In Hanoi

We've been in Hanoi for a few days now. The new hotel had a power cut for a day, so we ate breakfast in torch light. Then we went to the more political area of the city with the presidential palace and mausoleum. It was boiling hot but the walk was nice. We saw the palace first and I went to take a photo but got shouted at by a guard who then let some vietnamese take a photo in the same spot I had tried seconds before. We then went into the compound where Ho Chi Minh lived and once again I was not allowed where the vietnamese tourists went as I tried to see the house Ho had lived in.
We then walked to the one pillar pagoda, a small temple above a tiny man made lake. This was very busy and not very interesting so we left to the mausoleum which was huge and we'll guarded. We were very tired due to the heat so went back to the hotel and for dinner got a local baguette of grilled pork and pork pate, and a bag of spring rolls to eat in our room while watching some films.
Yesterday we went to the lake by our hotel and sat around for a while before going around the back packers district which is so busy, streets where women were skinning frogs and whole streets of coffee were everywhere. We then booked tickets for the vietnamese water puppet theatre, which was very entertaining and bizarre. A dragon had a baby with a peacock and the babies were human. They told us that all Indians live in one village and aren't allowed to move and all do weird walks with their legs in the air.
Today we got up late and are currently in a bar waiting for some chocolate pudding to come.

H

Hanoi

Just got to Hanoi after a 15 hour journey on a sleeper train. The hard sleepers have made me ache so am glad to have a proper bed again. In the middle of the night a man came banging on the door of our beds until we opened it and then instead of getting into his bed quietly he just stood outside with the door open chatting to his friend after waking everyone up. Very annoying. 

When we got to Hanoi, the hotel we had booked had shut down and so we had nowhere to stay. People kept pointing down the road at us and eventually we ended up at another hotel who told us that our original one had closed and to get a refund from agoda. We are now staying in this new one and paying per night. 

I am absolutely starving so will hopefully go and get breakfast soon and then we will probably wander around Hanoi. 

Just like to say happy 80th to my Grandad!! Hope you have a lovely day and I will see you when I get home. Lots of love

L.

The Citadel

Today we visited the ancient Citadel in Hue. This is a huge square fortress, formerly used as the stronghold for the vietnamese emperors. There is a huge moat and then another internal moat to the imperial area designed for the royals. Inside here is a maze of paths and gateways leading into different temples and gardens. We walked around for as long as we could but today was even hotter than usual.
We spent the afternoon in a bar and booked a flight back south instead of the 35 hour train we planned to take as they are the same price.

H

Travelling to Hue

Today we got the train to Hue. The journey was amazing as the views were fantastic, the train ran along the coast up in the mountains. As soon as we passed rhe mountains we got the northern weather of heavy rain and fog.
The hotel is called friendly hotel and lived up to its name. We got given a glass of tropical juice each and they watched us drink it.
We walked into the city, which is relatively small, for dinner. There are many old parts to it and tomorrow we are going to the imperial ancient city, the former capital of vietnam, where there was huge fighting in the war.

H

Da nang

Today we didn't really do much as it turns to out there isn't a lot to do here. The city is developing very fast with huge amounts of building going on.
We got a taxi to the train station and had to jostle in the least organised queue I've ever seen to get our tickets for tomorrow. Then we went for a burger king as we were missing some western food. On the walk around city we passed over the huge brand new bridge in Da Nang, it features a huge metal dragon through the middle that shoots fire from its mouth at night.
Later we went back to the hotel and then down to the beach for a relax. Still we were being looked at strangely as we seem to be the only white people in this area.
For dinner we went to one of three restaurants in our area, they didn't speak English and tried to make us view their large alive seafood collection with crabs, lobsters, prawns and plenty of varieties of fish. I ordered what I thought was stir fried beef with chillies that actually turned out to be raw slices of fillet beef with a stove and pot full of boiling chilli sauce. I had to cook my own dinner bit by bit and Lucy had to use chopsticks only on large cuts of fish. Now we're back at the hotel packing for tomorrow.

H

Hoi An to Da Nang

We were woken up yesterday at 5.55am as a marching band went down the street playing trumpets and drums at full volume. A little strange. Then we spent the day shopping around the town including ordering me some tailor made clothes. Firstly I ordered a pair of trousers and white shirt in a shop before ordering two shirts in the cloth market. For all of these I paid around 50 pounds. I then got my feet measured for some shoes, the women like you to tell you a price then they tell you that that product isn't good so you need to pay more which is quite frustrating.
We had a nice dinner at a cafe that was quite expensive and absolutely packed, it served dishes such as beef curry in a coconut that was on fire. For both of our meals and drinks it cost about £11 which for here is quite upmarket.
We spent the evening and today buying presents and other things such as a kimono for me and some vests, which I now regret after getting burnt for the first time since arriving.
Today we also collected my clothes and went around the markets and little shops. All the clothes were good quality but the shoes took three hours longer than we had been told and they still said they needed more time. Overall I'm happy with what I bought but should have given it more time.
As we went to check out of our hotel we had to pay for an extra night as I had misread the booking sheet and we had just stayed in the hotel longer than what we booked. We were worried for a bit our booking at the next hotel might have been lost, but we were fine. We've just arrived in Da Nang. Our hotel is 50m from the beach and our window looks out to the sea. We're not in the city centre but we can spend time at the beach here as long as we find somewhere to eat.

