I just had a relaxing day in Hanoi, staying in the 'old quarter'. This is what most people think of when they think of an Asian town. Every street seems to have a different theme. One block could be hardware, next haberdashery, the next Christmas decorations. On the edge of the old quarter is a lake with a pagoda.

Today I went to visit the citadel of the Emporer's of Vietnam. The Emporers lived in a special city known as the citadel, which was enormous, a town in itself. There were hundreds of buildings, but following the bombing by the US during the Vietnam war, less than a quarter remain. Afterwards we went to the Buddhist pagoda, which was the temple of the monk who self immolated as a protest to the war. Later we went by boat up the Perfume River, then by motorbike...

Caught the overnight train to Hue

This afternoon we went to the Cu Chi tunnels, 75 km from Saigon. The tunnels were a strong point for the Vietcong, and was surrounded by American bases. Despite heavy bombing by the Americans tunnels served as a major stronghold and consisted of over 250 km of tunnels. Tonight we catch the train to Hue, the trip will take 20 hours, so it's good we have sleeping berths.

Another day in Saigon and this morning I went to see the War Museum. The museum focuses on the impact of war on the Vietnamese people and the aftermath, especially Agent Orange. One of the displays includes preserved, deformed foetuses due to the chemicals. There were also lots of US weapons and machines used in the war. We then spent most of the afternoon at the hotel pool on the roof. Later, Dad and Zawadi went to the Saigon Museum which shows the history of ...