When we was in 'Nam

Thursday 2nd December

OK so I have been a little remiss in updating this of late, time has flown over the last week and there just never seems to be enough hours in the day. We are now in Siem Reap, Cambodia, however I thought that in keeping with tradition I would dedicate this post to some of the observations that we made during our time in Vietnam.

1. Everyone is soooo bloody friendly, even when they are blatantly ripping you off they maintain a cool air of kindness and never lose their amiable smile. You get the feeling that everyone is genuinely happy that you chose to visit Vietnam and whilst they are still a fledgling tourist destination when compared to their neighbouring countries they are learning fast and will be on par in no time at all.

2. The Vietnamese are resolute and steadfast in their determination not to move out of the way of oncoming traffic. Its the only place that we have visited where a pedestrian can literally halt a charging coach and pay no regard to its drivers torrent of beeps or profanities and the moped drivers are even worse. This normally results in a cacophany of horn blasts emenating from every concievable direction creating a cingular elongated beep that covers every audiable range. If horns ran on petrol then the people of vietnam would be very poor indeed and probably could'nt travel more than a mile a year.

3. From what we have seen the locals are completely addicted to Karaoke, however unlike other places we have visited they are bereft of even a small amount of talent. This however does nothing to disuade them as they flock en masse to the microphone to belt out some ominous sounding tune, out of key, on the locally provided 2000 watt surround sound systems that seem to be installed in almost every building.

4. The coach drivers are mental full stop.

5. The country is absolutely beautiful, with such a diverse landscape that you could easily vacation here every year and never once get bored, that is of course if you survive the coach journey there. All around are signs that some of the major tourist companies are fast moving in and unfortunately some of the smaller, cosier establishments are shortly going to be turned into mass produced faceless resorts that will be out of the price range of most locals and backpackers.

Anyway, we are now in Cambodia and after two days of travelling have reached Siam Reap. I am pleased to report that the coach journey was both smooth and uneventful and thus far everything has been exceptional. The guest house we are staying in could easily pass for a 5 star hotel back home and after one of the best sleeps of our trip we are ready to go out and do some exploring.