Entries about hot

Well has been an interesting few days,traveled from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng which is a little town but full of backpackers.The village is nestled in a valley and is surrounded by stunning sandstone cliffs,spent a few days there ,hired a scooter and did a bit of exploring on the tracks through the jungle which was cool

Then another bus and another 7 hours of bouncing around single lane goat tracks to Phonsavan,the town itself has nothing to do but is the gate way to the "Plains of Jars" between 500BC-500AD the locals are thought to have used the large carved jars to place the dead in until there where only bones left and then burial could take place,and also is one of the most heavily bombarded areas of Laos, this year alone there has been around 18 children injured or killed whilst working in the fields and are unlucky enough to hit a bomb

They are still clearing the areas to make safe but expect it will take hundreds of years if not more before the area is decontaminated,which makes it tough on the locals as this limits the areas that they can crop,there literally huge holes everywhere where bombs hit the ground back in the 60's and 70's,only spent 2 nights there and then it was time to move onto the capital of Lao Vientiane,but cheated and got a plane only took half an hour verse the 10 hours the bus was going to take

Situated on the Mekong and with lots of French influence is a nice place to kick back and relax in the shade because it bloody hot currently the feel temp is 42c and the humidity is 68%,not liking it Jan

Plan to spend another few days here before travelling further south to an area called 4000 islands,before arriving in Vientiane the Wifi has been shocking plenty of signal but nothing happens,well that's me done might go back to the hammock and finish a book off

Well spent most of yesterday (4/10) on a bus from Sapa to my current destination Dien Bein Phu,the bus was packed with locals and and they goods literally jammed in like sardines,the route crossed the highest road in Vietnam then dropped back into the valley and we basically followed a couple of rivers for a while before crossing another mountain pass before once again dropping into the valley to Dien Bein Phu

Glad I took a bus in the daylight to do the trip,we were truly in rural Vietnam,small villages and there inhabitants going about there day to day life,pulled up few times and the look on some people's faces when a westerner jumped off the bus was pretty funny,got asked to have my photo taken a few times and also again today,must be getting off the backpacker loop a bit ,been a struggle to find English speaking people,so have been using the phone and Google Translator quite a bit !!

Dien Bein Phil is quite important to the people of Vietnam ??,as below.
The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the decisive engagement in the first Indochina War (1946–54). After French forces occupied the Dien Bien Phu valley in late 1953, Viet Minh commander Vo Nguyen Giap amassed troops and placed heavy artillery in caves of the mountains overlooking the French camp. Boosted by Chinese aid, Giap mounted assaults on the opposition’s strong points beginning in March 1954, eliminating use of the French airfield. Viet Minh forces overran the base in early May, prompting the French government to seek an end to the fighting with the signing of the Geneva Accords of 1954.,the Geneva accord basically split Vietnam into North and South and this led to the Vietnam War which Australia got dragged into late

That is really short version,worth googling it to read a bit more,tomorrow bright and early catching another bus into Laos ??,so that is me done catch you in a couple of days when I find wifi again !!Weather is hot and humid must be mid 30's add the 76" humidity and feels well in the 40's

At the A1 hill which is one of spots where the Vietnamese dug in and today is a bit of museum,couple there getting wedding photos taken,thought that was strange as the scenery was not that nice !!

Well for the last week I have been in Hanoi in the old quarter and it is crazy,the traffic,the amount of people,the lack of road rules and so many other things

The weather has been hot and humid most days have been in the mid 30's with feel like temp of 41-43,so have been smashing down water like it's going out fashion,been averaging around 7 km each day walking around and site seeing,so today I have worn out my 2nd set of foot wear,hopefully will be able to get these flash leather Jesus sandles resoled!!

I have been based in what is refered to as the old quarter which is like a rabbit warren with little alleyways darting off every each way, all the streets and alleys are lined with little shops selling just about anything you could think of, some street blocks seem to have a theme such as they will all be selling shoes or paint,the one near my hotel sells pots and pans

Have enjoyed my stay here,some cheap food and cold beer but tomorrow bright and early I am off to Halong Bay for 3 days to do a boat tour

Well my first full day in Chiang Mai after crossing into Thailand at Mae Sot and a very relaxed border crossing it was,walked all the way through into Thailand and nobody stamped my Visa so turned around and went back and finally got somebody to stamp it,thought it would create way to many hassles on the way out.

Got another slow bus from Mae Sot to here, only about 280km but still took 7 long hours, so today hired a scooter (Vespa) and took a trip up into the national park which is just outside town,very steep range with some peaks around 1600 metres,beautiful lush rainforests and a nice escape from heat

Probably head up again tomorrow and check out some waterfalls,still have another couple of days here before heading to Pai,but need and try to get my visa extended,so that also might be tomorrow chore