So we've been in Vietnam for about 11 days now and we're having a lovely time (minus the smell of Sam's feet!!)

Our first stop was Ho Chi Minh City and we have honestly never seen so many motorbikes in our life! If you thought London was bad for traffic, you want to see it there...it's on a whole other level!

We were there for a couple of days and visited the War Remnants Museum, the market and the Bitexco Financial Tower bar in the evening which gives you a 360 degree view of the whole city. The museum was quite interesting, however didn't seem to give a whole lot of information about the war.

We then moved on to Da Lat, which is a lovely place in the mountains, around 2,000m above sea level. When we arrived the main thing we noticed was the difference in the air...it was so much cooler than everywhere else we've been, it felt just like home!

Whilst there, we booked on to a private tour where we went to the Truc Lam Zen Monastery, a place called Fairy Rock where we rode an elephant, Datanla Falls (waterfalls) and the Flower Park. We really enjoyed the tour and our guide was very helpful, giving us a lot of information all the way around. The elephant ride wasn't quite as good as we'd hoped though. We felt very sorry for her as she looked quite sad and we just didn't get a good feeling about the way they were looked after. Hopefully it'll be better in Chiang Mai.

There's a big French influence throughout Vietnam, but especially in Da Lat. We ate dinner in a little restaurant on our first night there and we felt just like we were in France. This was the first time on our trip that it felt like home - maybe it was just the weather!

On our last day in Da Lat, we had to check out of the hotel before breakfast started, so when we were leaving they gave us each a packed breakfast for the taxi ride to the airport which we thought was really nice.

Our next stop was Hoi An. We've been here for just under a week now and have also had a really good time here. The day before we got here they had a big typhoon with winds hitting around 150km an hour apparently, so on the journey from the airport to the hotel, all we could see were trees that had been blown over, signs that had been ruined and even the military had come in to help clear up!

Until yesterday, the weather hadn't been great, but it hasn't spoilt our time here. We've both had some clothes made and Sam has also had a pair of shoes made, so expect a delivery at home in a few days mummy Harding and mummy Burrill!!

On Friday we went to the Marble Mountains, but in true 'Sam and Emma's big adventure' style...it rained as soon as we got there! We still had a good look round though, including inside some caves.

We went to the silk village on Saturday which was very interesting. We got to see the whole process of silk, from the silk worms eating the mulberry leaves, to the way the thread is spun and then made into fabric on a loom. They also showed us how to tell the difference between real and fake silk. Lunch was included in the tour so we got to enjoy some proper Vietnamese food afterwards as well.

All in all, we've found that the Vietnamese so far are extremely friendly and make you feel very welcome. The girls at the reception of the hotel we're in at the moment knew our names after us only being here for a couple of hours and always wish us a nice day etc.

This is our last full day in Hoi An, which we're a bit sad about (especially as this hotel serves the best breakfast we've had since we've been away!!) Tomorrow we're moving on to Hanoi for a couple of days before going to Ha Long bay, so watch this space for another update soon :)