11 - 16 March

Saigon was just a big, expensive city. Everything cost here from the beer to the food.

We stayed in a small family run hotel and spent most of our days in the room watching TV to make up some of the money spent in Mui Ne.

We did a few sightseeing things, one of which I had seen before and still made me sad and angry visiting it again. The War Remnants Museum or the American War Crimes Museum as it is known locally was a highly interesting museum filled with evidence of war crimes commited against the Vietnamese, war crimes that although obvious are still yet to be admitted and apologised for by the American government.

We viewed horrifying pictures of the war and the devastation it caused then and now. We learnt about the Mai Ly massacre, agent orange and napalm. Some of the bombes they used destroyed the fertility of their land for hundreds of years to come, there have been horrendous birth defects from the bombs that were dropped and there are still millions of landmines planted throughout the countryside, still maiming and killing dozens yearly.

The pictures were harrowing, the stories atrocious.

The nest day we went to a local water park to cheer up a little, I was feeling a little bit nervous so I decided not to go on any water slides, but I really wish I had now.

The rest of our time in Saigon was quite relaxed and on our last day we headed on a trip down the Mekong to see local fishing and floating villages at work and to try some of their delicacies like coconut candy.

We stayed at the border overnight in Chau Doc and then hgeaded to cross the border into Cambodia to head towards the capital Phnom Penh.

What can I say about Vietnam? It was easier work than China? I can't believe our four weeks here have passed so quickly. We had a great time and it has defintely changed a lot since I last went four years ago.

The locals could be quite aggresive at times, but lovely most of the time if you spoke to them nicely, which I must admit a lot of travlleres don't. The travellers here have been different to what we have experienced so far, they seemed a bit clueless and quite rude to the Vietnamese, which was quite embarrassing.

There was a lot of older travellers here, people 60 plus. Most of them that we spoke to really loved it there.

I think the Americans had a really hard time of it, a lot of them being ripped off at any given moment. They say that it is all water under the bridge but it isn't There is a lot of resentment still. Maybe it might be a start to actually acknowledge what happened and support those who they mentally and physically scarred. You see people with parts of their face and body burnt away, people missing limbs begging and dragging themselves along the road to get the smallest amount of change. There is also a lot of prostitution involving women and children that people turn a blind eye to, it was a very sad sight to see.

Vietnam is still in recovery, but it is slowly rising from the ashes. Tourism is on the increase and it has more than most to offer. A truly beautiful country, defintely worth an adventure in one's life time.

Next stop Cambodia!