Vietnam

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Hi all.

Vietnam is the last country on our trip. We got to Ho Chi Minh by Bus. It was rush hour, pouring with rain and the traffic was insane. I thought there were a lot of mopeheads in Phenom Penh, but nothing compares to this! Our taxi driver said there were over 10 million people in the city, and around 5 million mopeheads. They abide to no traffic laws, drive on pavements and run red lights all the time. Luckily tho they are good at dodging pedestrians. We went on a trip to the Chu Chi tunnels, which are only about 50km from HCMC. The tunnels were used by the Viet Kong in the war, and were narrow so that the American GI's couldn't fit down them, but the Viet Kong could. A section of the tunnels were widened (although still very narrow), and we got to go down them. We also go to see the different kinds of traps the Viet Kong used, all of which were pretty brutal. The traps were smothered with Cow faeces, so that if the GIs did survive the trap there wounds would get infected, horrible. In addition to the tunnels there was a shooting range, had a go with the M60, full auto, very powerful! We also went to the Vietnam war museum, there was a large, photo collection which showed different aspects of the war, some of the photos really stood out and captured the moment perfectly.

We decided to buy a open Bus pass to get from the south (HCMC) to the North of the country, bad idea. The first leg of the trip was from HCMC to Nha Trang (a coastal city, with a beach). It took us 10 hours to get there and there were no toilets on board. The beach at Nha Trang wasn't great, so we wandered back to the hotel and got invited into a local 5 a side game by one of the hostel staff. It was good, apparently their team (the green apples), named after the bar/hostel, normally loose to this other team they always play. But in the end we ended up winning 8-6. The guy who invited us to play was over the moon. Playing football in Vietnam is so much more tiring due to the heat, I was literally drenched in sweat at the end. It was a fun game tho, and am glad I went along, gave us a chance to interact with the locals a bit more.

We couldn't quite hack the bus again and so from Nha trang we got a train to Hoi An, further north up the coast. Hoi An is a quiet town is renowned for its tailors. There are tailor shops are everywhere, so we walked around for half the day trying to find the right one. I got 2 tailor made shirts made for about 12 pounds, they were ready in 3 hours and fit perfectly, not bad!

From Hoi An we got the bus to Hue (only a 4 hour ride so it was OK). There wasn't a whole lot to do in Hue, but we did catch up with Luke and his m8s.

We managed to get a cheap flight from Hue to Hanoi, as it was either that, a 12 hour train which cost pretty much the same, or a 12 hour bus ride with no toilets, easy decision. From Hanoi we booked a trip to Halong bay. The trip lasted 2 days, and one night, food was included. Halong bay, is dotted with loads of tiny islands and rock outcrops. It was an amazing sight. The boat we were on stopped off at a giant cave, we got to do some kayacking, swimming and dived off the boat. After the trip we headed back to Hanoi and spent a couple of days seeing the sights (prison which John McCain was held, when he was shot down), and chilling out with some Brits we met on the boat.

From Hanoi we flew back to Bangkok, where I am now. Will be heading home in 2 days, so I guess this is the last entry, for now...

See ya Soon,

Ben.

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