Hello! We are in Ho chi Minh City at the airport waiting for our flight to Thailand. We have spent a very exciting and enjoyable 2 weeks in Vietnam.
After seeing Cat Ba Island and Ha Long Bay we flew south to Hue where we visited the Citadel which still had many ruined buildings which have not been repaired from the war. We also visited the market in the city which was the biggest market either of us had ever seen. From Hue we went to Hoi An down the coast. The weather was against us. When we stepped off the bus the rain was torrential! But luckily the bus driver had "thoughtfully" dropped us all at his friend's hotel. We planned to go in search of a cheaper option but the road was flooding by this point and we soon gave up on our hunt. We stayed in Hoi An for 5 days and spent quite a bit of dong on custom made shoes and clothes. Simon had a suit fitted while Olivia bought a dress and a coat. We were amazed by how much it could rain in such a short space of time. The road was regularly flooded to above the curb and the river burst it's banks while we were there. Even the bridge over the river, a good 7 feet higher than the normal water level, was flooded! Despite the wet weather, one day it was bright and dry enough for us to rent bicycles and go to the nearby beach where we spent the day in the very warm sea.
We had planned to get a bus from Hoi An to Da Lat, a mountain town, but in the end we decided to fly again to save us a lot of time. Domestic flights in Vietnam are very cheap and easy and we were pleased when we arrive in Da Lat (again, in the rain) that we didn't opt for the 18hr bus! Da Lat is a very beautiful town which is also quite a bit cooler that the towns by the coast. We had 2 days in Da Lat, the first of which we spent relaxing by the lake with a bottle of the local red wine while Simon played on his newly acquired £9 Vietnamese guitar. The second day there we went canyoning. This involved abseiling down cliff faces and large waterfalls. It was exhausting, and scary at times, but exhilarating and fulfilling also.
Lastly, we travelled by bus to Ho Chi Minh City. We enjoyed our first evening there very much in a little cafe with many other travelers swapping stories. In fact, we enjoyed it so much we spent the next day in bed recovering... Whilst here we also visited the Cu Chi tunnels, north of the city, which saw some of the most terrible fighting in the whole of Vietnam. It was amazing to think that people lived in tunnels barely wider than your body for years in the pitch black. It was scary enough to crawl through 20 meters with lighting. We also visited the War Remnants Museum which had some very shocking photographs and information which is a reminder of the devastation the war caused and continues to cause.

We really enjoyed our time in this beautiful and now peaceful country. The people have been very welcoming and we are just sorry we couldn't spend longer here.