Hello Parents, Grandparents, Brother, Aunts& Ucles, Friends and Random STA readers !

Already 2 weeks that we are in Vietnam ! We arrived in the country start of September, bang on on the anniversary day of their Independance from French colonisation : we were welcomed byhuge propaganda banners all over the city celebrating their freedom from the oppressors (useless to say that I kept my nationality quiet on that day ... :)

Vietnam took us by surprise. Most people we met along the way those past few months had warned us against Vietnam : "too touristic", "people not very nice, trying to rip you off all the time", "the cities are too big and horrible". In short, not a pretty picture !But, maybe because we're here during the low season, our experience has been different. Particularly in the South, the people have been nothing short of friendly, from laughing old little ladies pinching our bums in the shops (don't ask why ?!) or spontaneously taking us by the hand to help us cross the mad streets of Saigon. Students stopping to chat with us to practice their English and tuk tuk drivers even displaying a sense of humour when turned down (unheard of !!!). Of course you're always surrounded by street vendors trying to sell you anything from postcards to boat rides, but we found they were never aggressive or overly insistent. It gave Andy and I the opportunity to perfect our skill at patiently turning people down with a bright smile even though it's the 12th person in 10min trying to sell us something :))

Saigon is also where my mum joined us for a 3 weeks holidays across Vietnam. And to get stuck straight into the travelling experience, our first night together in Saigon took a rather eventful turn ! In the south of Vietnam, the rainy season is in full flow and on that night we got properly caught up in a huge street flood in the city centre. It started heavily raining around 18.00 and in the space of 30mn, the water level in the streets rised to about 1m, with water flooding into the shops. A really impressive sight ! Completely drenched we took refuge in a travel agency, unable to go anywhere else. Some cars were still driving with water up to their bonnet, trying to avoid kids jumping delightedly in this improvised pool filled with warm murky brown water !!After waiting at least 1hour for the water level to go down, we resolved ourselves to jump into the action, our flip flops in one hand and practically swimmed back to the hotel, surrounded by floating garbage. A charming experience !! That's when mum started wondering whether she had chosen the right time and place to join us in our travels....:))

After a few hot & humid days visiting Saigon we headed off South to the Mekong Delta for a 2 day tour. The Mekong Delta is where most of Vietnam rice production comes from. It's a huge stretch of flat & fertile land, crossed by hundreds of canals formed by the mighty Mekong river. All the life is regulated by and around the river and the vietnamese there are more likely to use a small boat than a moped to drive around :)

The first day of our tour was a joke ! Forget any real cultural experience, we were merely taken from souvenir shops to souvenir shops with 40 other bored tourists. Fortunately, come the night, we had opted for a homestay instead of the hotel. This is what made for us the whole trip really worthwhile ! Our host, Hung, took us by boat to his small village situated along one of the canal . He was living in a beautiful traditional vietnamese house where he welcomed us with all the honours usually reserved to family guests. Starting with a delicious evening meal during which our host's Grand-dad, completely pissed, decided to chat up the girls around the table, repeatedly attempting to kiss them . Fun to start with, a bit tiresome after one hour !! Andy behaving as a gentleman, decided then to act as a shield against the grand-dad and put himself between him and the girls. Not that the grand-dad seemed to notice much change since he then started to kiss Andy enthusiastically...! Check the pics, Andy's constant grimacing was hilarious!!

After the meal, we spent 2 very interesting hours chatting with our host, who taught us a lot of about how Vietnam evolved since the end of the war, and openly talked about his own life's challenges under a communist regime .On the second day of our tour, we spent most of our time on a boat, pleasantly cruising along the various canals, observing the life in the villages bordering them, and visiting the busy floating market of Can Tho. Again, check the pics, they depict it better than words.

After those 2 days in the Mekong Delta, we decided to go to Dalat, a small town in the highlands at 1500m altitude (where the air was crisp and fresh instead of hot and muggy !!! yeeepeee!!). Getting there though took us ages ! Not paying much attention to the bus company we chose, we ended up in an old rusty thing which took 3 hours more to get there than the 6 hours originally planned. On the way up, the driver had to stop the air conditioning so that the bus would have enough power to keep climbing. The bus was sooo incredibly slow that buffalos were passing us !! And to make matters worse, the moody driver refused to stop for the toilet more than x2 in 9 hours , so that WE wouldn't incur any further delays (!!!!). Agonizing ....

Nevertheless, we had 3 great days in Dalat. When we arrived, we suddenly felt like we had arrived in a small French or Swiss mountain village. Fresh air, French colonial architecture, and French posters everywhere .... a bit surprising ! The Dalat region is very green and hilly and the best way to visit it is on a motorbike. That's why we decided to hire for the day the service of a bunch of fun guys called the "Easy riders", who take you on the back of their bikes off the beaten track to properly discover their native highlands. And they were indeed very good (if you don't let their driving on the wrong side of the road at each turn bother you too much...!). We discovered the countryside with its vegetables production Dalat is famous for, the pine forest that surrounds the city, a silk factory, plantations of tea and coffees and much more... Check the pics ! A good surprise in Dalat was also to unexpectedly bump into Colin and Kerry, a great couple we had become friends with in Chiang Mai a few weeks back. This provided us with a good excuse for a night out and a good catch up over a few beers and games of pool !

Leaving Dalat was fortunately a much less painful experience...and that's when having a mum with you when you're backpacking becomes very advantageous. We would recommend everybody travelling to get one :)) Unable to face another 6 to 9h back-breaking bus journey to get to our next destination, my mum kindly offered us to pay for a taxi up to the coast. 3 hours journey only via a new road currently in construction, that the buses cannot yet drive on. A relief !! The new road, practically deserted and passing through dense forests & amongst hill tribes villages was an attraction itself, with a stunning scenery !

Our next destination was Hoi An. A charming river side town, with a beautifully preserved historical centre : traditional houses, narrow streets, little markets, colourful pagodas...Hoi An has it all ! We could say that we spent 3 relaxing days there, but it would be untrue..as we fell in the tourist trap Hoi An is most famous for : its huge tailormade clothes industry !How to resist buying beautiful tailormade clothes ?!! Every 2 shops there is a tailor beckoning you. We couldn't miss the opportunity. And as it turned out, it's pretty exhausting to live the high life :)) Selecting what you want is the fun part, but after that your day gets quickly filled up with endless fitting sessions in about 10 tailors around town !! You spend hours turning around trying to remember from which tailor in which street you ordered what !!!

And in all this rushed madness, "ooops I did it again !" .....over the last few weeks, I have unfortunately developed the bad habit of leaving without paying...which is hugely embarassing for everyone involved:) Shop or restaurants, all the same..as far as I'm concerned it's free ! The first time was in Cambodia. We bought $150 USD worth of traditional Khmer art, made by orphans and street kids in order to pay for their housing and education. And I am embarassed to say that I managed to leave without paying !! The poor kid who was supposed to collect the money had to chase us on a scooter through Angkor to get his due... I can't tell you how ashamed I was of myself and Andy of me !!! This time in Hoi An I did even better : I managed to get the tailor to give me the change on a sum of money I didn't actually give her. When she realised I hadn't in fact given her any money, she also had to chase me on her scooter across the bustling streets of Hoi An.And here I was, embarassed a second time ... but at least this time I wasn't stealing from orphans !!

Next on our road trip across Vietnam are the ancient imperial town of Hue, the capital Hanoi & beautiful Halong Bay !Can't wait !!

Take care everyone

Lots of love xxxx

Andy and Soph