So we started in Hanoi which none of us liked. Very busy - so many motorbikes it was unreal! (We are now traveling with two others Mark and Donna who we met in China and are doing the same next bit so we hooked up together!) We went to Halong Bay and Cat Ba Island which were lovely. We spent time on a boat and then slept in a little bungalow on the beach (where I woke up on my birthday!). We were supposed to sleep in a tent but there was a Typhoon on it's way so we were not allowed!! We then traveled to Hue which was nice and quiet. We hired bikes and had a lovely day! We didn't stay long here but wished we had! We then went to Hoi An where we spent a few days. Dan and Mark got 3 piece suits made which are very cool (and have arrived home!! Phew!) Hoi An is more of a fishing village with a beach at the other end but very nice. We also visited a Marble Mountain and China Beach where the American's used to go for somr R and R. We then went to Nha Trang by bus again! This time a sitter bus and it was so uncomfortable but was only $10!! No sleep was had but we got there! It took a bit of getting used to the buses and mainly had to travel by day but that bus was a nightmare! We went to the beach and did some windsurfing, which is so much harder than it looks! Especially on waves! We also went on a boat trip to visit the islands in the bay of Nha Trang. However it was just jumping off of the boat, snorkelling and socialising in the water really! On our last island the owner of the boat threw in a floating bar and we all had some - now not my words I will have you know - "F@#*ing minging wine!" and it was too but it was free so we drank it! Well one thing lead to another and we had met lots of people so we went out and got a little drunk! The first time so far, so we though we deserved it! They sold buckets of cocktails for less than a quid in a backpackers bar 'Red Apple'!! What do they expect! I managed to walk into a shutter and Dan paid a motorcycle taxi to take him to the hotel when he was stood right outside it!! Very, very funny night! Needless to say the next day was a right off, especially cause we got in at 4am! Really good fun though!! We then did a trip into the Central Highlands to see how it was up there. It was very different and a lot more natural. Not steered towards westerners. We stayed on Lak Lake and when we went to bed we found a lizard in there!! It was just curled up in the bed! This was a little scary and triggered my snake fear! Not fun! Neither of us knew what to do so we got our guide and he got it out for us! (it was quite a big one lizard (see photos)! - not fun!) Anyway the next day we rode elephants (although now we wished we hadn't as they were not very well looked after at all) then we went to Dalat the main city in the highlands, very French as this is where the French went to escape the heat. We then ended up in Mui Ne which was ace. We loved it. Much smaller than Nha Trang and the beach was beautiful and clean. Although in a few years we think it is going to be really built up and almost spoilt as they have seen it's potential. We wanted to surf here but the surf was non existent! So we chilled and drank and visited the sand dunes on a jeep! We did sand sledging which was brilliant fun, if a little sandy!! We then ended up in Saigon which we were dreading but actually really liked! We blagged a really lovely hotel for $15 a night (they wanted $35!) We basically met a guy from Holland and went for drinks and watched prostitutes and horrible old Western men. Not nice but amusing, like our real life Eastenders! We also went to the War Museum and saw the Chu Chi Tunnels. The museum was a real eye opener. The Americans went in to 'help' the south win the war but actually made it a hell of a lot worst. They dropped Agent Orange on the Viet Cong as they realised that they were still losing the war against this non existent army, which did not look good to the rest of the world. It is still affecting generations today. Also senators that are still in congress now have admitted to horrific genocide, extremely brutal torture and they are still walking free. It was really shocking. The Chu Chi tunnels were amazing too, no wonder the Americans didn't know what was going on!! So all in all Vietnam was AMAZING! A really fantastic country and brilliant people.