Sat 25/8
Unfortunately we couldnt get the afternoon bus to Saigon as they only had one seat left so had an early start to catch the morning one instead. It was fine as we arrived in Saigon in the afternoon. Went to a cafe for lunch after we checked-in and ended up staying there the rest of the day, even dinner there before we went back to the hostel!lol. It was a good opportunity to go through all the leaflets we were given and plan which tours we wanted to go on and decide how long we were staying.

Sun 26/8
Booked a tour to take us to the Chu Chi Tunnels in the morning, its a huge network of tunnels which used to stretch from Saigon to the Cambodian border that the vietnamese used during the war to live, hide and fight the americans. Saw examples of different traps that were used to catch the american soldiers and tiny holes which they used for hiding in before getting to go into a part of the tunnels, didn't quite make it through the whole thing! We were one of the last ones in the group to go in and got delayed by a couple of lasses wanting to take pictures and not go through so we were a bit behind the rest of the group! Stupidly i went afore Cam and panicked about 2/3rds of they way through and had to get out! At least there are now plenty of escape tunnels! Gutted coz wanted to go the whole way, need to send Cam first next time and I might be ok! After the tour of the tunnels we got dropped off at the War Remnants Museum, Cam was satisfied before we even went in coz there was a bunch of planes and tanks n stuff outside! The museum itself, well its a place words cant even describe! Its a museum documenting the atrocities of war, lonely planet describes it as a 'unique, brutal and an essential stop' which pretty much sums it up, not a place for the light hearted, its the first time I have been literally speechless! You still need to be openminded and although its not the most one-sided place we have visited it still paints a very horrible picture of the americans but doesn't mention much about what the viet cong did and after what we saw at the tunnels they were no saints! I think the most shocking is the fact that in 2008 there were still babies being born with deformities and disabilities as a result of the chemicals that were sprayed over vietnam during the war, certainly makes you think twice when they are trying to sell us stuff in the street! At home rather than getting on with life and trying to earn a wage these people would be sitting in a nice house claiming benefits and probably suing for compensation! So bit of a depressing day but its by with now!

Mon 27/8
Spent most of today getting sorted for leaving Vietnam, tour booked, dollars for visa etc. We were meant to be couchsurfing tonight but decided to stay at the hostel as it was easier for leaving the next day. Met up with our host anyway and he showed us around some of the sights we hadn't made it to yet and we went for a traditional vietnamese dinner, not the best meal we have had, the deep fried whole fish were disgusting, I gave one a try but couldn't bring myself to eat the head! The shrimp were good but we deheaded and shelled ours even though they again eat the whole shebang! The sour fish hot pot was alright, this time we didn't have to eat the whole fish thankfully, just the meat from the bones! After dinner we went to a park and had what they call 'sitting coffee' which is basically when folk get together and have a coffee on the pavement, we had a great night playing switch and chatting, not the comfiest when your wearing a dress though!lol.