Matthew's end of year missive 2003

This is my end of year letter. I put it here in case you missed the email!
Hi. I hope you are having a great end to 2002

First, let me apologize if I've disappeared off your radar screens, if you were sitting there thinking, "where is that Matthew Holt fellow", I have indeed disappeared more or less off the map. I'm writing my end of year message from Laos, a

I have now got the photos from Sapa up as well as more in the Hanoi album. I have also put up the photos from Southern Laos after much fussing from the Germans' with the sense of humour, Uli and Maikka, but you have to go to the relevant secion of the blog (dated 1/4/03) to see them. Plus the shots of Ventiene are up too.

Stories to follow...am a bit tired after a too-happy christmas dinner

So to bring you up to date....this missive covers my time in Tam Coc, Hanoi (twice) Halong Bay, Sapa and getting to Vientiene in Laos, where I'm writing this. After leaving Dong Hoi I was awakended on the sleeper train by it stopping. I asked the guard where we were as Vietnamese stations don't bother with niceties like signs. "Nimh Binh" he said. That's me, I thought, and rushed off to get my

So I'm leaving Vietnam tommorow. I've spent the last few days in Sapa which is in the Tonkin Alps in far northwest, and have been completely fog bound. I'll have photos up from here soon enough. However for those of you waiting (hi Dad!) I have now got all my sets up. These include the Tam Coc river, Halong Bay, Hanoi, and a certain "Big Wednesday" night out in Hanoi (you know who you are and

Dalat via Nha Trang via Hoi An via Hue to Dong Hoi -- I've spent most of this month thinking of the Eddie Murphy skit at the start of Trading Places, when he's pretending to be a blind, crippled Vietnam Vet, and two cops ask him where he was stationed. He says (something like!) "Dan Ang, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Du Nang, Ru Tang, yeah man I was at all of them places...", then the cops kick of his