Saigon, the Cu Chi Tunnels & Mekong Delta

On Sunday morning we wandered the Danang waterfront, stopping for a coffee in an overpriced cafe. We headed back to our hotel mid-morning and took a taxi to the airport where, after a 1.5 hour delay, we boarded our Vietnam Airlines flight to Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City). Saigon can only be defined as chaotic and heavily polluted with motorbikes everywhere. There is little in the way of defining architecture; it is really just another city ... a concrete jungle and a lot less developed than we were expecting with the buildings taking on that typical half finished, slightly decrepid look.

After sharing a taxi ride to the centre with some other backpackers, we dumped our bags and headed out to check out the local area and find a reputable travel agency to book our passage into Cambodia (via the Mekong River Delta). It was Chinese New Year's Eve the day we arrived (also celebrated in Vietnam) and which is followed by a 3 day 'Tet' public holiday and the hotel and some travel agencies were telling us that everything would be closed for the next 4 days. Not good news for our overland trip through Cambodia and into Bangkok for our flight to Kathmandu by Feb 3rd. Thankfully, the information we were given was inaccurate. We have learnt that people will give you information to suit themselves. Some of the agencies were closing for the holiday and we suspect they were misleading us in order to get us to defer our departures so that we would book with them!

We had dinner then waited for midnight to see in the Chinese New Year and watch the fireworks with the locals and other tourists. Even more memorable than the fireworks was the number of mopeds stopped on the wide streets in front of us to watch the fireworks..... there must have been thousands of them, some with their families piled onto the back including tiny babies. It is a sight you would never ever see in the Western World. Saigon has over 3 million mopeds flying around the streets and boy do we know it! The air was thick with the exhaust fumes and you take your life into your hands everytime you try and cross a the road. You have to just step out and let the the bikes weave around you as you make your way across. By the time the fireworks had finished we both had burning eyes and our clothes stank. That said, it was absolute sheer madness seeing and hearing the thousands of mopeds moving off like a stampede!

On Monday we were up early and took a tour 60km north to see the Cu Chi tunnels (with the obligatory 40 minute stop at the tourist tack shop!). The Cu Chi tunnels are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels and were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War. They were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. We began by watching a short documentary about the tunnels, which gave an interesting insight into the war from the Vietnamese perspective before walking to see the various animal traps and pits that the Viet Cong set to trap American GIs. We then entered one of the tunnels, dug at 3 different levels, of 3, 6 and 9 metres through a section of them we were exhausted and dripping in sweat... amazing to think people lived in them for 21 hours a day.

We returned to Saigon at lunchtime and in the afternoon we walked through the city to visit the War Remnants Museum, dedicated to the memories of those who fought in the Vietnam War. We had been told the museum was closed by all the tourist agencies but thought we'd check ourselves and it was open. The museum was very educational but very harrowing; a stark depiction of the brutality of warfare. There were displays and photos in the museum that we had never seen the likes of before. Some were quite gruesome and Bi found it very hard to deal with and burst out crying in the museum. It is shocking and upsetting to see the barbaric treatment of another human being in such graphic form and to see people's facial expressions, women and children especially, in photos taken just moments before they were killed. Particularly disturbing also was a tank of preserved foetuses which had been horrifically deformed by the US use of chemical Agent Orange during the war. It was upsetting but an all too important lesson in the pointlessness of war.

From the Museum we walked to the Reunification Palace, a rather drab 1960's building which has been preserved as it was when the communist North Vietnamese Army tanks smashed through the gates in 1975, signifying the reunification of North and South Vietnam. With the major sights of the city done, we headed back to our hotel area for an ice-cream and to get out of the scorching heat!

