We left De Lat and arrived at Mui Ne on the 13th November around 12pm to glorious sunshine and the sound of the waves gently lapping against the shore in the distance. We had found a nice place to stay with a pool and good sized rooms for $15 a night. Having a pool at our digs was real luxury for us and we took advantage straight away by stripping down to our beach attire and pulling up a couple of sun loungers by the pool. We had been hoping for sunshine and we were not disappointed as we happily baked ourselves for a good few hours aided by a few ice cold beers and some tasty local grub. We were still in semi action mode and still wanted to get out and do a few things as we were only going to be in Mui Ne for one day. We had spotted a few things to do in the Bible and would put our plan into action after a little bit more time in the sun.

Wiping the sweat from our brows we decided it time to get amongst the action of...sand dune surfing. We took a short walk down the street and found a couple of Moto drivers that agreed to take us to a few locations and return all for $4 each. We stopped off first a few km up the road at a place called Suoi Tien (The Fairy Spring) that is a stream that flows through a patch of the dunes and rocks formations that pop up at every angle. Walking up stream in the shallow waters was rather relaxing, even with the local kids who walk by your side becoming your unofficial tour guides. The views were great and the bright sunshine made all the colours jump out at you. The sand of the dunes was a rich terracotta colour and turned your feet the same colour within seconds as we climbed the steep dune to get a look at the view from the top. Out of breath and with sweat dripping from us, we could take in the amazing views as we caught our breath. With the colour of the dunes, sections of the land looked like a photograph of the surface of Mars and had an unearthly feel. After a while we climbed back down the dune and made our way back down stream and to our friendly Moto drivers who had been waiting for us. Popping on our helmets and hopping on the back of the bike, we were off to our next stop. Around another 5km up the road we stopped for a quick look at the fishing village that stretched across the coast. Looking out to sea you were greeted with the sight of fishing boats that were lazily bobbing up and down and were scattered everywhere. The smell of fish and crab was very potent in the air but not unpleasant. Walking onto the small stretch of beach, we made our way through the small circular boats made from bamboo that the local fisherman use with a paddle to drop their nets and lines. The sand of the beach was strewn with shells of all kinds of sea life and it looked like there were more shells than actual sand.

With the smells still ringing in our nostrils we were back on our bikes and on route to today's star attraction, the yellow sand dunes for a spot of dune surfing. I don't know why they call it surfing because it is more like sledging but on sand and it's not freezing cold. As soon as we got there we were surrounded by kids wanting you to hire their plastic boards from them for ridding down the dunes. After a frenzy of kids trying to push their boards into your hand we paid two of the kids to hire a board each and started to make our way up the yellow dunes and the fun ahead. The kids never leave your side and pester you constantly, trying to carry things for you like your flip flops only so they can ask you for a dollar at the end. The little sods were constantly trying to take my bracelets from my wrist and it was rather annoying telling them to get off every 30 seconds or so. But when we had finally made it to the steepest of dunes the kids were in work mode and gave us a crash course in how it's done. Load your board up with sand and sit on it, pull your board up at the front and lean back. The speed that you pick up going down the dunes is incredible and a lot faster than I thought it would be. As soon as we tried to take photographs the kids were straight on you again trying to pull the camera out of your hands so they could take photos of you. After a good few trips up and down the dune we started the walk back across the dunes to our Moto drivers. As we were walking all the kids started asking for tips and were going on and on and on about it. We kept saying no as you are told not to tip as it doesn't even go to the kids. They would not let it go and kept on pushing for a tip and this was really starting to try my patience. One of the little cheeky sod's told me to go do something to myself but those were not the words he used, they were far more colourful than that. I will give you a clue, the first word stared with F and is four letters long and the second started with Y and is three letters long. This resulted in me snapping back telling the kid to take himself off somewhere else but using the art of colourful language also. I felt bad swearing at a kid but the nerve of them and their cheek wound me up so much that I couldn't help it. I'm sure they probably get it all the time as it is really annoying the way they pester you like a pack of dogs after food and also they seemed to know a few swear words that they must pick up from people like me snapping after being hounded. But bar that happening, the actual time spent flying down the dunes was great fun and we are really pleased that we done it. We were driven back to our digs and paid up with our drivers who were really friendly chaps and didn't try to hassle or sell us anything. So this time we thought it was only right to give a little tip, it was only a $1 or $2 but they were still very grateful. After washing off a small beach worth of sand from our bodies, we were back out for a few drinks and a bite to eat. We weren't out long and decided to go back to our room around 7pm- ish for an early night as we were moving on once more in the morning.

