Hi guys! We are currently in transit in Singapore airport awaiting our flight to Japan, what better time to tell you all about Vietnam...

Most significantly Vietnam is where Miss Saigon is set, so upon arrival Emma decided it was only fair to sing ALL of Miss saigon at random intervals around the country, as much as Emma loved it Anedrew did not appreciate it when they were mid conversation and Emma decided to break into song! However, he eventually got used to it!

We arrived in hanoi early evening and were picked up by our accommodation, which had been recommended to us by a random guy we met when we were applying for our Vietnamese Visa in Thailand! So after what has to be one of the scariest car journies we have undertaken we eventually arrived in Hanoi, the capital.

From here we made our plans for our time in the Nam.Once again we set out in search of all the fun and amusement we could possibly find. A trip to the War museum for a glimpse into the horrors that the country faced throughout the wars it has seen, another trip to Ho Chi Minhs Mausoleum, where we had honour of walking past the embalmed body of the leader who died in 1969. That was rather scary, guards everywhere, queuing for 2 hours and then having visions of the man suddenly jumping up and shouting BOO as we all ushered past in silence - well we were silent, no one else was, and whats more we got shushed as we left!

The odd thing is that here more than anywhere we have noticed the fact that we are, well, rather taller than the average person. While we were queuing Emma was continuously stared at by an elderly gentleman and one of the guards approached her (gun and all) and merely stood next to her so he could compare heights!

We went to see a traditional Water Puppet performance as well while we were in Hanoi. It lasted about an hour and it is incredible to think of the level of skill required not only to make the puppets but to them make them move so freely on and in the water while the puppeteers remain behind a screen!

We took an overnight sleeper bus to Hoi An which was really entertaining! We each had a little bed that was not really quite long enough for us to be able to stetch out, so we slept curled up. The problem arose when 2 french people boarded and it was discovered that there were no more beds left, so they had to sleep on the floor - right next to us so we were fighting all night for space to stick our knees out! We also had a 5 hour stopover in Hue, which was a lovely place, but not really up for sighseeing we instead milked a drink and brekkie in a cafe for about 3 hours and then went to another cafe for another hour or so! We eventually arrived at around 5pm.

Hoi An is basically the place to go if you want any clothes to be tailor made. You literally cannot walk down the street without being bombarded by clothing stalls with displays of their creations for you to meander around. We went into a few in order for Emma to have a dress made. You can actually spend hours (and a small fortune!) picking out templates, fabrics, style, being measured, fitted and altered. In the end Emma had 2 dresses made for around 18 pound each...what a bargain! Andrew decided against having anything made as he pointed out - how often does he need to wear a suit? Plus he is not a fan of fitted shirts! He also did not enjoy looking through books and books of dresses! He did enjoy purchasing DVDS though, and dragging Emma into every shop in case they had a different DVD!

Finally he headed off to Ho Chi Minh in what has to be the worst bus we have travelled in! We were on the back bottom row...5 of us squeezed in, Emma being the only girl was squashed into the corner, practically falling out the window so that the guys did not have to touch each other with their toes while they slept! We arrived at our changeover point at 4am...not 6.30am so we had to sleep on the roof terrace of a hotel for a while, or wander round a dead town! Eventually we got on another bus and had comfy seats...until it began to rain torrentially and not onlydid the road flood (getting our bags wet!) but also the windows leaked so Emma got wet - she did not enjoy the trip!

Anyway Ho Chi Minh, (WATCH OUT FOR THE MOTORBIKES!!!) In between Emma singing various sections of Miss Saigon we did actually manage to do some other things! We took a trip to the Reunification Palace, where the tanks stormed in on the day of the Surrender. We saw all the officials rooms and discovered various facts that we have now forgotten...but Emma loved seeing the helicopter pad on the roof(she mentioned Miss Saigon about 50 times a day when not singing!). We also went to the War Remnants museum for another cheery look at the effects of war and the terrors the country endured. It was particularly biased of course, but made you feel very angry at the treatment they received (nothing was said about what they did to the enemy though!)

We also made it out ot the Cu Chi tunnels. These are part of a network of tunnels that the Viet Cong created in defence against the US Army. The space that they lived in was tiny, and the entrances and exits were unbelievable! We also saw the different traps that they set up to capture the enemy...their intention was to maim, not kill so that the soldiers would be sent home (how thoughtful!) We could have taken the time to shoot some guns if we had fancied, but we both felt that it was inappropriate and not really as much fun as we had imagined it would be! We did have ourselves a little wander round in one of the tunnels that had been enlarged for tourists! It was pretty dark and rather cramped so we did not stay down long! But it really gave you a sense of what the Viet Cong endured in order to survive!

Ho Chi Minh is a rainy city...and boy did it rain! One afternoon as we napped we awoke to lots of noise outside our room. Upon investigation we discovered that our room was taking in water and our bags were wet again!!!!! We opened the door to a scene of crazed Vietnamese women scooping water into buckets and pouring it out of the window. We helped to mop up our room and clean up some of the mess...it was quite amusing really as the entire street was completely flooded and looked more like a gushing river than a road!

Vietnam is another one of those places that has had a terrible history and yet is still able to recover and expand at an amazing speed. Obviously the country is still terribly poor but the people are incredibly friendly and cannot do enough to help you!

We really enjoyed our time in Vietnam. We are now eagerly awaiting our arrival at our final country...JAPAN!