On Saturday we took another bus ( our last!) to Ho Chi Minh City. The 8 hour journey was an interesting one! Some guy sitting behind me started stroking my face while I was sleeping! I angrily threw him off but he just looked confused and went back to sleep- he was clearly drugged up. Similarly weird was the passenger sitting next to Emily. He took a load of depressive drugs and fell into the deepest sleep I have ever seen. He started to drop his head and and end...

On Thursday morning we took a bus from Nha Trang to the town of Dalat. Being in the central highlands of vietnam, the climate was a lot cooler which was a lovely respite from the intense heat and humidity of the rest of the country. The spring like cool also means that flowers and strawberries can be grown in the surrounding farmland, rather than rice, which results in a very different landscape. The french influence is also apparent here, with lots of French s...

On Monday morning, 6am, we arrived in Nha trang. We spent the morning at Long Son pagoda. At the top of the hill, behind the pagoda, is a 14m Budda seated on a lotus blossom. It was quite a sight, being almost blindingly white and so huge. We then hit the beach, which was lined with palm trees, and the sea was lovely and clear. The beach had a lively atmosphere, with beach front restaurants and lots of watersports going on, but it still managed to maintain a s...

On Sunday morning we had a cooking lesson at Phon cafe, a small place on the riverfront. It was a lot of fun and a very memorable experience. We arrived to find a table laid out with all the fresh ingredients. The cook demonstrated the techniques than left us to prepare the food. We first made a Vietnamese salad of green papaya, carrot, prawns, pork, and salad leaves. Making the dressing was interesting as it showed us the basic ingredients (such as fish sauce, ...

On Saturday we started the day with a magnificent buffet breakfast at our hotel. The spread was incredible if a little bizarre- there was everything from the western favourites of a full fry up and pancakes, to Vietnamese noodles rice, battered prawns, and exotic fruits, and they even had spaghetti bolognese! In the morning we took a guided tour of My Son, a site of Cham ruins set in a lush jungle valley- think Angkor Wat on a smaller scale! The site is very imp...