Well well well....this email comes to you straight from the heart of Ho Chi Min City (Saigon). And what a beautiful city it is! I think my last update was sent from the beach side town of Nah Trang......well that was a week ago now, as we ended up staying there a lot longer than either of us expected. It was a beautiful beach, and great nightlife, including some awful bucket cocktails with cheap Vietnamese vodka....which, don't get me wrong, were nice enough at the time for me as i managed to consume at least 4 buckets at a time....however the fact my head felt like it was being attacked with a hammer the next day was not such a good feeling........even 3 years at uni could not prepare you for this one! Sticking to the wine from now on.......... In Nah Trang we me Jeff from Twickenham.....a fellow Brit travelling alone, and we soon persuaded him to join Anja and I on our epic tour of Cambodia.......so from Nah Trang we travelled down to the most Southern point in Vietnam on our journey- Saigon! We arrived here three days ago, after yet another overnight train......we gave the 12 hour bus journey a miss as i have a feeling i am jinxed when it comes to public buses, the Asian buses and i will just have to agree to disagree!!!! So we opted for the train! Arrival in Saigon was..........wet!! Ha ha, is the rainy season here at the moment, but still very hot!! We have been active participants in 2 full blown thunder and lightening storms since our arrival.......exciting stuff!!!! But the days are glorious, and we have been busy bees since our arrival. We have fully explored the city, including the beautiful Notre Dame Cathedral and The War Remnants Museum........and boy was that a good afternoon. The museum itself contains photography, war memorabilia, weapons, armed vehicles, and shocking documentaries. We spent the best part of four hours wandering around this place. It really was a chance to see the direct devastation the Americans had on this country only 30 years ago, and the damage caused to both the people and the land is remarkable, really quite humbling. We had the chance to go inside the cells and witness things that everyone should see........if everyone got a chance to visit his museum there would never be war again....FACT! So after the museum, as if that was not enough, we then spent today at the Cu Chi Tunnels. These three levelled network of underground tunnels, which were constructed by the Vietnamese during the war to enable them to hide and conduct their defence from a secret hideout! Was amazing! A possible highlight of my four months. We had the chance to go into these tunnels, but i must explain to those of you unaware, that these are not the sort of tunnels that stored vehicles etc, these tunnels were 60cm by 60cm wide........and over 250km long stretching around the country..........so, an opportunity arose to travel through these tunnels.......and i was in there quicker than they could ask!!! ha. Was madness, travelled my way 90 metres along and down to the lowest of three levels, 8 metres underground.......was hot, claustrophobic and dark.....and have the utmost respect for those who lived and worked in these tunnels throughout the war.....my pictures to follow will hopefully explain a little more what i mean! Anyway, cream cracker ed now this evening, and tomorrow we are heading off on a tour of the Mekong Delta, before making our way into country number 5- Cambodia on Sunday!!! So, hope you are well, after such a brilliant few weeks am sad to be leaving here, cant believe my Vietnam visa runs out on Monday or i would have been so tempted to stay on longer!!! Hope you are all well, will let you know when the new pics are loaded in a few days, but feel free to drop me an email or message on my message board, and look forward to hearing from you all. Love Ellen xxx www.ellenmoriarty.com