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Published: January 7th 2007
From Hoi An we travelled down the coast, staying at beautiful (and extremely good value!) beach resorts in Qui Nhon and Nha Trang. Very little to report here, other than that the most strenuous activities of the day were T'ai Chi and Yoga on the beach and we spent an awful lot of time in the pool, very relaxing indeed. We don't want to make you too envious but the resort at Nha Trang did treat us to a candlelit dinner on the jetty to mark our honeymoon...aah!
From Nha Trang we travelled up into the mountains to the Vietnamese honeymoon favourite and former French hill-station, Da Lat. There were some beautiful lakes to walk around but other than that we expect the main attraction for the Vietnamese is getting away from the heat of the lowlands, which for us is still a treat!
From Da Lat we had a long 6 hour drive to Ho Chi Minh City, which was called Saigon until Vietnam was reunified after the American war. We had a guide for this part of the trip, who was also called Ho (see photo of Ho on the hammock). He was fantastic company and great
Nha Trang
The Beach!fun. Ho's father was in the South Vietnamese Army and was killed by the Viet Cong when Ho was 3. Like all South Vietnamese, Ho still refers to the city as Saigon. Like many of the people we met in Vietnam, he was very positive about the changes that are taking place now and about how quickly the Vietnamese economy is opening up to foreigners.
We had a fantastic time in Saigon. We started our main day of sightseeing at Notre Dame Cathedral, then went to the Presidential Palace, the place where Saigon finally fell to the North Vietnamese Army. We then went onto the Museum of War, which gives the full story of the American war, including some gruesome accounts of the effects of the Americans' use of chemical warfare and Agent Orange. Next we drove out to the Cu Chi tunnels, the secret tunnels dug by the Viet Cong during the war where they very effectively hid themselves and their weapons from the Americans. These tunnels were tiny! Stephen squeezed through one for about 30 metres and had to come out so he could stand up and get some air!
We drove back from Cu Chi
Qui Nhon
Stephen enjoying the pool! to Saigon, where we visited the Chinese Market and ate some fantastically tasty and spicy crab noodles with Ho. We rounded off our stay with rooftop drinks at our hotel, the Caravelle. Very cool! This was our last day in Saigon and for now, in Vietnam. We're already planning our trip back!
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