Hello there! I have just written a massive blog only for the PC to break here in the hotel. I am angry.... but I'll start again.

Faye and Sharon are covering the orphanage and Hoi An respectively, so I'll just talk about Ho Chi Minh.

We arrived last week, and I think we were all a bit anxious about meeting Bee and getting to the orphanage. But the Vietnamese people made us feel so welcome that all our fears were stopped pretty quickly. Vietnam is such an amazing place, and when you consider the struggles here recently, it is all the more remarkable. Also, when meals are 50p, people are as nice as they are and the settings are as stunning as we have seen, you can see why it is so desirable to live here. The sad thing is that most people say Vietnam is about 5 years behind most other places in South Asia, and although that has been great for us, it is sad to think the place may become flooded with travellers. Don't blame the traffic if you are the traffic I suppose, but it is a shame that such an amazing place could change very quickly.

The bikes on the road are pretty scary too, but although we have escaped some major accidents, they are worth going on just for the fear factor!

Anyway, our first night was all arranged by our contact in Nam, Bee. She has been vital to our experiences here, and without her we would have found the whole thing more difficult. On the first night, she arranged a hotel, left us directions to get around town, sorted us out the orphanage etc... and all before we even met her! She is a science teacher at an International school here, and she has been such a help to us. Thanks Bee.....

On day two, we spent most of the day in Ho-Chi Minh. We met Bee at her flat in the morning, and then went exploring. We sorted out our trip to Hoi An (where we are now) and Sharon and I are off to Cambodia next week, before meeting everyone in Bangkok for the 10th June. (We all fly to Hong-Kong then). We also managed to see the astounding fabric shops in the city. Basically, the major Western shops (such as Next) order their clothes from these places, and obviously buying them here saves a bundle of cash. The shop owners tailor-make and fit clothes for a few dollars, at the highest quality possible. The only problem when 50 quid will buy you a year or two of clothes, is getting them in your bag! But Bee was the hero again, as she regularly sends stuff home, and encouraged us to do the same. Hoi An is also famous for it's shops, and we will do the same today.  Faye and Sharon bought stunning Asian dresses and jackets yesterday, for about 20 quid. Monster monster bargain!

We met Bee again on the Saturday, and watched the FA Cup Final. I personally wanted both of them to lose. Nuff said. But at least the team with the smaller(non-existent) history won it in the end....

Anyway, we got to the orphanage the next day, which I will leave to Faye to write about.

Suffice to say that Vietnam is absolutely amazing, and I would stay here for a year if I could. I would say that everyone should come here, but do it SOON, coz it could change in the blink of an eye...

Hope you enjoyed the pics etc... and there are more to come soon, (When I see Mike and collect the cameras I foolishly left in Thailand!)

Peace out for now

Greek X