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We arrived in Ho Chi Minh (in our PJs) and after some traditional Vietnamese food (Pho-noodle soup) we went to investigate the city and ended up looking round a nearby market. That night was our last night with our Cambodian guide and most of the group so went out for dinner and then to a pub/club for some crazy dancing! Got up the next morning and decided to go to Damsen waterpark which was brilliant fun and a great cure for a hangover.
That night we met our Vietnamese guide and the new members to our group for the next part of our tour and all went out to dinner together to get to know each other. We left early the following morning and got a minibus to the Cu Chi tunnels, an area of Vietnam that was heavily bombed and the people who lived there made an intricate network of tunnels that they used to hide in and some were even lived in. We were shown all the booby traps that the Vietnamese set out to injure and maim the Americans which were really quite horrible and looked like they should have been in an Indiana Jones film. We were given the chance to venture down into one of them that had been widened by 20cm to fit us fatty westerners and was still tiny. Maz went down it and didn't particularly enjoy herself (especially the pitch black moments in the middle!) whereas Char took one look and said no thanks...wise move! Our guide told us that the smallest of these tunnels were a mere 40cm by 40cm. We stopped on our way round at a shooting range and got to fire an AK-47...so much fun!
That afternoon we had an orientation walk around the city visiting the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum which was pretty shocking but very interesting. The next day we all went off on a boat trip down the Mekong stopping at various places to sample local fruit (one of which we wanted to be sick after!!) saw how coconut candy was made, held a snake, had a horse and cart ride and got to wear pointy Vietnamese hats (obviously the highlight!!) and had a gorgeous seafood lunch at the side of the river. We departed that evening on an overnight train to Nah Trang having a bit of sing song en route. We lounged around at the beach that day and Maz did parasailing. We were up early again to go and have a mud bath which was really fun.
Another overnight train that evening took us to Hoi An where we both had flip flops made and Char got a dress made which was great to choose her own style and fabric. Whilst we were there we went for a bike ride through the countryside and visited some locals along the way. We threw our bikes onto a boat and had a boat ride for a while before stopping at a little island where our captains did us a delicious BBQ and we popped in the river for a swim afterwards then boarded our boats again to head back. The next day we visited My Son temple ruins- a world heritage sight that the Americans bombed in the war, wrongly thinking that the Khmer Rouge were hiding in there.
Our next stop was Hue, the former capital. The journey there was really beautiful with great mountains on one side and the sea on the other. That evening we had a Royal Banquet where we all got to dress up in robes and hats and were served an 8 course dinner which was yummy! Char was up early the next morning to go on a motorbike tour where we were each driven by a local. The scenery was stunning and we stopped off along the way to see how the Vietnamese hats and incense sticks are made and also stopped at the tomb of an old King, a viewpoint to look over the Perfume River and finally an amphitheatre where elephant and tiger fights used to take place and a fortune teller which was quite amusing.
Another overnight train took us to Hanoi which was highly amusing as we all took some drinks on there to pass the time! We arrived pretty tired and shunned new cultural activities for a trip to the cinema to see the new Indiana Jones film! Had a quiet evening in with Ghostbusters 2 and a delivery KFC...score!! The left the next day for a trip to Halong Bay which was very picturesque and made up of limestone mountains and caves. We visited some caves that were lit up by different colour lights and were pretty impressive. We got back on the boat and headed to Cat Ba Island where we stayed for night but didn't really do anything! We got up the next morning for kayaking where we paddled over to Monkey Island, chilled out on the beach for a bit and kayaked back...God our arms ached!! We came back to Hanoi via boat and then bus and had our final night with everyone before we left for Laos ridiculously early the next morning!
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