So my time in vietnam is now coming to an end and i am writing this from english like weather in the capital of vietnam Hanoi no one said it would be winter in the north so it came as a shock to me! anyway i'll start back in Ho Cha Minh and explain my journey!

Ho Cha Minh City

We arrived at ho cha minh city in the evening and it was strange after being around beaches for so long to come to such a massive city... the traffic in the city is terrible alot worse than bangkok full of thousands and thousands of motobikes it took about 5minutes just to cross the roads. we arrived at the backpacker district, district 1 and searched for a hotel... we found a decent one for $24 a night right in the centre of the city after settling in we decdied to explore the town and see what is there! it is mostly just shops and markets to do anything you have to book a trip.

The next day we booked a trip to the cu chi area and went to see the tunnels and how vietnam won the war it was about 2 hours from the city and was well worth the time the visions and tunnels of the vietnamese is unbelievable to think of something so complicated is amazing... during the tour we got to go into the tunnels they are miles long and stretched all the way to the american base they were so tiny you have to basically crawl all the way through them and they were so hot and dark it was nearly impossible to breath so you really have to respect the way they out fougth and out thought the americans. After seeing the tunnels and learning about the war i got to shoot a M60 machine gun which was amazing so powerful they are dangerous weapons i cant believe i can just shoot in this country in the middle of a field its brilliant! i still have a terrible aim!!!

After the tunnels we made our way back to the city and went to the war museum which again was amazing seeing what the americans used in weaponry yet still lost there was also a prison cell there where the vietnamese were kept and it was tiny they used to keep 20 people in them..... the photos around the museum explain everything and some are brutul! we didn't dp much the rest of the day just chilled out and looked around the city as the next day we had a trip along the mekong delta to do!

We left at around 7.30 to go to the mekong which was very cool... sailing along a massive river that goes though 4 countries and the vietnamese use for drinking and cleaning and everyday things is amazing. on the trip we stopped off at 2 island 1 where they make coconut candy and everything else you could imagine using a coconut shell! from bowls to chopsticks to stupid toys you've gotta appreciate there imagination! we then went on rowing boat along a small river to another island and had lunch eating fresh fish spring rolls from the main fish in the mekong they were amazing again after searching the island and constantly being asked to buy stuff there was not much else to do! we got home about 7 and booked our bus to hanoi! That night we had a bit of a nightmare our room had a leak and all of pheobe's bag was soaked so instead of telling us they just cleaned the room and washed her clothes! we went mad and it paid off we got 1 night for free!

The next morning we got the bus around 8am for a 4 hour journey to mui ne!

Mui Ne

We arrive at Mui Ne around midday and its just a little stop off before we go to Nha Trang... Mui Ne was actually really good is was baking hot and it had sand dunes there we had a jeep take us to the dunes and then had to walk to to the top and slide down on a sledge was great fun!! apart from all the little kids that wont leave you alone for the money! (the one thing that annoys me about vietnam is the rudeness of people and they will never leave you alone until you buy something) we had 2 little girls follow us to the top of the dunes wanting money..after following us all the way down again i told them they weren't getting anything so 1 started crying! stupid kids!

After seeing the white and red dunes the jeep took us to see the fairly lake which was really nice probably teh best sun set ive ever seen from the top of the lake and just really beautiful again being followed by 2 kids!!!

We headed back to our hotel for another chilled out night by the sea before getting the bus to Nha trang the next day!

Nha Trang

We left Mui Ne in the afternoon to go to Nha Trang another 6 hours on a bloddy bus!! we arrive that night about 7 and find a really nice hotel right by the beach for $20 a night it even had a swimming pool! we headed straight out for dinner and then to the bars to check out the nightlife! we went to the sailing club a really nice bar reminding me of a west end bar but only on a beach had a good night out..our first bit of proper nightlife in a while after constant activities and lack of nightlife!

The next day we just chilled out on the beach the girls nursing serious hangovers! we decided to do nothing at all something we haven't done for a bit after constant bus's and travelling about. In the end it was a shame we did nothing because the next 2 days were rain and we couldn't do any snorkling or go on the cable cars to the other island so it was quite dissapointing. so we spent the next 2 days walking around in the rain and just doing nothing apart from get massaged and eat!

Even though we booked our open ticket up the coast we decided we were sick of the bus and the girls were also runing out of time before they had to head home so we decided to get a flight to hanoi skipping Hue and Hoi An but no big loss as it saved 15 hours on coaches! our flight was fine it was teh landing that was the shock!!

Hanoi

We arrived in the capital of vietnam at around 7pm and even though we were told it would be cold we just presumed a few degree drop from the heat in Nha Trang, we were very wrong!

I got off the plane in shorts and stepped outside to the winter of vietnam around 10 degrees i felt sorry for the girls being from australia they hadn't felt such weather for over a year the last time they were in europe! i honestly thought my whole time in asia would be heat how wrong I was!

We found a little guest house in the center (i thought they were nice people until we got ripped off for our bus ticket to laos!!) and still in shorts we decided to walk round the city in search of clothes! the vietnamese apart from being rude are also very small people and nothing fits me here! i find a pair of jeans that night to keep me warm but nothing else still in flip flops and a t-shirt! We couldn't do much else in the rain but find a cab to take us to a restaurant! i cant believe how little english the vietnamese speak in teh capital city it took nearly 10minutes to describe to the cabbie we wanted food!! but it was worth the wait we were taken to a italian restaurant that would sit among the best i've ever been too! the for only $20 had some of the best italian ever!

The next day again with the weather bad we had to go and buy some clothes i searched for ages and evetually found a adidas trackie i lived in for the next 4 days and a pair of converse (the clothes in vietnam were the best fakes i've seen - a tracksuit for $20) that day again we couldn't really do much due to weather we weren't expecting but at least now were had clothes to wear for halong bay!

We decided it was too cold to do an overnight tour of Halong Bay even though it would have been amazing and we also decided to skip Sapa which was close to freezing and go to laos early!! we needed sunshine!

We did go to Halong Bay for the day and it was well worth it there were about 12 people on a massive boat who were all very friendly it was quite a private tour which included amazing food on board the boat and a cruise around all the islands (after decided no one wanted to go kayaking in 6 degree weather we saw more of the bays)

Halong Bay itself was beautiful we got our at its main island where there was a massive cave and surperb views of all around the cave itself had some strange rocks in as you will be able to see from my photos when i put them up! we spent a couple of hours cruising around the bays before heading home to hanoi!

We had 2 more days before we planned to go to laos and we were meant to go and see the body of Ho Cha Minh but as it was the weekend all the museums were closed a real disapointment we just spent out last 2 days in the capital city doing not much but shop and sitting in cafes and bars which had a heater! it was nice to realise we were leaving there for the heat of laos!

We payed $35 at our hotel for the express bus ticket to laos which cut 4 hours from our and trip and also was a tourist only bus meant to be vip! we got to the bus station and there was only one bus worst bus ever full of parcels all sealed up could have been smuggling drugs for all we know and not enough seats for everyone i was so squashed the bus took about 22 hours to reach laos! worst journey ever we had to stop at 6.30 in the morning to get through the border in pure darkness and mist before gettin back on the bus at 8am we arrived in Vientienne today at around 5pm teh longest day of my life!!

The girls and i come to the conclusion that we don't like vietnam even though the history and scenery is amazing the people are so rude and they make no effort with you at all unlike the thai's and cambodians even the beggers are rude if you don't buy anything overall not the greasest experience ever.. but something i'll remeber... bring on the hot weather again bring on laos!