The following day, Tuesday, we began our 2 day trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia via the Mekong River Delta. The Mekong is a huge 2,700 mile long river, flowing south from Northern China through China, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia before forming a huge delta in southern Vietnam. A trip on the delta is considered a highlight in Vietnam. We got on a rather old and cramped bus at 8.30am (after fighting for our seats!) and were driven 4 hours west to the small town of Cai Be. Here we boarded a motorised canoe and cruised down one of the delta's branches to see the local production of rice paper, puffed rice and coconut candy which was clearly put on for the tourists but interesting nevertheless. The slow journey along the river was fascinating for the rickety wooden shacks that line the banks of the river and for seeing the local people going about their everyday lives. We finally had before us the scenery we expected from Vietnam. Our boat took us onto the main river and after a brief stop for lunch we sailed on to the town of Vinh Long where we disembarked and met our bus for a 4 hour drive to our destination for the night, the small town of Chau Doc. In Chau Doc we checked into the hotel reserved by the tourist agency and were given a room with a ''fake'' window.... it opened up onto a brick wall which was pleasant.. not! The town was quite rustic so it was bit of challenge finding somewhere to eat that looked like it might be kind to our stomachs. As per usual here in South East Asia, the town was buzzing with people and street vendors until late.

The following morning, Wednesday, we had a 6am start and after breakfast we walked to the riverfront where we transferred onto a small wooden canoe. An older Vietnamese woman then 'rowed' us down the river and through a floating village, essentially a collection of houseboats (and by that we mean higgeldy piggeldy wooden shacks actually built so they sit on top of a boat) and floating buildings. The inhabitants were busy doing their washing and bathing in the river and some were even drinking the river water which was brown and filthy. The same water would probably do us some very serious harm! We came back to shore to walk around a small muslim Cham village before transferring onto a small boat that was to take us up the Mekong river and into to Cambodia. The journey was fascinating as we saw real life on the river as opposed to a show put on for the tourists. The scenery changed from rice paddy fields as far as the eye could see to jungle but consistently all the way along people were coming down to the river from their small, crooked wooden houses to fish, bathe (with their cattle at some points!), wash their clothes or to swim and cool off. The people live in such poor conditions that it makes you feel guilty about the luxuries you take for granted every day. After 3 hours we reached the Cambodian border and after formalities we transferred to a very narrow and uncomfortable boat where we sat on a wooden bench for the next 3 hours to Phnom Penh. At the end of our boat journey we peeled our aching backsides from the bench and boarded a minibus that took us the final 35km into Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

Hue, Hoi An and Danang

We were up at 4.30am to catch a 1 hour flight from Hanoi down the Vietmanese coastline to Hue, in the centre of the country. We flew with Vietnam Airlines and had no idea what to expect but they weren't bad at all! We took a transfer to our accommodation in the centre of the town and were told we had been upgraded to a 'deluxe room'.. yipee! Our room was on the 4th floor, nice and big and had a balcony overlooking the town, however, it was so damp and musty and the sheets on the bed smelled strongly of mould. Bi's face said everything but we had read on many travel reviews that this was quite common here so changing to another room or even hotel wasn't likely to make much difference. We opened up every window and the balcony doors and put on the air conditioning and thankfully the room became a lot more tolerable! We dumped our bags and headed out into the city for some breakfast. Although a million times quieter than Hanoi there were still millions of motorbikes zipping around and tooting their horns.


After breakfast we crossed the river and walked to the Old Citadel in the heart of the city which is a UNESCO world heritage site. From the chaos of the surrounding streets we walked into the comparatively empty and peaceful citadel. We spent several hours wandering the deserted gardens and ceremonial halls of the old emperors which was quite impressive and most importantly a well needed restbite from the chaos just outside! From the relative peace of the citadel we headed to the Dong Ba market selling the conical hats that the local women wear in Vietnam and lots of other tourist tack. We got hassled so much that we left after 5 minutes! We were also pretty shattered by this point having been up so early so returned to our hotel and relaxed for the rest of the day watching cable tv in our nice, big, damp room! Within minutes, our clothes had absorbed the wonderful mouldy smell of the bed covers.. it was bliss... NOT! We didn't do too much in the evening, just had dinner and wandered the town which is made up of mainly restaurants and souvenir shops. Anyone can set up shop or a food stall here and you commonly see the locals sitting on the pavement or at makeshift tables eating meals which are made by ladies on the street.

