From Hanoi to Singapore Part 1: Vietnam

	Vietnam


We took two and a half months to make our way through South East Asia, overland from Hanoi to Singapore. We travelled through these countries: Vietnam Cambodia Thailand Malaysia Singapore This page has pictures from the month we spent in Vietnam. Check Phil's Vietnam email update to find out what happened. Click a link above to visit a different country page. You can view these pictures as a slideshow here. (This link opens a new browser window. This may be a problem if you have a pop-up blocker installed.)

Hanoi
	Rainstorm in Market #1 We took these pictures while sheltering from a rainstorm of apocalyptic proportions in downtown Hanoi.
	Rainstorm in Market #2 After a while the drains filled up and the water started to rise. The locals cheerfully informed us that this regularly happened as the sewers couldn't cope and we'd soon be waist-deep in water. In half an hour, we were...
	Rainstorm in Market #3 Soon even the rats had to make a run for it. Well, they swam for it anyway. It was most concerning to see something the size of a domestic cat dash past us into the cafe we were sitting outside. No one seemed to mind, though.
	Rainstorm in Market #4 We ended up having to buy 3 bright yellow raincoats and wade back to our hotel. For some reason the locals found the sight of us most amusing. Maybe it was because their "full-length" rain-coats barely reached down to our waists...
	Unidentified Temple I think this was by the pagoda on the lake. But which pagoda, and which lake?!?

Halong Bay
	Phil & Dan After a few days in Hanoi we needed to escape the chaos, so we went on a boat tour for three days to Halong Bay. The landscape was truly amazing, much like the limestone 'karst' rock formations of Yangshuo, but this time rising out of the sea rather than the rice paddies.
	Dan & Phil Exhausted While on our tour we climbed a nearby hill, though in 40 degree heat it seemed more like climbing Everest.
	Olly Triumphant The view from the top was a little cloudy but all the more mysterious for it.
	Dan & Phil Share A Joke A peasant offered me some opium from his pipe as we stopped for lunch. Thank God I turned him down, or I'd never have made it up...
	Scenery #1
	Scenery #2
	Scenery #3 The second day we spent kayaking around the deserted cliffs and beaches. We met a fisherman who asked Phil if he was a movie star. Phil said he was actually a basketball player from America and the guy was most impressed.
	Scenery #4
	Phil & Olly Share A Moment
	Scenery #5
	Scenery #6
	Phil & Olly Relax Most of our time was spent like this, just lazing around on deck and occasionally jumping off it.
	Scenery #7
	Scenery #8 There are lots of these floating villages around Halong Bay. They have floating schools & hospitals as well. This is an area where many of Vietnam's 'boat people' come from, as it's one of the poorest areas of the country.

Out Clubbing in Halong Bay
	Olly Impresses the Locals with His Break-Dancing Routine Luckily there were no strains or breakages after this performance.
	Phil & Olly On A Packed Dance-floor It's no exaggeration to say that we were the only people in the club. The three punters you see on the right are the bar-staff the management sent out to impersonate revelers.
	Dan Gets Down With the Bar-staff This bar-tender tried to copy Olly's earlier routine. He's probably still in the floating hospital.

On the Road in the North-West Mountains
	The View From Our "UN Special" Toyota Land Cruiser We hired a driver and a 4x4 Land Cruiser for a week so that we could really see the mountainous north-west interior of the country.
	Olly & Phil in French Prison Ruins near Dien Bien Phu We never intended to visit Dien Bien Phu (site of a famous Vietnamese victory over the French in the 50s), but due to a landslide the road we were going to take (to Lai Chao) was closed. So we got to see this crumbling old prison, where those pesky French used to keep all the Vietnamese who had the audacity to believe they should be running their own country.
	The Rolling Hills of Vietnam Very beautiful.
	The Boys Pose with Phi Ha (our driver) A good driver, but not much of a conversationalist.
	The Road to Sapa Usually we travelled for around 8 hours a day. We soon realised that Vietnamese roads left a lot to be desired. To start with, they were frequently closed, often used as a recreational space by children, farmers and livestock, and contained pot-holes the size of bomb craters.
	The Road to Sapa #2
	Dan By the Roadside
	Phil & Olly with Girl
	Phil Displays His Sensitive Side God knows what's going on with this one. Please email me a (clean) caption for this pic and I'll insert it here.
	Phil Finds Himself the Object of Attention This was a typical scene during our travels. As soon as we were spotted, local children would quickly surround us, laughing & pointing. If they were particularly well-behaved (or easily intimidated), they would at least maintain a respectful silence. Otherwise it would be a chaotic free-for-all.
	Local Kids They're leaning against a monument to a famous Vietnamese general who master-minded the victory over the French.
	Locals Hawk Their Wares to Disinterested Foreigners I think the red hats they're wearing indicate that they're of the Red Hmong tribe.
	Olly & Phil With Hawkers That's honey they're selling in those bottles.
	Taking a Quick Break
	Local Boy in Lai Chao If you're ever in north-west Vietnam, I can heartily recommend Lai Chao. A delightful little village by a river at the base of several huge mountains. Really picturesque, and with few tourists.
	The View From Sapa
	Dan & Phil on Trek in Sapa Sapa was a real disappointment. Despite a spectacular location, what charm it may have had was pretty much eradicated by the relentless tourist onslaught of Irish theme pubs and similar tat.