H

First day in hoi an

After arriving in hoi an at our hotel, which is a small old building in the middle of the town centre, we walked around the streets. All the buildings here are two story old french style houses which makes a change from the tall square hotels at all the other cities we've visited. The amount of tailors and shoe makers in the centre is incredible, the centre is only small probably about a 2km square, but there are hundreds of these tailors making choosing which one to go to impossible. It's put me off a bit as they all stand outside and beg for you to come in to their shop. You can't browse in vietnam, instantly you are harassed by a woman over your shoulder, also there are no prices on anything so I can't judge how much is right to pay for a shirt or trousers.
We had dinner at an international restaurant on a corner by the river which was a nice but busy spot. Their interpretation of enchiladas was a bit strange though. After eating we walked a little more and had a cocktail on a roof top bar looking out over the river and the array of multi coloured lanterns that hang outside every house and business. Being a quiet town we didn't expect there to be any nightlife but we went to a backpackers bar that had buy one get one free vodka lemonade. We stayed there for a few hours and met with three other travellers, a German, a Canadian and a french Canadian. After this bar shut at around 1 we moved with them to another bar around the corner and then continued to a club the other side of town. This club you were allowed to take your own alcohol into so the off license next door was doing very well. We stayed with the other people we had met for the rest of the night and sat drinking beer until it was day time. We walked back this morning past all the people setting out their market food for the morning.
Today has been very unproductive, mainly just sleeping and chatting at the hotel and we're just about to get some dinner now.

H

Hoi An

Arrived at the new hotel after an 11 hour train journey and a 45 minute taxi. It is even hotter here than the other places. Our hotel is right in the centre so everything is easy to get to which is a nice change from our last hotel. Henry is planning to get some clothes made for him here as there are many tailors and it will be quite cheap. Exhausted after the trip. The train tickets we had were for 'hard sleeper' and there were 3 beds going up the wall. We were on the bottom level which was good because we couldn't sit up straight in ours which had the most space. The people on the top beds just had to wriggle about to get under their blankets. It was a funny trip anyway. In the middle of the night one of the men in our room left his bed and stood outside the door for ages. After a while a tiny plastic chair suddenly appeared and he just sat in front of the door staring at a wall for quite a long time which we had a good laugh at while we watched through the grille (like Ozzy).

L.

Nha Trang

Yesterday we spent the morning waiting for the bus which was supposed to be at 1, after it finally turned up at just after 3 we were surprised by the fact it was a sleeper bus. Instead of seats there were rows of beds. These beds had a small compartment st the bottom designed for size 5 feet and did not fit mine. I also haven't had to say I'm too tall for things very often in England but I was definitely too tall for the bus. I couldn't sit up and I had to lie with my legs bent for 5 long hours. Behind me was a foreign family and the little girl sang nursery rhymes in her language for the majority of the journey.
When we arrived in Nha Trang we realised we had underestimated the size of the city and found out our hotel was around 3km out of the centre. We got a taxi to it and took an early evening.
Today waking up we found our hotel is on a dirt track instead of a road, but only 100m from the beach. We walked along the path for a while before getting a taxi into the centre of town and having lunch in a café on the beach. There was a beggar there who was affected by agent orange and was born with no arms or legs. We tried to book our train tickets but the wait was around an hour so we're heading back tomorrow morning.
This evening we visited Po Nagar Cham towers, these are ancient Buddhist temples on a hill at the edge of the city. They started to be built in the 7th century and have been refurbished to allow people to worship in them again. As we were there the sun was setting and the views were fantastic, in the distance we could see the 30m tall white Buddha on another hill in the city.

H

Fairy Springs

Today the weather is ridiculous, once again in the mid 30s but with bright blue skies and scorching sun. We took a trek down to Fairy Springs, this is a stream that runs through a series of sand dunes. The dunes are red sand on one side and white on the other and tower either side of the warm fresh water stream that you wade through. Two local boys took us up and showed us where to go and picked us four leafed clovers. We also had the option of riding an ostrich in a field which they claimed to be beneficial for people with skin conditions.
Last night as we were going to sleep we noticed there was a lizard running across the wall and settled too high up for us to do anything about. I found out this morning that there is an inch gap under our door so any little creature can get in at night.
We have a 5 hour bus journey booked for tomorrow to Nha Trang which is known for its water sports, nightlife and world record length cable car.

H

Mui Ne

Moved to a new place today called Mui Ne. It's a beachy place and our hotel is right next to the sea. The train to get here was so cold we had to use our blanket which is very unusual for Vietnam. 

Just sat at the hotel restaurant now having some lunch and relaxing. A nice change from the busy and noisy streets in HCMC. 

L. 

