We arrived on Tuesday in Vietnam and have been in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) for the last three days. It's a fascinating experience so far. The drive to from the airport to our hotel was our first experience with traffic in Vietnam! There are motorbikes everywhere, zooming in and out of traffic. When someone on a motorbike wants to cut across traffic, they just start beeping their horn and move right on over - everyone else just seems to slow up at the right moment to let them get by. The crazy thing is that not only do they do this in front of other motorbikes, but in front of huge buses and cars, as well! What's even crazier is trying to cross these crazy roads as pedestrians! We've learned the process and now cross with confidence just like the locals!

We've spent alot of time learning about Vietnam's history and especially about the Vietnam War. We've been to the Reunification Palace and the War Museum. The War Museum is very sobering but is a must-see for anyone.

Today we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This is a network of underground tunnels that, at its peak, stretched for over 250km throughout south Vietnam. It played a crucial role in the Viet Cong's war effort during the Vietnam War (which, not surprisingly, is called the "American War" in Vietnam). Today it is a tourist attraction that was both fascinating and frightening. We had to make sure to stay with our guide at all times as people are not allowed to wander around the site by themselves since many of the original trap doors and hidden entrances are still exposed. I crawled for about 20m inside one of the tunnels and experienced the pitch-black and claustrophobic world of dust that was the Viet Cong's daily habitat. That tunnel has even been expanded by 150% to accommodate Western body sizes. Jonny jumped out at the last minute as the thought his shoulders might get stuck!

Tomorrow we leave for a three day boat trip into the Mekong Delta with floating food and craft markets, meaning that everyone buying or selling something is on a boat. We'll do a homestay on the first night and then sleep on the boat on the second night.

On Monday before we catch the overnight train to Nha Trang where we'll spend two days, then catching a flight to Danang where we'll spend some days in Hoi An.