On Wednesday we took a dragon boat trip along the Perfume River and hopped on and off at the various tombs of the Nguyen dynasty emperors. We boarded a nice big dragon boat for 25 people and with only 16 of us on the boat it looked like we might have a nice spacious trip. However, in true Vietnamese 'never give anything for free' style the boat owners (they are operated by families who also live on the boat) made us change boats and crammed the 16 of us onto a tiny, narrow boat that had a maximum speed slower than our own walking pace! We sat on our garden chairs and set off up the river where for the first 15 minutes the owners tried to sell us drinks and souvenirs over and over again! We were next handed menus (with restaurant prices) to place our lunch orders which the owners cook for you on the boat. We all actually had lunch included in the price of our boat ticket but the boat operators sneakily pass a menu around in hope you order 'extra' food and pay them more money! We have noticed that the Vietnamese can be quite sneaky and mercenary when it comes to money and we have had to be careful not to be trusting. They are also seem to be very mistrusting towards us..... they don't miss a trick and it can be rather tiresome.


The scenery along the banks of the Perfume River ( a lovely muddy brown river!!!!) is not particularly beautiful but watching the local river life is quite interesting. We saw one woman bent over her boat, washing her hair in the river as her husband rowed past us. Some of the conditions that people live in, on tiny wooden boats is beyond belief and a millions miles from how our life is. To see the babies and small children sat balanced on the edge of boats is always a sight to see as it would never be done in the western world. We chugged slowly down to our first stop, the iconic 16th Century Thien Mu Pagoda picturesquely situated on a hill. On display within the complex was the car made infamous in the photo of the Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc who burned himself to death in Saigon to protest against the persecution of Vietnamese Buddhists. From this pagoda we headed further upstream and took a 2km ride on the back of a motorbike to the Tu Duc tomb where the main Emperor of Hue is buried. The tomb complex was peaceful to walk around but was more like a temple than a tomb, with several oriental buildings and a small lake. Nobody actually knows where the emperors tomb is located on the site. We returned back to our boat by motorbike and where the motorbike drivers 'demanded' a beer from the local store as a tip (in addition to payment) for the 2 minute ride. Ash refused but his driver picked up a beer and drove off leaving him with the stall holder asking for payment. We haggled begrudgingly down from 40,000 to 20,000 dong (about 80 pence) for 2 beers. In hindsite we should have just said 'no' on principle as by letting them get away with it we only encourage them. We have no problem tipping where it is deserved..... these guys were just greedy and unpleasant.

Next stop was the small women's pagoda which wasn't particularly interesting so we sat on the banks of the river to wait for our lunch to be set up on the boat. The owners had set up mats on the floor and laid out bowls of rice, tofu and vegetables and a cold drink.... which of course turned out not to be free... it was the usual trick of putting something in front of you as if it is included and then stinging you for it afterwards. We live and learn and will be asking "how much" before we take or use anything! After lunch we returned to Hue via the Minh Mang tomb which is a very pretty and peaceful complex with a huge lake and ornate oriental buildings. It was our last stop for the day as we were all completely 'templed' out. We made the slow journey back to Hue and arrived back late in the afternoon.

The following morning, Thursday, we took a tourist bus from Hue to Hoi An; a journey of approximately 80 miles but which took 3.5 hours. Travel here is very slow and transport is not particularly easy or frequent. True to form, the bus was 1.5 hours late leaving Hue and after driving only 45 minutes it laughably pulled in for a 40 minute break at one of those tourist cafes where there are a million staff members waiting out front with big smiles because they expect you are going to spend all your money in their shop. Most people on the bus were less than impressed and did not go inside! You can complain about these things but it falls on deaf ears here! We finally arrived into Hoi An in the early afternoon and as luck would have it, the bus drop-off was directly opposite our hotel. We treated ourselves to a nice hotel but were so disappointed to find that our room was damp to the point it was almost wet. You could hardly breathe when you walked into it and it was so unpleasant that we decided to find somewhere else to stay. Ash headed out to find a new hotel while Bi looked after the bags. The reception staff were of course less than pleased when we decided to leave and refused to hand back our passports until a full check of the room had been done by security! Within ten minutes we were in a much more pleasant and dry hotel 2 minutes down the road. It was nearly half the price and a hundred times better! We dumped our bags and headed out to check out Hoi An.


