The Nam Hai

I'm heading to Nam for 2 months with no real idea what I'm going to do. After that I'm going to the UK for 1, 2 maybe 3 months. Then I'm off to Canada where I may or may not work depending if I get my visa or not I guess. When I'm sick of that I'll head ...

I beginning to realise that my impression of backpacking before coming here was of tour buses and organised groups with the security of knowing where i'll be staying the following night. That sense of security has not really been jumping out at us ...

... on when to give him the morphine, etc, he jolted upright, looked around, eventually made out my own presence, and asked me, "Ma hai pom bah?" I nervously looked at the nurse, then at his entire family, and explained that I was a PCV who works in ...

... the trek, it would be cancelled. It was a 3 day/2 night experimental trek organised by the official tourist office, or Nam Ha Ecotourism Project, whom work closely with the villages to limit the impact of tourim. This particular trek was experimental ...

... yesterday and did fuck all. Just hung around relaxing. This town feels like the most civilized place I've been to so far in Nam. It's kinda like Thailand with the resorts and resturants on the beach. I like it here. Today Julia and me hired a moto ...

After so much fun on Lipe, I found paradise on Ko Ngai (Hai).  Travelled by ferry once again throgh awesome limestone islands that rose out of the sea like skyscrapers.  A bit of a sunburn from riding on the top of the boat on the clearest day ...

... a nice change! We stayed at a place called Hai Yen which was at the end of the main touristy part, heading towards the fishing village. Hai Yen was lovely, air con room was very nice – had cable TV to keep Tom happy and I was delighted with the pool ...

Hello All Just a short note to say Happy New Year or Chuc Mung Nam Moi as they say in these parts. New year here is seven hours ahead of you so at midnight UK it'll be 7am on 1/1/12 here so no early phone calls please as we'll have our hangover to deal ...

... -term, had been poisoned) to defeat the army of general To Dinh of Han dynasty though three years later, Viet Nam was invaded again by Han dynasty, Hai Ba Trung has jumped into the river to suicide; thoughts of Ly Thai To, a King was originally raised ...

... , I have loads of willing tutors as they get to practice english in return, this weeks most used phrases are - Chuc Mung Nam Moi! - Happy New Year! Mot Hai Ba Ruou!  (say - mon hi baa yo) - One, Two, Three, Drink!  The owners of my Hotel ...

Day 3 Happy New Year or "Chuc Mung Nam Moi!" The day obviously started off celebrating new years', and what better way than to spend it in the heart of Saigon.  I haven't seen that many people since the post Olympic celebrations in Sydney.  It ...

... Laos, der in der Naehe von Luang Prabang in den Mekong fliesst. Die Reise dauerte ca. 8 Stunden da wir flussaufwaerts fuhren. Der Nam Ou ist eine wichtige Verkehrsader im Norden Laos, da viele an seinem Lauf gelegene Orte noch nicht an das Straßennetz ...

... when Son and I praticed our Laos! Another big dinner and the chief of the village turned up with the local 'Laos Hai' a homebrewed drink made from rice and yeast from which two straws are inserted and basically drunk from! You can imagine the outcome ...

... pho" jokes) is a rice noodle and broth dish. Huge in Nam. also excited that I can now say..."back when I was in Nam..." Day 2 me and 5 other girls flew to Hanoi- the capital of Vietnam. The cab ride was interesting. Three of us went in one cab ...

... road in Vietnam at just 500m above sea level. Looking down on loads of tiny secluded beaches including the gorgeous Lang Co Beach and Nam O Beach where the Americans first landed during the war in 1965. I was on one of the shitty local trains this time ...

... meant that I was right beside the large trucks we passed by with only centimeters to spare! At last at Ha Tien I checked into the Hai Yen hotel. I got a large double double room with a bath for $16.50 per night. The hotel is huge but strangely empty. I ...

... and pedestrians alike seem to use traffic signs and lane markings just as general guidelines for their travel. We saluted Tran Nguyen Hai's statue in the circle across the street and went on a mini driving tour.  Then we dropped Grandpa off and ...