Ho Chin Minh

From Cambodia we made our way to Ho Chi Minh, in the south of Vietnam. We arrived at the Vietnam Inn Saigon, dropped our bags and headed out to explore. Ho Chi Minh is a very busy city and although the weather was quite bad while we were there, we had a hectic few days exploring the old capital of the south.

Our first stop was to head to the War Museum. Although the Museum had a less personal touch than the killing fields in Cambodia it was still equally as devastating. Vietnam was originally divided into the North and the South with the North being communist and the south being democratic. Under the leadership of Ho Chi Minh the Vietnam War was a prolonged struggle between the north trying to reclaim back the south under one communist government. America (which supported the south) viewed their involvement in the war as a way to prevent the spread of communism. Even the people of the U.S were against the war in Vietnam and many of the walls of the museum are filled with pictures of protests from countries around the world. The dates of the war are varied but America's ground forces were directly involved in the war between 1965 and 1973. One of the most devastating things America did was release agent orange (a deadly chemical) onto the lands of Vietnam. This not only killed or maimed the Vietnamese civilians but it has caused over a million birth defects, that is still affecting the children of Vietnam today.

After an afternoon of learning we had planned to head straight back to our hotel, but typically for us we got lost using our map and managed to walk about an hour and half around Vietnam trying to find our way back. It allowed us to see most of the landmarks of the city, the palace, the opera house, the markets, the city hall ect. That night me and Hari went for our Ho Chi Minh massage (we've decided to have a massage in every place that we visit). This time was my first massage by a man and although I'm pretty sure he was gay it was still extremely awkward.

The next morning we got up to head to an amusement park. Although we did actually have a very fun day, the park was like a ghost town with literally about 50 people inside altogether. The only bad thing about the day was seeing the elephants (that are used in some of the circus shows) being tied up with only about 10m of rope in which to walk around.

Nha Trang

After a busy few days in Ho chi Minh, Nha Trang was a lot more relaxed and chilled, spending our days sunbathing on the beach and our nights testing out the nightlife. On our last day we thought it best to see some part of the city. So along with our new friends Kate and Tamara we booked a trip to see a local waterfall. The waterfall was over 25k away so we had to rent out scooters for the day. Having never ridden a scooter before, I was beyond nervous when setting off. The Vietnamese roads are not the best place for beginners. Once you get out of the center it is just straight road but when you turn off the roads are uneven, rocky and extremely difficult to drive on. It was such an adrenaline rush and I was proud that I had decided to do it instead of opting for a driver.

We parked up and hiked about 30 minutes to the waterfall. All the effort was worth it though once we got there, as it was beautiful. We swam right into it and climbed inside where you can stand up, as the waterfall comes down all around you. We then climbed up onto a rock ledge where a woman cooked us a chicken for lunch.

The journey back was even more eventful, as we got caught in a thunderstorm. When it rains in Asia, it feels like you've been caught in a typhoon and we drove in these ridiculous conditions for over 30 minutes. Although it was difficult to see and extremely painful it was still exhilarating and an experience i will definitely remember.

Hoi An

We finally arrived at the sunflower hotel in Hoi An (literally the only place to stay) and checked into our room.I can pretty much sleep anywhere, and although the night buses aren't the most comfortable I find them manageable. The girls however swore that this bus was our last, the bumpy journeys on the uneven roads were finally too much.

Although Hoi An was the smallest place we've visited in Vietnam, it was my favourite mainly due to the number of great people we met there. We spent most of our days at the beach or by the pool or if the weather was bad we played pool or chilled in someones room and watched a film. Hoi An was also where I was introduced to the copy and paste game. You basically just have to copy someone on something they have said and then you can paste them at your own discretion throughout the night, making them repeat whatever it was they had said. It is hilarious how many stupid things us girls say and how bad it can sound when taken out of context. Definitely a game I'll take back to Manchester.

The nightlife in Hoi An was pretty much just the 12- 15 of us from the hostel in Volcano bar bumping and grinding to abit of r n b, but it always managed to be a good night out. Volcano bar is 80,000 dong (£2.50ish) for a free bar until 3.00am so it can get quite messy. Which Joel definitely found out when he face planted the floor from a podium and needed to go to hospital for stitches.

In terms of food Ganesh Indian restaurant and Dingos are highly recommended and the grilled eggplant at the sunflower hostel is literally the nicest eggplant I've eaten in Asia.

We ended up staying in Hoi An 2 days longer than expected because we loved it so much. With our three new travel buddies (Joel, Gulead & Will) our next stop is up to Hanoi and then to make our way to Halong bay for a party cruise.
Much love
Nicole
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