Thuan Loi Hotel Chau Doc

... and roads are the maddest i've experience. There was about 10 of us doing it in total and we were all riding Pillion, its was like wacky races. I won. Got some really good photo's of the sunset from the top of the mountain and chilled out in a hammock with a beer before the return journey.
Had time for a quick shower and then off out for some food in a restaurant on the Mekong river. Got a reasonably early night as were moving onto Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) tmrw.

I am now in Vietnam, i stayed in the border town of Chau Doc,
This town is not a tourist town, it is on the Mekong Delta - so took a trip on the Mekong on a longtail boat, taking in the scenery (just layed out at the front of the boat and felt completely relaxed) visited a fish farm and even fed the fish - woh when these things feed - you do not want to be in the water ...

... We slept peacefully for a few hours until the rain woke us up so we went in to our cabin. The next day we left the tour as arranged, to stay on Cat Co 2, on of the beaches on Cat Ba Island. The beach was very pretty, but spoilt by many plastic bags floating in the sea. In the evening we got a small boat out to one of the floating fish restaurants, where they pluck the fish out of the cages built into the deck after you have ordered. It was an unique experience but in all a bit of a ...

... idea of taking a boat all the way up the Mekong into Cambodia was quite appealing, considering alot of travellers take the bus from Ho Chi Minh City, we were desperate to do something different. Similarly with My Tho there wasn't an awful lot to do besides booking ourselves on the boat and getting dollars ready for our visas. We watched a few more movies, caught some noodles for tea and then to bed early, ready for our boat trip to Cambodia!!!

... br>
Just as we continued to wander through the garden the heavens opened. The rain came down as a trickle at first, but soon became a torrential affair. We found some shelter and tried to wait it out. No luck. So Lan told us that his best friend was only just down the road and we made a run for it. We arrived and were greeted warmly with a nice pot of Vietnamese tea and some fresh banana's from their garden. The families eldest son was ...

... you get a dvd player with the TV and a choice of Free DVD's to watch all kept in reception .............it was only after looking through this collection that the deal was sealed (Spinal Tap amongst others - Get In!) Laters Guys ......hope your all good and healthy . NICK (and Jen) xxx PS - Can wait for Champs League Final ........Rooney Hatrick i reckon! PPS - My Bday tommorow ......32!!!!! Hmmmm seems a little on the old side, dont know how i feel about it yet ....will let you know

... some of the villages along the river bank. We got to see lots of the exotic fruits growing in the wild and crossed some of the extremely rickety bridges the local use to get from one side of the river to another! That night, after sampling many of the weird and wonderful fruits on offer at the markets, Declan decided it was time to get to grips with some real local delicacy and sampled his first snake curry....

... different three day tours. Five of us ended up in a mini bus for Chau Doc but without a guide. We were supposed to be taken somewhere along the way for sightseeing but the driver chose to pick up fares along the way instead. By the time we reached Chau Doc the bus was packed, people were sitting on the floor. He dropped the contraband passengers off just before the town centre and took us to a hotel, dropped off the bags and just left. The hotel had no idea who we were and weren't ...

... things like this??? In every restaurant there were toothpicks on the table and most often in lovely little wooden holders either inlaid with mother-of-pearl or delicately carved.
> Lemon juice... it's actually what we would call lime juice (fresh) with a hint of sugar... it's SO refreshing!
> Baguettes... and the many other French influences. I certainly do miss brown bread though (and brown rice for that matter).
> Bicycles... my love of cycling ...

... not know where our hotel was and did not even understand what we were saying. We wrote down the name of the hotel, Asian Ruby, but that did not help. We flagged down another driver and got the same response. Bill did not know the address of our hotel, but knows it is in District 1, so he pulled out a guide book and pointed to a an intersection that should get us close. Please note: the metered taxi was mode of transportation #8 and I did not include the ...