dalat, nha trang, hoi an, and hue

I've been having computer access problems over the last week, and so haven't been able to update the blog until now.

I'm no longer in Ho Chi Minh City, and since I last blogged I've been through Dalat, Nha Trang (briefly), Hoi An, and now I'm in Hue. I've been travelling with an Australian couple - Andrew and Peta (female). I met them on the Mekong Delta, and have really enjoyed their company.

In Dalat we hired three 'easy riders' to take us up into the Dalat mountains. I don't know how to describe the three of them other than as being middle-aged Vietnamese versions of the Fonz (as in Arthur Fonzarelli: the 'Happy Days' biker and sultan of cool). All three of them wore black shades, and one did actually have a Fonzie leather jacket on. Eeeeeeeee. They were great fun. After Dalat we went on to Hoi An via Nha Trang, and did some shopping (or rather I watched some shopping being done), and then last night we went out for a few beers. It's been a while since I've had too much to drink, and it turned into a really good evening. We met a few others and there was quite a group of us at one point. I had a laugh. It ceased to be so much fun when I had to get up at 6.30am to catch my bus to Hue having had only about three hours sleep. We've gone our separate ways this morning due to itinerary differences, and have exchanged email addresses and all the rest of it.

Just to put it 'on file' so to speak: in Ho Chi Minh City I stayed at the Mi Mi Hotel, in Dalat I stayed at the Pacific Hotel, in Hoi An I stayed at the Hoa Binh Hotel, and now in Hue I am staying at the Binh Duong Hotel. The Mi Mi Hotel has been my favourite of the bunch, although the Hoa Binh Hotel was very good too, and they let me stay in one of their more luxurious double rooms at their basic single room rate because it just happened to be empty and they thought they'd be nice. The Binh Duong was a bit of a hole, although I can't fault the staff on their friendliness and helpfulness.

I've received two pieces of very good news from the UK in the last two days. First is that my friend Raj has confirmed a flight out to see me on 14 December, and will be staying with me until 2 January. We're meeting in Kuala Lumpar, and this means I won't be on my own over the Christmas or New Year. I'm already looking forward to it. The second piece of news came from the Inland Revenue. They are giving me tax rebate of a thousand pounds. A thousand pounds out of nowhere! Cash back! I'll have to think about it how to use it in relation to this trip.