Rainy day

Today we got up very late as we still haven't got used to the time difference. So at half three we left the hotel for the zoo. It took about and hour and a half to finally get there through ridiculously heat.
We bought our entrance tickets for 8,000 VND(30p) each, but unfortunately didn't get to see any animals as it began to rain instantly. Not rain like in England, but monsoon rain that instantly flooded the paths. We had no choice but to take cover in a train carriage in the bushes. Luckily a toad jumped past us so we count that as seeing an animal.
The rain took an hour to die down and then the zoo shut so we had to leave through the drizzle for the long, and now dark, walk back.
Finally we're back at the hotel and have to check out tonight as our train to Phan Thiet is at 6.50am tomorrow.
H

Reunification Palace

Once getting back from the Cu Chi tunnels tour we headed for the Reunification Palace, this was the south vietnam presidential palace, home for Diem during the war.
On the way there a man selling coconuts made me carry his coconuts and took this as an opportunity to force a sale. He got the coconuts out and cut the tops off without asking us so we had no choice but to pay.
We arrived soon after at the big white guarded gates. The palace is set in large grounds and is huge, it was rebuilt in the middle of the war and hasn't been changed since the end so the interior is very seventies. There was too much space to use so every floor just had large open areas. On the roof was an American helicopter and in the grounds were two tanks that are said to be the ones that crashed through the gates to end the Vietnam war.
After leaving the palace we headed for the french built Notre Dame Cathedral. This beautiful church forms a roundabout in the city. Whilst taking a photo two vietnamese girls came up to us and asked if they could have a photo with us which seemed strange. We also saw a couple having a their wedding photos taking stood in the middle of the road as motorbikes whizzed past.
Next we saw the central post office, this huge ornate building, also built by the French, is still used as a post office today. As usual a massive poster of Ho sat on the far wall keeping an eye on everyone.
On the walk back to our hotel two students stopped us to practice their English, the questions were pretty repetitive and it became a little awkward especially when she shook my hand after I wiped my sweaty face.
Finally we got back to our hotel and are having some chill time before heading our for dinner and Wimbledon hopefully.
H

Cu Chi tunnels

Today we did a half day trip of the Cu Chi Tunnels which are basically just a network of tunnels that the Vietcong used to hide etc. Our tour guide was a self proclaimed Vietnamese cowboy and told us many stories about him and bombs. In one he set off a bomb and blamed it on another person and everyone went to their house and burned it. He found that hilarious - "he no more! hahahaha". He also kidnapped a 'ghost' and beat her with fruit.... Creepy tour guide.

Before getting there we went to a place that sold artwork by people that have been affected by agent orange. We saw them making it out of eggshells. Quite impressive but a little bit uncomfortable. We spent most of the time running away from the staff that worked there.

In the tour we saw the entrance for the tunnels, weapons and watched a documentary. We saw loads of traps that the Vietcong used against the Americans and a blue headed lizard. Then we had to go into a tunnel and crawl through it which I didn't want to do but was nicely encouraged by Henry who then backed out after walking a little way in the tunnel. It went pitch black and I couldn't see anything - absolutely terrifying and boiling I do not understand how they managed to crawl through it the whole time during the war. It was an interesting trip but was ridiculously boiling so getting back on to the air conditioned bus was lovely.

L

War Remnants Museum

We started off the day sleeping off our jet lag after having breakfast at the hotel.  We both avoided the pho for breakfast. Spicy noodle soup is not the way I want to start my day. Then once we were ready we walked to a park in Saigon which was so well kept and had sculptures and shaped hedges everywhere which were all very impressive. There were vietnamese people acting out fight scenes and another group doing some sort of dance routine. 

Then we visited the war museum, solely focused on the vietnam war. We walked there from our hotel through the stickiness and heat of the city. The outside of the museum boasted large hammer and sickle flags and an array of tanks, helicopters, planes and artillery (all american). There was an outside section focused on the American prisoner of war camps with tiny barbed wire cages used as cells and awful accounts of torture including the use of nails.
Inside there was a large and shocking display of the results of agent orange with children still being born mutated today. Also there were lots of pictures showing the differences between places that were damaged from the war, it was very interesting.  It was quite embarrassing walking round because we didn't want people to think we are American.
H and L

First night

I've just had the authentic pho, a beef and vermicelli noodle soup and Lucy had chicken with cashew nuts and sticky rice.  We stopped at a little restaurant today, still in fear as to how the street food vendors operate. I had a pint of saigon lager for 10,000 VND, which is around 30p, and it was actually nice. Strolling down the street I took a quick snap to show how lit up the food streets are at night.
The hotel staff are so friendly to the point it is a little awkward, lots lined up for tomorrow.
H

Arrived!

Finally we touched down in Ho Chi Minh City, the weather is so hot and sticky despite it being pitch black. Got served our dinner at 4am on the plane. Managed to only book the room for one person so have to pay a whopping $2 extra each day for the seconds persons bed and breakfast. Going to head out in a bit now our bags are off.
(photos coming later, Ian)
H and L

On the plane

Heading to turkey now for our 7 hour wait before we can finally get on the actual plane to HCMC