Route: Hanoi (Vietnam) – Luang Prabang (Laos) 290315

Bought the ticket a day early for USD43. 22hours journey. Motor guy pick me up at my staying place at 5pm and gather with others going to same destination. 7pm leave for Luang Prabang. My first time on a bus, which the seats are not totally flat. About 20% incline for sleep. Meet Shuya, Yuuta & Masasaki from Fukuoka, Japan – students on break– doing an almost similar trip like mine. Bus was half filled with travellers and the others locals. Did not manage to get a single seat but lucky next to Shuya – slightly smaller than me. Can you imagine two big guys seating on the couple seat for 22 hours? Bus will fill up with people, picking up on the way to the border. Even the walking lane in the bus is used for passengers that they pick up along the way and they just sleep there. This route is really different. It is really curvy as the bust goes through the mountains. As always I did not sleep because the sit is too short and I cannot move around much. Bus stops from time to time for toilets and little breaks & dinner. Arrive at the border 6am. Have to wait for 7am for the immigration to open to check out Vietnam and enter Laos. Have to walk through the border from Vietnam to Laos border. About 8am everything is done. Finally, in Laos but still a long way to Luang Prabang. Usually when taking night bus or train - will probably arrive the noon the next day after sleeping at night but this is different – will only arrive at night. Couple of stops from time to time for toilets & food. Laos is looking a little bit different. With curvy roads and houses along the mountain roads. After lunch bus puts on Rambo Marathon and somehow they all like Rambo. Finally arrive in Luang Prabang – 24 hours trip. Hungry! Knackered! Crazy! Longest bus ride so far

Hanoi 280315

When I arrived Hanoi after a 16hour train ride – the weather was gloomy with dark clouds. The public people was a bit cold but in a way it was good because the people or even the motor taxi don't hassle you that much comparing to the other cities that I went too – so it was nice to walk around without sellers on the street bothering you. And of course the traffic was crazy but in smaller streets comparing to the Ho Chi Minh City.

I would say the best part of Hanoi was the people I met at the place that I couch surfed which was an English Centre for the Vietnamese local to practice English speaking. I approached for a place to stay and by coincidence Ha & her sisters where the caretaker of this English Centre. Even the Centre’s name were welcoming  - ‘Vietnam Says Hello’.  Ha is a final year student and is studying in Hanoi. Her two sisters are living with her as they are working in Hanoi. Apparently there are many English Centers in Vietnam. It’s not that they don’t learn English in school but they didn't have the proper English being taught and their pronunciations were really bad I guess. And in these English Centre’s they usually have Westerners teaching English. ‘Vietnam Says Hello’ was still about a month old and the classes just started for about a week or two. It’s a business done by two young guys Trung & Son. I was quiet impressed with their ambitions at the very young age. And I really liked the idea that they gave travellers to stay. In Hanoi, it was something different for me and I really felt like a foreigner. Before this, along my trip, I would always see local Vietnamese talking to travellers (non-Asian) at the park but here they were interested with me too. In ‘Vietnam Says Hello’ – the building have four levels. The ground floor, the coffee room, the classes and my room were on the fourth floor. We usually hung out at the coffee room where students would be there and wanting to practice English speaking with you or just simply interested in what & why were we doing these travels. Even on my first day there was an hour session of  ‘talk show’ where a professor from Belgium just came to talk about his life and students came just to listen and learn the English language by communicating. A couple came to couch surfed two days after I arrived. Liam from England & Sabrina from Austria. They were traveling for five months and decided to find a work in Hanoi. So, having them around was great. Ha was really great in helping us finding our way in Hanoi. Trung had been hosting couch surfers before and just enjoys the company of travellers. Son, the local Hanoi boy was around at times to help out as well. We surely had a great time and we have nights just talking discussing exchanging opinions on everything that we would like talk about. Sometimes I would join the classes just to observe but all in all it was great fun to be surrounded with these curious people.

I also needed to get my China Visa in Hanoi – which was not that, hard. I tried going to agencies but they charge you like double the cost. So, it’s best to do it yourself. The process will take only three working days and it’s best to do this on a Monday. At first – I thought mine would get rejected because the officer that received my passport said that I didn't have enough documents. You will need a health insurance, a booking of a hostel in china and a flight ticket. I just had a booking of a hostel, which was usd1, and most probably I won’t stay there and I told them that I just wanted to travel by land. When she said it would be difficult – I just gave a proposal of my trip and the next day, I was granted a Visa. The tedious part was to pay it at the bank of China, which was a little bit far from the China Embassy, but luckily there was a local girl to help me out.

I didn’t really explore the historical side, which was my initial plan when I wanted to go to Vietnam but I guess it was just enough when you have all these great people surrounding you. The Hoam Kiem Lake was the biggest attraction for me. It wasn't that exciting at first seeing it a little temple in the middle of the lake but once the night time arrives – it was simply beautiful with the illuminating lights.  The public busses were convenient – you just need to know where to go. It was 7 Dong per ride. The Old quarters were my daily routine thing because that’s where the best Halal food I had so far, next to the mosque. The Old quarters are where the backpackers are and at night there’s this one corner at a four junction where everyone just sit down on the little chairs drinking.  Besides that there’s the museums, which I didn't go too. And the best nature sightseeing was outside of Hanoi like Ha Long Bay & Sapa. I just can’t afford to go there and I think it’s probably like something similar in along Southeast Asia.

