Tuesday 20th February We met up with an irish girl called Cat on the flight from Danang to Saigon and she joins us for a tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels and the city. The tunnels were made by the Viet Cong who lived in them in hiding during the war. I crawl through a small tunnel, around 30metres long. It's hot, smelly, dark and dusty - it must have been horrible to live down here. There are 3 levels of tunnels down to 10 feet. They started at 3feet deep as a B5...

Friday 16th February We get the bus to Hoi An where we'll have to stay for New Year as everything stops running over that time. Our accommodation has no record of our booking and no rooms left, so I hop on a motorbike to go to a hostel that Joti recommended to see if they have any space. The guy tries to take me somewhere else as he's probably on commission, but after some strong words, he takes me to the right place and I secure a room for us! Phew. It...

Wednesday 14th February - Happy Valentine's DayKate and I hire bikes and go riding off into the countryside through the rice fields. We feel like celebrities as we ride along as everyone says hello and the children cheer and wave - probably thinking - stupid tourists - tee hee. It's Valentine's Day and I can finally open the present Simon has sent for me - hooray! Ah dark chocoloate - my favourite. And two nights in a posh hotel in Sydney wh...

Sunday 11th FebruaryWe head off to Halong Bay passing french colonial style houses along the way - the remnants of the influence prior to Vietnam gaining independence in 1958. The houses have built without any thought for the future as they are all at slightly different angles and set further back or forwards from the road. So if you were to join them up everyone's front doors would not line up. Hee hee.There are rice fields in every direction for as far as t...

Friday 9th FebruaryWe've arrived in Hanoi and the place is mentalist! Apparently it's worse than usual as it's the run up to Tet which is the Lunar New Year here. We venture out onto the streets and try to do as the Lonely Planet book says and walk slowly across the street into the oncoming stream of mopeds while your senses are screaming at you to run like you would in the UK. Apparently though you are meant to walk slowly so they can see where you a...