. We favour the form of transport because the open sides make it cool on a hot day.

The Mekong is very high so there are sand bags everywhere. The Buddha Park has very wet, and a bit smelly, but it was worth visiting. We visited four temples and wizzed passed the Friendship Bridge that links Laos to Thailand.

Two more days and we will be in Vietnam.

The overnight train to Chiang Mai was very civilised. We all had a bed and breakfast was served in the morning to us in the compartments!

Chiang Mai had plenty to see and clearly smaller than Bangkok. We went to the night market, visited various temples, sent things back to the UK and even went on night safari... which was a bit like Disney World but with animals.. it was basically a zoo at night... but it kept us entertained... as did the Tuk Tuk, which ran out of petrol and we had to be towed by another Tuk Tuk to the Tuk Tuk garage to refuel!

Mini busses to the Laos border, where we had a table barbeque Thai style. That was very good fun. I chatted to a German couple at the hotel... they thought I was Dutch!

The next morning we went to the river and crossed to the other side to get our Visas for Laos. They were the quickest visas so far. Then to our long tail boat, for our cruise down the Mekong!

We had drinks and lunch on the boat and stopped for the night at Pak Beng. Boats are not allowed to travel on the river at night. Once we had negotiated the muddy river bank and the floods, we stayed the night and wandered about the village.

The Mekong is very full and very brown! It was a very relaxing two days.

Luang Prabang is very small but we have to stay here four or five days in order to collect our visas for Vietnam. The night-street Market is wonderful... I think I will have a few things to send home from here!

The flight here was on time... there was even fuel for the plane!

It is so quiet... the drivers use their indicators instead of their horns!

Not much to report yet... a river boat as far as the Sky Train and then a bit of shopping in a huge shopping mall.

The train awaits us tomorrow and then I am sure there will be much to report!

After three days in Katmandu, we drove up to the Bungy Jumping resort. It was about 15 KM from the border with Tibet.

Katmandu had been very noisy and it took me a while to orientate myself in the narrow streets... not a surprise really as I still get lost n the Old Lanes of Brighton.

I did take a flight to see the summit of Mount Everest. A small plane that does a one hour round trip, most days and only goes if they know that the summit is clear. Had we gone to Everst Base Camp in Tibet, we may not have seen the summit. We had had to get up early, so most of us had a nap after breakfast.

The Last Resort has the highest Bungy Jump in the world. To get into the resort you have to cross a suspension bridge... which was scary enough, without actually jumping off it! The younger ones had a good time and it was quiet and relaxing after the noise and traffic of Katmandu.

We are back in Katmandu for one more night and then we fly to Bangkok. A train journey and a river journey await us as well as a new diet and lots to see in S.E. Asia