We woke the next day after a very hot and sticky night to clear skies once more. We caught the bus from Mui Ne bound for Ho Chi Minh at 8.30am and were looking forward to getting there as we were meeting up with Ashleigh's friend from back home, Bev Hooper and Catherine Murrell. The bus took a little longer than it should of but we are more than used to this by now. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh around 2.30pm and were dropped off on the same street as the hotel that we planned to stay at which was a cheeky little bonus as we thought we would have to get a taxi from the bus stop. After checking in we were straight out to find an internet cafe so we could Skype Bev and meet up. Our hotels are on the same street and only a minute's walk away from each other so we arranged to meet in a bar bang in the middle of both. We sat waiting for around five minutes then Ashleigh all of a sudden let out an "EEEEEEEEEEEEEE HHHIIIYYYYYAAAAA!" as Bev and Catherine made their way into the bar. Hugs and kisses were dished out between us and it felt great seeing friendly faces from back home. We wasted no time at all and the crack was flowing over a few drinks within seconds. Sitting in the bar at a table looking out into the street, after a while we were shocked by a loud dull thud. Turning to see what was going on, a taxi had crashed into a scooter sending the two women and a little boy that were on it to the ground. It was horrible to see as the little boy was first up and grabbing his stomach with pain written all over his face. The two women did not really know what had happened and looked a little in shock. A crowd had gathered and many hands were there to help the people involved as the taxi driver just stood with his hands hand's on his head and probably thinking "what the hell just happened?" In all honesty we are surprised it is the first accident that we have seen due to the crazy traffic and bikes that just weave in and out of any space on the road they can get. The people did not seem to be badly injured and were more shaken up than anything else. It wasn't a pleasant thing to witness all the same. We moved on from the bar we were in to have a little walk about and find a place to grab a bite to eat. It didn't take us long and we were sat down with drinks in hand and food ordered within minutes. As we chatted another commotion started up as a Frenchman sat at the bar next door started shouting at another man at the top of his voice. We couldn't help but rubber neck and watch the drama unfold as the Frenchman carried on and seemed to totally lose his head. We don't know what set him off but he was shouting in French and English calling the man (in French accent) "Bullshiiit man!" and saying "I fight yooou! You bullshiiiiiit man I fight yoooooou!" The next part was absolutely vile as the angry Frenchman snorted back and spat directly in the other man's face. The man didn't even react and just sat their motionless. Thankfully after a while it calmed down, the man with spit on his face left and the angry Frenchman returned to his drink. It was all happening today, since we met Bev and Catherine we had seen a crash and an angry Frenchman venting his spleen. With a smile on my face, "So, you enjoying your holiday then girls?" I asked.

We had agreed that we would meet up later on and check out a bar that Catherine had been recommended by a friend at the Caravelle Hotel. The bar is called Saigon Saigon and is a roof top bar on the ninth floor. The views from up there were great and then hotel it's self was very plush. The girls bless them treated us to a bottle of champagne and we were over the moon. We felt spoilt with all this luxury as we are now used to cheap beer and no thrills hotels but a bit of luxury every now and then goes a long way. The night was going great and the conversation flowed as Ashleigh caught up on all the gossip on X Factor, Jordan and all that other girly stuff. As our champagne was topped up the waitress knocked my glass all over me and onto the floor resulting in sticky wet champagne smelling trousers for the evening. It dried quickly enough and I got another glass of fizz so I can't really complain. We left after a few hours and got a taxi back to our end of town and decided to go on a bit of a pub crawl. Needless to say that this went on till about 2am and probably the latest we have been up since my birthday as we are lightweights now and are normally in bed by 11pm at the latest. But we partied hard and had a right laugh as we checked out the free but empty clubs that were on offer to us by walking in and straight back out again . We called it a night as we only had a few hours to fit some sleep in as we had booked up to visit the Cu Chi tunnels the following morning.

