So here we are in Vietnam…
We will miss thailand! Our last night was another brilliant night. We spent the day recovering (apart from trying to go climbing but it was shut- probably a blessing in disguise) and got a few beers around 9 after an amazing amazing Indian. Then the 4 off us ventured round to Khaosan Road where all the action was going on. The night was well underway and after smuggling quite a few more beers into some of the pubs we topped the night off with an hour of two of dancing in a nightclub that was thankfully free to get into. I think it was called Le Club or something. Sarah E you will god damn love it! I imagine this is what Ibiza feels like - hot, lots of dance music and the place was rammed. It’s a night I don’t think any of us will forget! We left at the more reasonable time of 2.30am. There was no sign of the night slowing down for Craig and gaz though, they stayed well into the morning. All we’d paid for was 80p beers from the 7 eleven all night. Bonus.
At 7am yesterday our alarm went off but we didn’t get up to pack until after 9. Thankfully we didn’t have the killer hangover we’d got the morning before. Our flight went as smoothly as ever. We landed 15 minutes early at about 5.30pm and I was personally looking forwrd to a break from the heat of bangkok because word had got round that it was cooler at night. (You sweat all day everyday in Thailand. No escape!!) But here we are - sweating.
We got the local bus into the center of Ho Chi Minh City last night. The woman wanted us to pay for 4 tickets because of our 2 big bags which she counted as people. ha ha ha. We didn’t. Got somehow to the back packer district and tried to find a hotel in the dark. We are totally unimpressed. All the hotels were like “20 dollar” or “15 dollar” and I was like “I’m in Vietnam, how much in Dong???”. Getting tired, hungry and generally annoyed we settled for a really really crap “10 dollar” room. We will be leaving first thing and defo’ sleeping in the sleeping bags because as the title suggests there’s mushrooms growing behind the bed and wardrobes etc. The most annoyng part of the day… arriving in Vietnam to find that you can buy a Vietnamese visa on arrival now. This must be a brand new thing because everybody who’s ever been to Vietnam knows you can’t turn up without one. At the airport they were 25 dollars and we’d paid 40 quid each 2 days before. So we paid probably double. We are very very annoyed!!!!
This morning has got off to a better start. We left our hotel at 12. We must have needed the sleep because we were out cold until after 11. We are sat here in a cafe now, just eaten our first western breakfast in 6 weeks, real beans, a big loaf of bread EACH that was hot and crispy, two eggs, sausage that tastes like sausage and bacon. Wow. It might have been 2 quid each but we also got a brill brew. everyone needs an English breakfast every now and then 
An American couple has just informed us of a much nicer 10 dollar room round the corner. We’re going to check that out now, because we have all our bags with us in the cafe! one thing we’re defo’ doing here is visiting some underground tunnels. it’s a bit like pot holing apparently because the people in vietnam are so small. They were used during the war to connect underground hospitals etc when they were hiding. I don’t like the fact that some of it’s a squeeze but it’s gotta be worth doing
So bye for now. New country, new experiences. Will keep yahs informed!
QUICK UPDATE - found a lovely little hotel called “mini hotel” for the sameprice as last night, 180,000 dong. TV, aircon,hot shower, lovely staff, very clean. We’ll be filling the fridge with Saigon beer and watching the grand prix at 4pm yey!