Hoi An is an old trading port established in the 15th century, and the central old town is another UNESCO world heritage site. Hoi An lived up to its reputation and more... the city is quaint and beautiful with pretty colonial French architecture and much to Bi's delight there are coloured lanterns hanging up everywhere!! Similar to Chiang Mai, the city has a nice gentle pace to it which is largely to do with its situation on a river and most importantly only a few mopeds! We instantly liked Hoi An and it was a breath of fresh air, both metaphorically and literally! We enjoyed a late lunch on a balcony overlooking the river before walking through the Central Market, which actually functions as a real market rather than being set out for the tourists... we wandered the stalls selling everything and anything: herbs, spices, fruit, vegetables, fish from the river and pig heads and entrails! Ash was pleased with his photo of an old lady beheading fish from the river with a fag hanging out her mouth! From the market we crossed a rickety wooden bridge to the other side of the river and wandered back along the quiet south bank. In the evening we headed out for dinner and went to a recommended French-Vietnamese restaurant called Cafe Des Amis, where we were served 5 huge courses of traditional Vietnamese food. There's no menu and what it served is dictated by what the owner feels like cooking that night! The food was excellent and it was nice to try some things that we might not have been game enough to order otherwise! We returned along the river and Bi dived into the silk oriental lantern stalls that were all lit up along the bank and we returned to the hotel with a bag full.


On Friday we were collected from our hotel just after 8am by another tourist bus (the lack of transport links here makes it difficult to get around independently) and were transported 40km out of the city to the ruins of My Son, another UNESCO site comprising many ruined Hindu temples in a forested valley surrounded by mountain ranges. The site was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War as the VietCong army hid out in the area which at the time was dense jungle.There was one main ruined temple complex surrounded by some smaller ruins, pot-holed with huge bomb craters. The site was interesting but not particularly spectacular and after an hour we had walked the whole site. We returned at lunchtime by bus, disembarking half-way back to finish the journey by boat. Again we were crammed onto a boat which leaned heavily to one side from all the weight in it! We had a gentle hour's cruise back, stopping for 15 minutes at a woodcutter's station to see a workshop and boat-building area. We returned to pretty Hoi An mid-afternoon and found a nice cafe where we treated ourselves to a capuccino and a surprisingly good chocolate fudge brownie! We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and returned back to the waterfront for an inexpensive and very tasty Vietnamese dinner.


This morning, Saturday, was pouring with rain so we didn't venture out of our hostel until midday. The cleaners helped themselves into our room 30 minutes before check-out time to get us out but Ash chased them out so we could finish packing!! They were not happy. We wandered back into Hoi An old town and visited some of the old houses, assembly halls and museums: Quan Cong temple, Tan Ky House and the pretty Japanese covered bridge. Along the way we stopped for lunch at the Cargo Cafe and enjoyed baguettes, cakes and capuccinos! Mid afternoon, we took a taxi 30km to Danang where we will spend the night before flying to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) tomorrow. We have a huge room with big balcony and views over the city and spent the afternoon wandering around the city, markets and along the riverfront. We seem to be the only tourists here which is nice because we are getting a glimpse of real life here in Vietnam.

Hanoi and Halong Bay

On Friday morning we had breakfast in Chiang Mai before taking aTuk Tuk to the airport for our 1 hour flight to Bangkok. At Bangkok airport we had four hours to wait until our connecting 2 hour flight to Hanoi in northern Vietnam so we wiled away the time with lunch, planning our Vietnam itinerary and perusing the hundreds of shops in the terminal. We landed at Hanoi airport at 8:30pm and went straight to the Vietnam Airlines desk to book some onward flights for next week to Hue and Ho Chi Minh City. It is so cheap to fly here that in our opinion it is hardly worth the discomfort of a 13-16 hour train or bus journey especially when it is overnight and you see little scenery along the way anyway!


With taxi scams in abundance at Hanoi airport we decided to take a private transfer to the city centre for a whopping $30USD (this is supposed to be a third world country!). After several changes of driver that left us feeling a little nervous we were taken 38km to the city centre to our hotel, smack bang in the old quarter by Hoan Kiem lake. There was a foggy haze to the air and as we approached Hanoi centre it was an instant eye opener. The city has what we would describe as a delapidated French colonial look and it was completely chaotic with people everywhere and narrow roads absolutely jam packed with tooting mopeds crazily zig-zagging all over place. We checked into the hotel, dumped our bags and headed out for dinner at a local cafe.


