Made it to Saigon!

Arrived last night at 10pm .....2 hrs late. One hour of this due to the train hitting two cows on the track. I won't post the pics in case you are eating. Suffice to say the locals ran from the rice fields to pull the remains from under my carriage and as I saw one walk off with a lower leg and hoof I can only assume the "train kill" was destined for the pot.

Glad the train from Hanoi to Saigon was my last and not my first as it was the worst of all the carriages I have had, with the added problem of cockroaches climbing the walls and me being the only westerner on board. It did however result in some interesting sign language and sharing of an odd assortment of food. I was also the only one in my carriage travelling the whole 30hrs so I had an assortment of companions and one who was a union rep, spoke a very little english, called me beautiful and then wrote her address and mobile number in my diary!!!

More pics to come but some other stuff may not get posted until back in UK mid July because of tech problems that I had not envisaged. The Google locator will be switched off tomorrow afternoon. Its all over folks! Thank you again for raising over GBP2500 for DebRA.

Off to catch my last train

Arrived Hanoi yesterday and have explored the old quarter (like marrakesh
souks on speed), walked around Hoan Kiem Lake, and visited the 1000 yr old
Temple of Literature(pic of incense in the temple). Last night I met David and Kathy, my next door neighbours from Stamford who are in Hanoi for a year with VSO. Local knowledge is everything and so
I enjoyed vietnamese restaurant and rooftop bar with them.
On the way back from the temple yesterday I took a ride on back of scooter
and videoed the ordeal. It will get posted on the blog later.
At midday I board my last train for Saigon....the end of the road and I
arrive 8pm tomorrow night.

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What a day!

I arrived at this station in Nanning at 4am this morning. Taxi driver decided to take me for a detour to double the fare!! The money was not an issue as total cost £1.75 but he entered road from wrong direction so i was lost for a while. A few hours sleep and i made it back to the station on the no.6 bus and managed to buy my ticket to Hanoi for this evening.
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Reason for my 7 hour train delay

Torrential rain had hit southern China causing landslides and almost 100 deaths
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Lunch on train to Nanning

21 June

Beer rice and whole chili baked fish .....more delicious than it looks
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Shanghai at night

19 June

View from 34th apartment.

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This is for DebRA

18 June

Had time between trains to take a selfphoto in front of Birds Nest Olympic Stadium.
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