Turns out I am bad at blogging. I've just been so busy! Have been in Vietnam for the last 2 weeks and am absolutely loving it! Prepare for a breakdown of the last 2 weeks....

In the capital Hanoi we did lots of siteseeing- we went to see Ho Chi minh's body (former vietmanese president, introduced communism here, and opposed the Americans), which is preserved in this massive mausoleum. It's very strict they take all your belongings off you and you have to be silent. He has been embalmed by some Soviet expert in embalming communist leaders, and looks pretty much like he's just sleeping (although they have an orange light glowing on him whiuch probably makes him look more lively!)
We saw Hao Lo prison ('the Hanoi Hilton' as named by US POWs)- foremerly used by the French when they were in power (very grahpic about the awful conditions), and then used by vietnamese for US prisoners of war. The pictures of these were incredibly biased- they just showed them having parties and being really happy and treated excellently. They had John Mccain's old suit there (he was imprisoned there for 6 yrs (apparently he can't raise his hands above his shoulders due to the torture he received there!) I was later told by our tour guide on the Halong bay trip that the Vietnamese people were incredibly scared about John McCain possibly coming to power in the American elections and were afriad of another war!

After a day or 2we then made our way to Halong bay which is probably vietnams most popular tourist attraction, nearly 4000 limestone islands jutting out of clear blue water. It was beautiful! For our trip to Halong bay it was so hard to decide what to book. Many companies offer tours and the differences in price are unbelievable. We in the end opted for a more expensive one deciding that you get what you pay for and that it would probably be a highlight of the trip. It was amazing- we opted for an adventure trail which involved lots of activities. We were staying on a private island in these beach bunglows (only six altogether) this meant early morning swims on a private beach. There was only one other women doing the same iteinary as us (a candian women working fo rthe UN- very birght) so it was pretty much like a private tour., OUr tour guide was brilliant- he spoke good English and had been to university and knew loads about vietnamese history and taught us a lot, we picked up so much from the trip. He would also steer aweay form the itinery and do extra things like take us for vietnamese coffee or to moneky island (where we didn't see any monkeys unfortunately!). The hike we did was brilliant but hard. THe actual ascent was only 1 hr but very steep and you had to often use your hands. And it was in blazing heat and humidity which meant you were SO SO SO sweaty (SWEATy BETTY!)- constantly as if you had got out of a shower sopping wet. The view from teh top was incredible though. We have some brilliant photos already I will try to start downloading them although it will take a long time!

When we got back from Halong bay. We caught the bus south (we bought an open tickets which stops off at various locations between the north and south- the cheapest way of doing it at around 33 quid form hanoi to ho chi minh city). FIrst of all we stopped somehwere called nin binh for 2 nights. Wea river trip where they row with their feet! and hired bicycles to get arounf the local area. They were a bit s*** and didn;t have any gears but it was really good fun cycling around- the people are much friendlier outside oif the cities as well- all the children shout 'Hello!' to you as you pass them going past ricce paddies, water buffalo and houses. The houses they live in are so basic, they really are living in relative poverty once you get out of the city, but they all seem happy. We totted up lots of kilometres(42 I think!) it was ll very flat so not too hard, although at night I woke up with a sudden incredibly sharp pain in my calf (body freaking out at too much exercise probably!). The next day we went to a national park which was 60k away, so we hired motorbike drivers and went on the back- this was such fun- the travelling probably more so than the actual park because we saw some beautiful scenery and we would have got totally lost if we'd tried to go ourselves. We were a bit nervous (if you could see the driving here you would be too- no lanes they just weave in and out of each other like a computer game, ingnoring traffic light, right of way, direction of oncoming traffic!)Motorbikes outweigh cars and other vehicles by around 20 to 1 I would guess! also it is IMPOSSIBLE to cross the road!


Leavin Nin Binh meant an overnight 13hr coach drive was ok but certainly did not sleep the whole way through. In vietman, the horn is not used in anger or emergencies as UK, it is used every time you want to overtake someone (which is very often), repeatedly! Impossible to sleep against this! Hue was our next destination and we stayed just one night. THis was a former capital of vietman and the place where the king used to live (the last king was in 1945). There is an ancient citadel where they lived and lots of old photos with elephants kneeling outside the palace and cool stuff like thatesting, it showed how the french tried to take over. THey interuppted the line of rule to make a youngest son king at just 7yrs old, so that they could control him. Many of the kings in the most recent dynasty ended up in prison in france and died there. Interestingly, one king had nearly 600 female partners and 162 children!!!!

We then got the bus to somewhere called Hoi An which is where I have just arrived- its's meant to be very pretty. Will update in due course. OUr room is amazing and walk down onto a swimming pool (just 3.80 pound a night- amazing!) They are famous for quality tailor made clothing so hoping to pick up some bargain clothes :-) some nice dresses and stuff!

Phew, Love to all xxxx