We were up early for breakfast before heading out in a taxi to the Ho Chi Minh Mausuleum about 2km from the old quarter, one of Vietnam's most revered sites. It is only open for a few hours in the morning so we had to be on time. We were ushered into the huge granite building and quietly walked around Ho Chi Minh's embalmed corpse, which looked a lot like Madame Tussauds had done the designing! It was fascinating to see his actual body as he was such a pivotal character in Vietnamese history. We also then visited the palace and the house he lived in as well as his pagoda on stilts next to a small lake. We also walked around a museum dedicated to his life. After the Mausuleum we took a taxi to the Hanoi Literature Temple, a 10th century university with pleasant courtyards and which is suprisingly peaceful to stroll around considering the chaos of the streets surrounding it. The outside wall of the temple was lined with local men, some very old, sitting cross-legged on the ground and handpainting oriental symbols onto paper. They were beautifully done. We passed one man who had set up a chair and was cutting hair on the street. Ash took a photo and was later chased for a photo fee of 15,000 Dong. He had completely missed the tiny sign above the little mirror saying "take my photo for 15,000"!!


The streets here are a rush of culture in your face and crossing the road is a real challenge. The old quarter is a myriad of narrow lanes crammed to the brim with traffic and gubby looking shops and eateries. Above these are flats with their washing hanging from the windows. It's utterly mad but fantastic.... until of course the pollution gets the better of you. Our eyes were stinging within one hour of being outside! There are endless streams of tooting mopeds on the roads that appear completely lawless and it is the most amusing thing to see. They don't observe traffic signals and they don't even stick to driving on the correct side of the road. .. it is a complete free for all!! We have seen whole families (eg: up to 5 people) crammed onto the back of one moped, tiny babies propped up against the front handlebars which would have the child protection agencies of the western world in a complete tizz. We have seen people carrying trees, doors, up to 7 big water tanks and all manner of things on these tiny vehicles. The streets are lined with shops selling all manner of things that spill out all over the pavement. We especially love the lantern shops as they add so much vibrance to the street. There are woman walking up and down in their traditional Vietnamese conical hats carrying fruits and other goods which hang from a long wooden pole carried across their shoulders. They are constantly trying to put these things onto your shoulder so they can charge you for a photo!

We stopped for lunch before spending the afternoon wandering around Hoan Kiem lake in the city centre and then heading out to see the famous Water Puppet show in the evening. We have to admit that crossing the major intersection to get to the theatre was probably more memorabe than the show!



On Sunday morning we headed 3 hours east to Halong Bay to embark on a 2 day/1 night trip to Halong Bay, a beautiful bay containing over 3,000 limestone karst islands and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. We boarded a beautiful Vietnamese junk boat called the Halong Ginger Junk. We decided to splash out and booked onto a 4* junk seeing as this leg of our travels is doubling as a honeymoon! We had a deluxe cabin with queen bed and a marble bathroom and three huge windows. It was luxury! There were 15 people on our boat and amongst them were two famous photographers from New York who had even had their arrival in Vietnam announced in the main newspaper! They were an extremely charismatic pair and great company on the trip. One of the highlights of travelling is the interesting people you get to meet and speak to along the way. So many stories.



As we cruised out into Halong Bay, lunch was served......a 7 course seafood banquet (Bi of course going for the vegetarian option!). The Bay is absolutely beautiful and well justifed as a world heritage site. The waters are a complete flat calm and the area reminded us of a hazy version of the Milford Sound in New Zealand. The serenity and tranquility of the area was such an amazing contrast to the frantic chaos of Hanoi and it was so relaxing! In the afternoon we stopped at Thitop island and climbed 400 steps to the top for 360 degree views over the bay and shortly afterwards we were taken by bamboo raft through a small inlet and cave. The silence of the place was deafening. In the early evening, we visited a small fishing community where all the houses are in the water and floating on empty tanks. There was even a floating school!


We had a five course dinner at our own candlelit table which was lovely and we treated ourselves to a glass of wine each (wine is exceptionally expensive here and usually a bit beyond our backpacker budget). The two photographers we met kindly topped up our glasses from their bottle of wine after dinner and we sat with our wine and had a game of chess. Ash won but only just!!




