Thursday 27 August

The journey today seemed different, the roads were quieter, if that is possible here and there seemed to be a haze in the distance. Maybe today we just looked farther a field but we noticed more rice fields and a lot more water. There were flocks of ducks and geese on some of them and huge really vibrant pink water lilies. In fact today's journey seemed more sedate altogether.

In some of the fields were shrines and graves, some were even topped by stone crosses. They were all different, some marble, black, white or terracotta and some resembled small pagodas. We passed one such place and it was all over grown and unkempt, when all others were so pristine this was so out of place and wrong somehow.

Somethings that are for sale here no matter where you go, city or rural areas are electrical goods - huge plasma TVs, stereos, DVD recorders etc. It is nothing to see a fridge being delivered secured to the back of a motorbike. And almost everybody has a mobile phone or 2.

Once again the journey took about three hours. Words cannot describe our time there and I'm not going to try. After our visit we were taken to the Council Offices where some legal matters were dealt with and then we began the journey home.

It gets dark here very quickly, when the sunsets it is almost immediate. We left Lang Son at around 4.30 and by 6.00ish we were treated to one of the most spectacular sunsets we can remember. We do have some pics and will post them next week.

We have been informed that all being well our Giving and Receiving ceremony will take place next Tuesday or Thursday, Wednesday is the National Day here so it is a Bank Holiday.

We have booked a trip to Ha long Bay, it is meant to be the 8th Wonder of the World. We are heading off on Saturday morning with a few of our fellow travellers. We drive there by bus and then board a boat on which we live for the next day and half. For those of you who remember the "Death on the Nile" Agatha Christie film the boat looks just like that. So there'll be an entry tomorrow of sorts but then not until our Sunday eve/ Monday morning to let you know how the trip went.


Friday 28 August

Today was sort of a free day,if you can call it that. Firstly we wandered around the streets by the hotel, it was fascinating, very hot and humid. Today is quite overcast in comparison to the other days. Everything smells different and the noise levels are several decibels above what we are used to. Next we went by taxi to a place called the Big C. It is a shopping centre about 15 mins away. If you couldn't purchase anything here then it is not worth selling. We made a few last minute purchases for our new arrival. Later, Dennis is going for a massage in the hotel around the corner, I'm going swimming and then the plan is to go to a local Vietnamese restaurant about 5 mins walk away. It comes highly recommended so as long as we keep Dennis away from the seafood tomorrow we'll be off to Ha long.