Waking up a bit groggy, we were all up, out the door and on the bus by 8.30am. The drive to Cu Chi was going to take around four hours. After around two hours we made a stop at a place that we were unaware of and didn't even know it was part of our tour. We had stopped at a place called Handicapped Handicraft, an organization that produces art works, vases, jugs etc by local people who are handicapped or have birth defects due to the exposure to AgentOrange that was used by the Americans in the Vietnam war from 1961 to 1971. Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program. The program's goal was to defoliate forested and rural land, depriving guerrillas of cover, another goal was to induce force draft urbanization, destroying the ability of peasants to support themselves in the countryside, and forcing them to flee to the U.S. dominated cities, thus depriving the guerrillas of their rural support base and food supply. The thing with Agent Orange is that it is an extremely toxic compound and 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to it, resulting in 400,000 people being killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth defects. Walking through the work shop was inspiring and insightful as we could watch the many skilled artists at work creating what would soon be next door in the shop. Watching one woman crushing egg shells, she would select a piece and glue it in place. If she needed a darker piece she would burn the shell and carry on the process till the picture was complete. These were amazing and we were blown away that these were being produced using egg shells. They were a good size too, some picture around 60cm in width and 100cm height. As I said before we were unaware that it was part of our tour but we were pleased it was. The shop there was decked out with all sorts of pictures, pots, bowls and so on but the prices were through the roof. Catherine was looking at a box for handkerchiefs that was nice and well made but it was priced at $47 and that was a cheap one.

After around spending 45 minutes at the Handicapped Handicrafts centre we got back on our bus and heading for the Cu Chi tunnels and we arrived around about an hour later at 12.30pm. This is what we had really been looking forward to and we were unsure of what to expect. The Cu Chi tunnels are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. These tunnels were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War, and were the Viet Cong's base of operations for the Tet Offensive in 1968. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. The role of the tunnel systems should not be underestimated in its importance to the Viet Cong in resisting American operations and protracting the war, eventually culminating in an American withdrawal. After a quick presentation about the tunnels and their history from our guide Joey, we were lead up to view our first entrance to the tunnels. The other tunnels had been widened for tourists so they can fit through more easily but this tunnel had not been changed at all. We all climbed in the little opening in the ground which was hard enough for a photo opportunity and we had the choice to go through if we wanted to. Lowering myself down just, I had to bend my body in half and straight onto my hands and knees to allow me to crawl through. It was pitch black and red hot down there but I loved it all the same. I couldn't even lift my head as it would scrape across the roof of the tunnel and my shoulders were rubbing along the side walls constantly. After what felt like a life time I could see light in the distance and climbed the small stairs to the world above. I don't know how they lived in those tunnels for months at a time and the pace they moved through them was phenomenal. How are you supposed to fight against that?

We walked further around the trail and were shown a number of different traps used by the Viet Cong, my favorite being the swinging door pit that had sharpened bam-boo sticks waiting at the bottom for any soldier unlucky enough to run into it. We came across a tank that had been blown up by a number of mines and still stood in the same place from all those years ago so we thought it would be rude not to climb all over it. The main highlight of our day was fast approaching and we could hear it all day long and it got louder and louder as we got near. We got to the shooting range that offered a number of different guns to fire and we opted for the M-16 whilst Bev chose the AK-47. We bought ten rounds each, Bev's costing $10 and ours $15. None of us had fired a riffle before and we wished we bought more bullets straight after we had. The kick back off the riffle wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but Ashleigh thought it threw her arm back a bit. If you hit two of the red bottles that were in the shooting range you won some sort of prize. I only hit one of them but was over the moon that I did as I was the only person who hit one. Even the tap on my shoulder from the safety officer to signal 'good shot' made me smile like a Cheshire cat. After feeling like real action heroes we made our way further round the site stopping to view workshops, kitchens and B-52 bomb craters. We had arrived at the final tunnel that had been widened for tourists and this time everybody went through. It was still cramped but it was lit up and you could walk in the tunnel as long as you were bent over. It was still a bit crazy and a bit scary even though these tunnels had been widened and I'm pretty sure the girls were really happy once they seen daylight at the end of the tunnel. Our trip to the Cu Chi tunnels was over and it was a great experience and a whole lot more than I thought it would have been. We arrived back in Ho Chi Minh around 4.30pm feeling a bit tired from the morning's activities but we had the business of what to do tomorrow to attend to. We have booked a two day trip to the Mekong Delta to have a good look about and part take in sitting on boats watching the world go by, so until then.....

Love Peter and Ashleigh x