We were up and on deck early this morning for a Tai Chi lesson but we got bored within 5 minutes and gave up! The boat we are on is so so quiet and overnight when they turned the engine off, it was bliss. We both slept like babies, it was so peaceful out in the bay. We left all the blinds open on our windows and it was lovely to wake up to the sight of the water and hundreds of limescale Karsts dotted as far as the eye can see. After coffee and pastries, we boarded a small launch boat and visited 'Surprise' cave which was an enormous cave over 10,000 sq m and full of rock formations. It was interesting but not particularly exciting. When we returned to the junk and had a traditional Vietnamese brunch (noodles and broth with various condiments) before packing our things and returning to the port for the conclusion of our trip at 11am. We took a minibus back to Hanoi which did the all annoying customary stop at a big tourist handicraft outlet full of absolute rubbish and all at rip off prices!


Back in Hanoi, we decided to soak in the craziness of the city and the pollution and sat drinking a beer from a balcony at the city view cafe. Tomorrow we take a very early flight to Hue where we will spent 5 days in central Vietnam.

Chiang Mai

On Sunday morning we left Bangkok and took a cheapy Air Asia flight one hour to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. We had no pre-booked accommodation so we selected a hostel recommended in our Lonely Planet and got a taxi to drop us off in hope that a room might be available... it was and what a nice little find (despite the fact our bed cover is a massive towel!) . We dumped our bags and set out to wander the narrow streets in the old part of Chiang Mai. It is lovely here, so peaceful and quiet, with a very easy-going atmosphere and pace of life.... all so different to the frantic hustle and bustle of Bangkok although there are still zillions of tuk tuk's and mopeds zipping in and around everywhere!! There are many beautiful temples scattered across the town which makes for an interesting combination of ancient and modern.

We had lunch in a local noodle shop (Bi yet again opting for her favourite Pad Thai...while Ash had beef noodles that came topped with a mosquito garnish!) before wandering a small handicraft market near the town gates. The market was full of the usual tourist tack with every second stall selling the same thing making you wonder if anyone ever made any money! There was an area with many different food stands selling noodles, pancakes, meat & fish skewers along with many strange, unidentifiable foods that we have become accustomed to seeing in Thailand (there is nothing they don't eat!!). We took the safe option and tried the banana pancakes before heading to one of the many massage stands and treating ourselves to an open air foot massage!! We selected a seat from a line of comfy chairs situated under a big tarp cover for shade and sat back and enjoyed a 30 minute Thai foot massage whilst watching the market buzz around us. It was heavenly and cost 1 pound each!

We spent the whole evening wandering Chiang Mai's main Sunday market otherwise known as 'Sunday Walking Street'. The main street in town is closed to traffic and literally hundreds of market stalls are erected selling everything and anything from handicrafts to basketware to food. It was a great atmosphere and absolutely jam packed and we spent about 4 hours walking around the streets and stuffing ourselves full trying all the different foods on offer! The local street food in Thailand has been of a very high quality, in terms of both food preparation hygiene and taste. It is much better than we were expecting although it has taken us a little bit of time to get daring with our taste buds... especially Bi who still has a few hang ups from her time in South America!

On Monday morning we were up at 7am for an early breakfast before being picked up by the Thai Farm Organic Cooking School for a 1 day cooking course that we signed up for. We were driven 17km north of Chiang Mai to a local market where we saw the many different types of rice, spices and herbs used in Thai cuisine and watched the making of coconut milk. From here we were taken further out of the city to an organic farm and after a guided walk around the farm (picking different roots and spices for our recipes) we assembled and spent the rest of the day being taught how to make 6 different dishes each. We were each given our own cooking station and the course started with a lesson in making Thai sticky rice and Jasmine rice followed by us making and pounding our own green and yellow curry pastes from the roots and herbs we had picked earlier. We then turned our pastes into a delicious curry (Thai green chicken curry for Ash and yellow Thai vegetable curry by Bi!). Our next lesson was on how to make Tom Yam soup with shrimp and for Bi, Thai Vegetable Soup. This was followed by Tofu Stir Fry with Cashew Nuts for Bi and Tofu with Thai Basil for Ash. At lunch, we all sat outside and ate the dishes we had prepared all morning which were delicious but there was so much to get through. By the end of it we felt we had had our lifetime share of coconut milk!

