Our last blog mentioned that we were going to get the 8 hour bus journey to Ho chi minh city, but shortly afterwards we decided to book a really cheap flight ( as i still wasnt well) and we knew an 8 hour journey was more like 10 in Vietnam, so we spent an extra day in sunny Dalat. We spent our last day there walking around the lakes and then we went to the 'Valley of Love'. We paid 10,000 (dong, 30p) to get in an at first all we could see was tack, it was quite funny, heart shaped everything and kids fairground rides, but as we walked through the gardens into the valley itself, it was beautiful. We hired a little boat and peddled around the lakes, it was hot too about 25c!! ( even though some of the locals had coats and scarfs on!!), so all in all me and giz had a lovely day, and dalat wasnt as bad as we first thought once we got out of the busy centre.

So we caught our flight from the smallest airport in the world, we caught a little propellar plane, which ive never been on before! and now we are in Ho Chi Minh City. When we first arrived here(about 10pm) it was sooo busy, but it seems so much more controlled than the rest of Vietnam, even though there are more mopeds, there seems to be less beeps and they actually have traffic lights...although you still have to dodge the odd car/bike!! Yesterday we got up and walked to the war museum, it was a real eye opener and so sad, we didnt realise all the stuff that went on, and it made you realise that it happened not long ago and many people in Vietnam are stll trying to rebuild their lives, and some people are still born today with defects from the chemical bombings. Some of the pictures they showed of people being tortured were horrible, the museum as a whole was really good to see as we learnt so much about what went on, that we didnt know and its well worth a visit.

We stopped for lunch at a bbq restaurant ( lot more choice of food here!!) and every table had a hot plate in the middle where you cook your own food ( gizz loved it!). The corn on the cobs were worth it on their own! We then took a stroll along the main street, they were getting ready for their new year celebrations and it was really good to see, they had marching bands, lovely decoratons, lights and people everywhere rushing around with balloons and flowers, we went back at 8pm for the official opening, and it was lovely to get involved with it all. We do get the odd point, laugh and stare though, since weve been down the south people seem to stare ALOT!!( , one little boy in the shop yesterday couldnt stop staring or staying hello to Gizz . They also dont mind talking about you in front of you, we are getting quite used to it now, and saw another westerner who was blonde having photos taken so didnt feel too bad as we realised we werent the only ones.

lastnight after the parade wen to an irish bar, (o'niels) ha. it was ful of western people and was just like a pub back home, the prices are aot more here than te rest of vietnam,probably about $1.50 a drink which is ssill cheap but not for here, so we only had one then retired for an early night afer a long day..

We are spending our last day in Vietnam today and we will be sad to say goodbye!! Seems like forever ago we were in Hanoi, and weve seen sooo many great sights! we have a flight tonight back to bangkok to let the Thailand adventures begin!! XXxXXxX