so this is it - my last journal entry from Vietnam!! the last 3 weeks have gone so quickly and i have done so much in such a short amount of time that i think once we get to cambodia we wont know what to do with ourselves!! i wrote a journal entry a couple of days ago and updated you on our adventures in the town of Hoi An but the computer crashed and lost my entry so you guys never got to read it. as we have now reached Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as the old part is known) i will give you the short version of what we have done since i last wrote. In Hue we did a Motorbike tour which i may have mentioned but im gonna tell you bout it again as i think it was definitely a highlight of the intrepid trip. we spent most of the day with a group of motorbike tour guides and we saw so much, and seeing as though i had vowed never to get on a motorbike in my life i have done very well to to a whole day tour and enjoy it! we ended that day crusing up the river back to our hotel and the next day we headed to Hoi An. we went via cloudy pass, a mountainous road pass which had stunning views, and China Beach which was the first landing point of the Americans in Vietnam. It was a Beautiful beach but we only stayed there about 15 mins as it was the middle of the day and the sun was so intense. we arrived in Hoi An that afternoon and i fell in love with the place. our hotel had a swimming pool and the town has such a lovely ambience to it. if anyone has been to or read about Vietnam, they may know that Hoi An is notorious for it silk and its tailoring. this ment that the three days that we spent there were spent shopping - i got 3 skirts 2 dresses and 4 tops tailor made for me and it only cost me about 60 US dollars which is about 35-40 quid!!! who needs primark!!! one of the dresses i got was a ball gown - floor length thai silk with embroidered flowers down the front for a bargain 25 us dollars ( about 18 quid). we also went to the beach at Hoi An and it was gorgeous. from Hoi An we got a day train to Nha Trang which is even further south and it took us 11 hours to get there - it was a sinch after our 26 hour journeys in China! it was not the best day though as we all felt that it was a waste of a day and that we would have preferred either a night train or paid the extra and flown. Nha Trang wasnt my favourite place but we had a wicked night out playing pool and drinking cocktails in sandcastle buckets!! (youll understand if you look at my photos!!) the second day in Nha Trang we went snorkelling and ive never done it before - it is the wierdest feeling to be able to breathe underwater! we saw some amazing fish and i can definitely reccomend swimming and snorkelling if you have a hangover!! We go on our final Night train from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh City but we arrived in HCM city at 4 in the morning but couldnt check into our rooms until 12!! we all slept for a bit then went on an orientation walk around the city. We had the best fruit shakes in a little cafe and ended up talking to this old american guy for over an hour and a half, who told us his whole life story and bought us our shakes!! was very random but quite interesting none the less. this morning we visited the famous Cu Chi tunnels which were built and used by the Viet com during the Vietnam war in the 60s/70s. it was really surreal knowing that the tunnels were actually used during the war and it was actually quite emotional being there (but then you know me - ill blub at anything!!). we are now on our last day with the intrepid group so we are going for a nice meal and a bit of a knees up tonight so that should be good. me and charlie are going to the Mekong Delta tomorrow morning with Lissia, Yael and Glenn from our group and then on Monday we are crossing the border into Cambodia with them and staying in Phnom Penn for a night. Lissia and Yael are then going north to Ankor Wat while me Charlie and Glenn head south west to Kampot. Patrick is meeting a friend from home in HCM city on sunday then doing the same route as us through the Mekong Delta and on to Phnom Penn. he is also then going to head South west so we will probably end up travelling through cambodia with Glenn Patrick and his friend Nicola which should be nice. Anyway if you are still awake after that exceedingly long account i admire your stamina!!! i hope to be able to keep you updated through Cambodia but im not sure about the state of their internet. we are only planning on being in cambodia 2 weeks so if i dont update you before i will def update in Bangkok in about 2 weeks. Love you all x x x x x x x x