It was a great night out on my last night in Hanoi. We hand an entourage going to the night market. It was really long night market located in the old quarters and they only have it on Fridays. It started out only with Liam, Sabrina, Andrea (another Swiss traveller that just arrived at ‘Vietnam Says Hello’) and me. Along the way to the bus stop, we met Giang – a student/worker at ‘Vietnam Says Hello’ and she tagged along with us and became our translator for an Uncle that was interested in us inside the bus ride to the old quarters. The Uncle (old man) is mostly interested in Liam because his son is working in England. The Uncle invited us for ice cream desert, nearby his place at a walking distance to the night market. He also invited us to have lunch at his place on the Sunday but I couldn't join because I was heading for Luang Prabang, Laos before I would enter China. And then walking towards the Night market along the Hoam Kiem Lake – there were many local students stopping us just wanting to talk to us. And after the night market, we hung out at the crazy drinking corner. And lastly for the night was meeting Liam’s friend from Manchester where I met other Expats – mostly teaching English with only high school qualifications and just by using their tourist Visa. Some have been living for a year or two and only go out of the country to renew the visa. They just simply came to Hanoi and live there.

After a week in Hanoi, it was time to head for Luang Prabang. I thought of going too directly to China from Vietnam but somehow Liam convinced me to go to Luang Prabang – so it was kinda like a detour for me before entering the Mainland China. Thank you Trung, Son, Hana & sisters for the hospitality. Thank you students of ‘Vietnam Says Hello. And nice meeting you Liam & Sabrina & Andrea. Thank you guys for being a part of my life for the time in Hanoi! Vietnam locals are simply great!

Route: Da Nang (Vietnam) - Hanoi (Vietnam) 220315

Buy food at supermarket - Bougette, cheese, spicy tuna. cheap ones. Train leaves at 640pm. Ticket bought when arrived in Da Nang. 775k Dong for sleeper Cabin for four people. Share with Vietnamese woman with a kid. Bougette bread not delicious because cheap tuna sucks. For dinner supper and breakfast. Best Sleeper so far throughout the trip. Nothing much for this trip besides nice view heading to Da Nang. Fields. Mountains. Clouds. I still cant sleep. So jetlag. Im sleep when the sun comes up. 1240pm next day arrive at Hanoi train station.

Da Nang. Hoi An 210315

Da Nang put a big smile on my face! After traveling from city to city... it was great to view the beach. I love beaches. First thing I did was to stay at a Hotel nearby the beach, so I can just walk to it. It was just two blocks away. And I kinda need space for myself after being around people for some time.  It was the low season, so a room costed me USD15. After some rest, I head to the My Khe beach. There were not many people here. I was surprised but maybe it was because of the low season. The beach reminds me of Goldcoast, Australia. Long stretch sandy beaches. You can also surf during the monsoon season. At the north of the stretch you can see hills. It was certainly a great view. I wanted to swim so much but I was alone and fear that my beg will get stolen if I left it on the beach. Luckily, an Indian halal shop was just 15 minutes away from my place.

Da Nang is favourite for most Vietnamese for a getaway. During the Vietnam War, the city was home to a major air base that was used by both the South Vietnamese and United States air forces. The base was considered one of the world's busiest airports during the war. I met Lavie & Tai the next day and they surely brought me to the best places within the 8 hours that we had together. Firstly, they brought me to drink coconut with a view of Da Nang only river which had 5 bridges. The famous recently built bridge have a big dragon on it. The lights of the fire from the dragon will only come out during weekends. We were on two motorbikes with Tai carrying me on his bike. After that, they brought me to Song Tra Peninsular to watch one of the most beautiful sunset. It was 20 minutes drive but was simply mesmerizing. From there, you can see the hills and the endless south china sea. Watching the sun goes down was breath taking.

At night they decided to bring me to Hoi An which was 30 minutes away from Da Nang. At first I hesitated as I wanted to see more of Da Nanang but the night life in Da Nang for now was dead. So, we headed for Hoi An. It was quite cool at Da Nang, mainly because it was further up to the north and next to the beach. I wondered what was there in Hoi An - it wasn't even in my plans actually. We had seafood which was considered cheap before we enter further into Anicient city of Hoi An. As I reached there, we took a walk at the Ancient town that was preserved by UNESCO. Oh my it was certainly beautiful with the lights coming from lanterns all around. I didn't know what Hoi An was all about until I was there and then. It reminds me a bit of Melaka. Hội An Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique heritage site. A really big thank you to Lavie & Tai for bringing me around within the short time that we had.