Trek to Black Hmong Village
	The Journey Begins By Canoe We hired a guide, who turned out to be a one-eyed non-English speaking chap who'd fought in the war, to take us to a remote village high up in the hills.
	The Current Gets Stronger The first part of the journey was by canoe. The current was incredibly strong and the boat alarmingly close to going over.
	We Start the Climb It was a long, hard slog up the mountain.
	Stunning Scenery
	We Arrive At the Village Not so much a village, more one large hut.
	Fantastic Location
	The Locals Welcome their Guests We just rocked in with our guide and started to eat our lunch. The inhabitants were already getting busy with rice wine.
	Cute Kids I gave this guy my laser pen. I tried to tell him not to shine it in his sister's eyes, but I'm not sure he understood.
	We Come In Peace For anyone interested in hill tribe cuisine, for lunch that day we were made boiled egg mixed with jam, and some kind of grain.
	The Obligatory Picture of Uncle Ho He's everywhere in 'Nam. Note the aged hunting rifles as well.
	The Toasts Start These guys must have had something to celebrate that day. Anyway, we were immediately handed the local petrol and the toasts began.
	Things Start to get Messy Not understanding a word anyone said, and them not understanding anything we said, didn't seem to matter so much after a few rounds had been polished off. In fact, after a few more we chatting away like old friends.
	We Take Our Leave A really friendly bunch of people.
	Catching the Last Bus Home Getting down the mountain while drunk is not an experience I can see catching on.

Hue
	Phil & Olly with Garruda This was inside the magnificent citadel in Hue.
	Touts on the Attack As usual, people attempted to flog us merchandise.
	Dan in Doorway of Cham Temple This may have been in Nha Trang now that I think about it. Anyway, we hired a taxi for the day so that we could get to the nearby Cham temples for daybreak. Unfortunately it was raining all morning.
	Phil Poses Outside Pagoda
	Phil Outside Pagoda #2
	Dan & Phil atop Holy Marble Mountain You can see the famous China Beach in the background. This was the place where GIs got their R&R during the war.
	Roof
	Dan Investigates Hue Citadel Ruins

Hoi An
	Olly, Phil & Cyclist It took about 5 attempts before we managed to get a cyclist in the foreground. This was taken on the waterfront next to the famous Cafe Des Paris restaurant. If you're ever in Hoi An, I can heartily recommend it.
	Boat Traffic
	Beach #1 The light conditions on the beach that day were amazing. There was a storm out to sea I think.
	Beach #2 This is one of my favourite pictures. It's supposed to be like a Rothko painting. When I get home I'll give it some more attention in PhotoShop.
	Beach #3
	Beach #4
	Beach #5
	Olly & Dan Exhausted I was trying to stay off the beers, but at 30 a litre why not?
	Phil & Olly by the DMZ This is the river that once split Vietnam in two.
	Phil's 57th Dream
	Come in P26, Your Time Is Up After an extensive session of haggling I managed to hire this person's rubber tyre for an hour for 20p. What a rip off!

Nha Trang
	View #1 This was the scene of extensive fighting during the war.
	View #2
	Olly By A Chopper I think this was Ko Sanh Combat Base Museum?
	View #3
	Lounging By the Pool #1 Why the woman in the background has a facemask on I've no idea.
	Lounging By the Pool #2 Dolph Lundgren flaunts his pecks.
	Lounging By the Pool #3 After extensive investigations, we discovered that Phil was the only one who could complete a front somersault before landing in the water.
	Dragons
	Jungle Beach These rocks got so hot it was impossible to walk over them barefoot.
	Waterfall We spent a day hiking up to this waterfall near Jungle Beach. It was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. The walk should have taken about an hour, but we took the wrong path and spent the whole day climbing up a nearby hill. Soon we ran out of water and in that heat things soon got serious. Think half-way through Ice Cold In Alex. We did eventually find the waterfall the next day though.

Click the image below to view snaps from the next leg of our journey: Cambodia...