Hi Everyone,

We are in the beautiful Vietnam. We didnt have a good start to the trip, i was really sick from either food poisening or drinking dodgy water (not quite sure what) and we started in Ho Chi Minh City, otherwise known as Saigon. Basically its just a huge dirty, smelly city that is busy 24 hours a day, there are 9 million people there i think and 7 million mo-peds! The roads are so busy and so crazy, drivers completely ignore red lights so there is no chance of ever crossing the road. The drivers also warn every driver that they are behind then with lots of loud beeping, its absolutly crazy, we had never seen anything like it!! Saigon was great to see and experience but a couple of days maximum is enough here as you have a constant headache! We are on a tour from here up to Saigon which should be fun! our group are very nice. There are only 6 of us, Sally and Jason from near London and Sarah & Mary from Ireland. And us of course!

So after a quite long 4 and a half days of noise and being ill we moved on! We went on another night train to go to Na Trang. This a small city on the coast. it has a gorgeous beach a nice atmosphere, it was great weather here too. On the first day we arrived really early and had a boat trip out to a nearby island, the island was not for tourists at all so it was great to see how the locals lived. after walking around the island we got back on the boat and went out to a bay and did some swimming and snorkelling! Then we chilled out on the beach for a couple of hours! lovely! (trying to get a tan before we come home, we havent sunbathed in a long time so we arent brown at all!)

We only had 2 days in Na Trang and on the second day we walked around the town and went to a big spa place, it was great. The 6 of us had a huge mud bath, hydro showers, mineral pool and went swimming. It was great and so relaxing and peaceful! We are lucky i know! That night we got another night train to Hoi An.

Hoi An is great, probably the best place in Vietnam so far, there is so much to do and see! Yesterday we arrived at 5.30am and we had breakfast and did a walking tour with our guide and then we went swiiming at our hotel as we couldnt get into our room until 12 noon. That afternoon we saw all the local markets, went on a little wooden boat down the river to see the local fisherman at work. We also visited 'The old city', its such a nice place, all tiny dirt roads and little cafes and beautiful old buildings. We also bought a monkey whistle off a lady because she was so old and looked so sad because no one would buy these things!

All the vietnamese people call matt big buddah because he is so big compared to the men here. Most of them are smaller and lighter than me too! They all rub his belly, its so funny!

Today was great, we did a cycling tour to an orphanage to see the children, it was really sad to see them all there but not as much as the one we saw in Cambodia. Atleast these children had beds and food. After that we cycled through the countryside, this was the best thing ever, the views were amazing. The little villages are so pretty, lakes everywhere and its just so green and lovely. We got to our boat and went out to an unhabited island for a BBQ then went back to Hoi An ancient city. Tommorrow we are doing a Vietnames cooking course, we will be great chefs by the time we get home!

Anyway thats us up until now, we are having a great time in Vietnam and we are really really looking forward to coming home! We cant wait to see you all!

I think i will write probably 1 more journal before we are home!

Good bye for now, see you soon!!!

Victoria and Matt x x