My stay was only for two nights, as i bought my tickets early for Hanoi this time around for the sleeper bus. On my last day was simply walking around at Da Nang beach and somehow with two hours before my train departs, I just had to go swimming in the sea!

Route: Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) - Danang (Vietnam) 190315

buy ticket last minute at Saigon railway station. Nha help me by bringing me to the station and buy ticket. Damn! no sleeper left. Only seats 17 hours ride. 595k Dong. Hesitate to go. But let's just go and do how the locals do it. leave at 730pm. Many locals on the same ride. stuck in window seat next to an old lady with alot of stuff. They have porridge yummy! After sleeping in a nice comfy bed, it is hard for me to sleep sitting down for 17 hours. What can I do? Nothing. Pretend sleep and listen to music. By morning some people left to early destinations. Change seat so I have space to spread my legs and try sleeping. Only a couple hour or two. Finaly 1230pm the next day arrive at Da Nang

Ho Chi Minh City 180315

Ho Chi Minh City or still known as Saigon was the place I had my first proper rest. It has been 10 days but I felt like I had been traveling for a long time. Initially I planned to visit historical sites and finding out what’s the fuss about regarding the Vietnam War, which Americans were greatly involved. I was really interested on how the North Vietnam & south Vietnam fought each other before and now had become one. I also imagined of shooting the AK47 at Cu Chi tunnel. But all that didn’t happen. Ho Chi Minh City for me was mostly hanging out with the people living there. I spent about more than a week in Ho Chi Minh City. When I first arrived it kinda felt like home again. It was like KL in the 90's and that made me feel homesick. Food was easy to find here. There's a street full of Malaysians and Malaysian food. So, yeah you can get confused whenever you are in that street whether you are in Vietnam or Malaysia. It was next to the famous Ben Thahn Market.

For the first few nights I stayed at Zombie Shop with Sao's family which I shared a room with his younger brother. It became a routine for me to go to Ben Thahn Market every afternoon, to get some food and walked around the city for the first few days. There's this game that the Vietnamese people likes to play every evening and sometimes foreigners would join in at the park nearby the Ben Thahn market. Well, in almost every park they would play this game. It's like balancing a ratan ball of 'Sepak Takraw' in the air within the circle of players but instead they use like a shuttle cock shape to kick it around. I also sold my DSLR camera set for a lighter weight camera, a go pro and a light weight and best ever smart phone for now. Sao was a busy businesswoman, and she had to concentrate on her new project. She lives with her siblings in the building that they rent for the Zombie Shop which sells hipster stuff for the Vietnamese people like clothes, shoes etc. She used to be a civil engineer but went for business and now, owned two outlets of Zombie shop. She showed me around town at night on her motorbike where the famous bright colour post office of Saigon & the Notre Dame Cathedral next to it. Locals like to hung out at this area.

I've also met Uzair, a fellow friend from Malaysia. He went traveling about two years back and now settling down in Saigon with his partner, Lix. And I stayed at his place for the rest of the days in Saigon. He lives in District 7, a proper neighborhood with many expats foreigners living there. From here I learnt how to use the bus, which was really cheap about 7,000 dong one trip. You just need to know what number bus and where the bus stations were. And in Saigon, I met up with someone that represents Ho Chi Minh City, Nha, who showed me around the corners of Vietnam. Nha is currently doing her internship in accounts and management and she can only see me at night. She drove me around on her scooter and I’m was like double her size. She lived so far away from district 7 and yet managed to send me back without fail even though I insisted not too. She took me to try out the street food of Saigon and to slurp the best coffee in the world, the Vietnamese coffee. We also went to one of the famous temple in Saigon. Nha was the best tour guide you could have, as she was eager to exchange learning each other cultures. She taught me a few words in Vietnam and showed me the traditional dress of Vietnam 'Ao Dai'.

All in all, it was really great being in Saigon because of these lovely people. I was getting lazy towards the end of my trip, partly because the Uzair's place was too comfortable which have air conditioning and a proper bed. And so I decided to head north to Da nang before going to Hanoi. Nha helped me until the end of my stay in Saigon, where she sent me to the train station to get me last minute ticket to Danang, & I regret not getting it early because there were only seats left for a 16hours journey. I hesitated to go because I've never been on seating overnight train for 16 hours before. but of course I just had to try out how the vietnamese people do it!

Route: Pnom Penh (Cambodia) - Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) 100315

Bus leaves at 11am. Bought ticket at at travel agent nearby on the day itself. Cost USD15. Just a normal bus since it is a day trip. 3 hours to border. There are casinos just before the border. It is for Vietnamese people to come too because in Vietnam they are not allowed to have casinos. The border crossing is mostly done by the tour bus agent. Just need to check out of Cambodia and show our face entering the border of Vietnam. No departure/arrival card. Scan bags. Process takes about 30 minutes at the Border. Hello Vietnam. Met Australian guy on the bus living in Ho Chi Minh. Gave some pointers. Takes about two hours to Ho Chi Minh City. By the time arrive it was bad traffic. There is seven of us. Bus pay taxi to send us to the bus station to skip the traffic by bus. 5pm Saigon