A story with no pictures...

Apologies yet again. I have been terrible at keeping you updated regarding my trip. But you'll be pleased to hear that it's because i'm having such a fantastic time, not for any other reason. However, my camera SD card has a virus so I can't currently upload any pictures, so will attempt to relay enough imagery with my words to make you imagine you are right here with me...

So, after leaving Luang Prabang, I spent a few days in a beautiful village called Nhong Khiaw in Laos. I didn't 'do' an awful lot there, but I did meet some great people. One morning I was planning on walking 2km east of the village to a cave where the local people had lived while sheltering from American bombs in the 1960s and '70s (a terrible one-sided war which I knew very little about before coming to Laos, fought in the shadow of the Vietnam war and devestating the entire country for no reason) and didn't know which way was east. I approached the only westerner I could see, who was a middle aged guy eating his breakfast. I asked if he happened to know, and he whipped out a compass! It got even better... turned out he was a map-maker, his map of Luang Prabang being a favourite of mine - and he was making a map of Nhong Khiaw, so walked with me to the caves. Good karma :)

After a 16 hr night bus ride I arrived in Vieng Xai near the Vietnamese border. This is a beautiful town where the main attraction (in fact only) is the network of secret caves in which the underground revolution to overthrow the communists and escape the American bombs was plotted. The revolutionaries and thousands of villagers lived in the caves for 9 years, emerging only at night to farm. There was a hospital cave, bakery, communications cave and even an entertainment hall! The tour was very informative, and being in the caves imagining the sounds of bombs falling all around was sad and moving.

I was feeling a little bit down and lonely in Vieng Xai - I had had an upset stomach for a couple of weeks by this point, and was the only westerner in a town where literally NO ONE spoke English. Not that they should have to, but finding food proved to be quite difficult - I ate only noodle soup for 2 days! Luckily, I met a good samaritan - the only other person on the cave tour was Isaac from Holland. He told me he was taking a bus the next morning for Hanoi. I was planning on heading that way but didn't know such a bus existed (I don't know how I thought I was going to cross the border)! But... due to naivity and bad planning, I didn't have enough money for the bus ticket. So I was very happy when Isaac lent me enough to go with him. We've now been travelling together for about 3 weeks, and he's saved my life countless times since!

I didn't warm to Hanoi immediately. It is a very busy city, with literally thousands upon thousands of motorbikes and scooters which makes crossing the road a scary experience. The trick is to just go - keep a steady speed and they will weave around you. But on my first sortie I slipped off the pavement annd cut my foot open quite badly. Lots of local people saw me fall, yet not one person helped me. I was crying and quite obvioulsy hurt, yet they kept staring at the foreigner. Needless to say, it made me feel quite unwelcome. Luckily enough, Isaac bandaged me up and I spent the next few days learning to love Hanoi.

From there I went to the famously beautiful Halong Bay. We did a boat tour with friends we had made in the hostel in Hanoi - it was a typical western travellers' trip, full of 18 and 19 year old drunken English people... but there were enough of us 'oldies' that we had a brilliant time, sleeping one night on the boat in beautiful cabins, and the second night on 'Castaway Island.' One of my dreams was fulfilled; I felt as if I were a contestant on Shipwrecked!

I'm now in Nha Trang, a beach city towards the south of Vietnam. I'm taking a bit of a holiday from travelling - it's hard work you know ;)

I'll write again soon, still so much to tell.