Our lessons reconvened in the afternoon where Ash cooked Mango with sticky rice and Bi made Bananas in yet more coconut milk. It was delicious but we could not manage more than a mouthful of the stuff! We then finished our day with the most complicated dishes. Ash made Bi's favouite Pad Thai (the idea being he will be making it plenty back home) while Bi learnt how to make spring rolls filled with glass noodles, tofu and vegetables and rolled in rice flour paper .... they were great and clearly a favourite for the day! We went home very pleased with our new found knowledge of 12 Thai dishes and our bellies completely stuffed so there was no need for dinner!

On Tuesday we took an easy day in Chiang Mai, following the old city walking tour in our guidebook and visiting the many different Wats (temples) dotted around the city. We visited Wat Chiang Man, Wat Phan Tao, Wat Chedi Luang and Wat Phra Singh before stopping for a western lunch as we could not stomach any more Thai food after yesterday's cooking course. In the afternoon we took a Tuk Tuk to Wat Suan Dok, a pretty temple just outside the city and when we returned to Chiang Mai centre we treated ourselves to a bit of a pamper session with a difference. We headed into a massage parlour operated by ladies who have recently been released from Chiang Mai correctional institute. They are all fully trained whilst still in prison in order to prepare them for making an honest living when they are released. We were a bit dubious at first but breathed a sign of relief when a few more tourists came in soon after us! The girls were actually very friendly and gave a great massage! We both opted for a 2.5 hour Lila Thai Massage which included a full body massage (head, neck, shoulders, back and legs) as well as foot reflexology, a hand massage and finishing with a hot herbal massage. The herbal massage involves large balls of herbs wrapped in muslin cloth which are steamed until they are very hot and then pressed over the body. It was the best part of the whole experience and we walked out very chilled and relaxed.

On Wednesday morning we were up at 6.30am and collected from our guesthouse for a 1 day tour to the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle is the very northern tip of Thailand where the three borders of Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and Laos meet and where the opium trade used to be prevalent. We are normally adverse to organised tourist trips but with limited time and slow transport links we decided that it was the best way to see some of the important sights in this part of the country. We drove two hours north and visited the temple, Wat Chedi Luang in the town of Chiang Saen before continuing on to the area called the golden triangle. We took a boat out onto the Mekong river (that flows 600 miles from China through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam) to the point where the borders of Thailand, Burma and Laos converge before sailing to the Laos side, opposite, and (illegally) entering Laos... to stop at a small handicraft market. Ash sampled the local delicacy, Snake and Scorpion whisky... yes, that's whisky with a whole snake and a whole scorpion inside the bottle for added flavour! He said it was like rocket fuel and Bi was disgusted! They also had Tiger Penis Whisky on offer but Ash declined as he thought it was going a step overboard.

After a brief stop we returned by boat back to Thailand and made a stop for a 'salmonella bar' buffet lunch which we largely avoided! We then headed to the Burmese border to observe the crossing and wander markets. We always find border points very interesting as one country blends into another. There was a slightly more indigenous look to the people especially seeing the women with their babies wrapped in cloth and strapped to their backs. From the Burmese border we headed to the Karon hill tribe village to see the Long Neck tribeswomen. These women from a very young age seemingly stretch their necks to great lengths by wrapping heavy bronze rings around them. In fact all these rings do is push their rib cage down, giving them the illusion that their necks are long. Still, the illusion is impressive! We had both seen these women in National Geographic so it was interesting to see them in real life although with hordes of tourists around it felt a little voyeuristic and to be honest, it wasn't really our thing. The visit to the Burmese border was the highlight of the day for us!! After the village, it was a long and slow 3.5 hour drive along windy roads back to Chiang Mai and we arrived late.

This morning (Thursday) we negotiated the hire of a sawngthaew red taxi (which is like a tuk tuk) up Doi Suthep, a 1,676m peak 16km out to the northwest of the city. We stopped near the summit and wandered one of the most beautiful and sacred temples called Wat Phra That Doi Suthep before getting our driver to return via a small, peaceful forest temple called Wat U Mong. Today is our last day in Chiang Mai and for now, Thailand. Tomorrow we fly to Hanoi in northern Vietnam where we will start two weeks of travel down the length of the country and into Cambodia.