Right, I know it has been a while and I am sorry about keeping people waiting (Mum!!) but here is the next installment of the trip.

So since moving on from Laos we ventured into the treasured land of Vietnam. Unfortunatley time and money didn't allow us to get to the north of Vietnam and see Hanoi so we had to cut in at the mid way point and delve into a city called Hue. Our first impression of Vietnam was....wow development has happened fast and.....is this really what travelling is like?? Vietnam seems westernised and culturally quite advanced in comparison to Laos. And having experienced a devestating war only 40 years ago, as a nation, it seems to have done pretty well. Hue was a the centre of the Vietnamese conflict and we were sure to see the museums and rows of tanks that they had on display in the old part of the city. I have to admit, before coming to Vietnam I thought America was fighting on behalf of Vietnamese people but you start to realise, no-one wanted them there and you start to understand why America is seen as the "most hated country in the world". The museum was quite harrowing, all told from a commuinst perspective, the tragedies that both sides caused seemed so unneccessary, but i suppose as is war. Anyway we did a day of this, as that was all you could really do and then saw the rest of Hue. We started to notice that the streets were lined with spa shops, so yes that's right we thought it eould be rude not to!! A steam room, a sauna and a whole body massage with jacuzzi for half the day. Who said travelling couldn't be luxurious??!! Anyway enough of that...we then just soaked up vietnamese culture, the sheer speed of it all and the non stop harrassment by locals for good deals. Some people say they are not sure about vietnam, i think it is fair to say we love it!!

After about a week in Hue we moved 4 hours down south to Hoi An, a collonial French fishing village, only 5km from the coast. It's also pretty famous for soome tailored made suit making, Jon I can here you booking that plane ticket already!! Our first day was suit day, and we said before we came away we would get a three piece suit with shirt and tie and that's exactly what we got. for about 130 of the queens finest currency we came away with our first tailor fitted suit. Don't worry there will be showings when I return home. Within one night and a single first fitting the suits were complete, so ten out of ten for customer service! Once we were suited up we had a couple of days looking around the town and it's market. Some of the old French buildings were beautiful and the town itself is so peaceful, it seems that Hoi An isn't marketed enough. But perhaps that is the appeal of the place. The markets were buzzing with local activity and a deals were haggled for some interesting local produce!! Hoi An is well worth a visit, I would recommend it to anyone. We also managed a couple of trips to the beach, our first taste of sea water on our travels. The beach was prestine white, the water not so much but i have to say that it isn't far off some people's version of paradise. Palm trees aplenty and beach side restaurants, Fred and I thought we would give the local crab a taste...slightly disappointing, stick to the English ones!

So now we move on further down south to Nha Trang, the beach capital of Vietnam! Cannot wait for a bit of reef snorkelling and maybe a bit of the scuba stuff as well...who knows??? We will wait and see. Now on the photo topic, I am trying to add them but Vietnam doesn't really like uploading photos on this site, so i will keep persevering and hopefully I can get the next lot on very soon. Keep an eye out! Right till next time take care.

Jack