I've been in Vietnam for more than a week so it's time for an update. Life in Vietnam is quite different if compared to the one in Laos. In general Vietnam is more westernized and life flows at a much faster pace. Unfortunately for me weather has not been grate so I had no chance to sunbathe or take any good picture. I believe that the wether heavily affects the perception that I have of the places and the fact that in Hue there was heavy rain didn't really help. Basically I spent just a day there walking around the citadel and that's pretty much it as I wasn't in the mood for long trips on the back of a motorbike. No one was sleeping in my dorm the first night, so not much social life and my roommate for the second night was a Japanese guy that couldn't speak a word of English, so except for a quick dinner together we didn't interact much.

The following day I took an early morning bus to Hoi An, sitting next to me was a Dutch guy that had a really embarrassing episode the previous night, apparently after been drugged in a bar he kept his roommates up all night by walking around the room and sitting on other people's beds. Good head up for me, always keep an eye on your drink.

Hoi An is a lovely place, the old city is a real gem. The weather once again was not the best so no chance to go to the beach or visit the nearby islands. I therefore decided to order a few bespoke dresses, not that I needed a new dress, but once you are in a shop it's really difficult to resist and say no. 3 dresses and 1 shoulder warmer in less than 24 hours is really impressive.

Second day is all about food, after dinner at the morning glory, possibly the best restaurant in Hoi An, I've decided to book a cooking class. To be honest there was not much cooking involved, especially if compared to the cooking class I took in Thailand, but I had the chance to try lots of traditional dishes. The class starts with a buffet breakfast were lots of food is available to try, all dishes were really yummy!!! After that a really instructive walk to the market were I've tried some more things and learned the difference between male and female crab.

The cooking class was over soon after lunch so I had plenty of time to Pamper myself before my night bus to Nha Trang.

Bus journey was not the best, but the guys around me were all in a chatty mood which makes every trip better. 6 in the morning and I'm in Nha Trang, a bike ride to the hostel and I'm ready to sleep for a few hours but not before being dropped at the wrong guesthouse, this is the 3rd time :'(

My room mates are 2 Italian guys (finally) and a German guy. One day in Nha Trang was more than enough for me, weather was moody and it was packed with tourism, apparently it's a major touristic destination for Russians.

As me and the other 2 Italians were planning to spend Christmas in Saigon we decided to meet there the following day.

I don't know what it is exactly but I find Ho Chi Minh city very charming. There is so much history in this place, unfortunately most of the recent one is utterly sad.

Vietnamese are so different from their Laotian neighbors, they are always running around, it seems that they never sleep. Saigon it's been for me a party place, lots of drinking and dancing until the early hours! Thanks to the Italian guy met in Nha Trang I had an amazing Christmas. He organized a dinner with lots of random locals and other travellers. At the end we were more than 15 sharing experiences and Christmas wishes, the perfect ending to my short stay in Saigon. Unfortunately I didn't find my lover even though I went all the way to Choulon! Nowadays Choulon is nothing like the one presented in the movie that so many times made my cry and dream nevertheless it was an interesting tour. Time to move nord to Hanoi!

Now it's time to head nord to Hanoi and decide were to go after Vietnam.