I have just returned from Vietnam, where Katy and I spent an amazing 5 days over the Easter weekend, travelling around and exploring what is most definitely one of the most fascinating and exciting countries I have visited. We spent the first two days in the capital, Ho Chi Minh, and then travelled up to Dalat and Nha Trang before coming back to the capital and flying home very early yesterday morning. Every single day involved seeing completely different things making for an interesting and diverse trip as we travelled between the stunning beaches of Nha Trang to the jungle of the Mekong Delta to the hustle and chaos of Ho Chi Minh. I will try and keep it brief and hopefully will let the photos speak for themselves. Day 1: 
Our first day was spent travelling to the Cao Dai temple as well as visiting and exploring the tunnels of Cu Chu where the Vietcong famously fought a lot of the Vietnam war underground. The tunnels were tiny and it was nearly impossible to think of how anyone could have spent days and even weeks down there as the Vietcong guerillas did. 
Katy also jumped at the chance to fit down one of the entrances to the tunnels! 
Faced with the vastly superior weaponry and technology of the U.S., the Vietcong expanded the series of tunnels which they had built previously during the anti colonial campaign against the French and took advantage of the dense jungle territory from which to launch their liberation campaign. I lasted only a few minutes as I bumbled and practically crawled through the tunnels (which had been widened from their initial size (80cm – 60cm wide) in the near dark and was incredibly pleased to then see the light and come up to ground. However, you could not have anything but respect and admiration for the Vietcong guerillas who fought and essentially lived in such underground barracks and tunnels over the course of the war. 
We saw so much over the course of the day but, what will remain with me for a while, are some of the deadly handmade traps that the Vietcong constructed. Resourcefully recycling literally tons of shrapnel that was dropped all over the area by the U.S. in an attempt to bomb them out of their bases, the Vietcong instead melted it down, (in these underground barracks, cleverly funneling and emitting the smoke away from the base entrance to disguise its location) and moulded the iron into their own camouflage traps which inflicted horrific injury onto unsuspecting soldiers. Amongst the door which releases a sheet of nails, to the collapsing chair which folds into itself with nails, one I probably will not forget, was the aptly called ‘souvenir trap’ where an upfacing nail is hidden. Once trodden on, it is attached to four similarly razor sharp points that all face in and begin to tighten and squeeze onto the knee level of the leg. It was so designed that, once it was set off, it could not be removed from the leg and thus had to be taken to hospital wearing the trap as a souvenir. 
Our guide, Minh, had himself been a guerilla fighter in the war and spoke proudly of the fight and the bravery of the fellow Vietnamese soldiers. 
He had an infectious love for life and a determination to be happy and positive as was demonstrated throughout his tour, where facts on Vietnam and the places we visited were intermingled (and often secondary in importance to) his own life lessons and thoughts about marriage, old age, etc! 
We were also lucky enough to attend a noon prayer session at a Cao Dai temple, a syncretistic religion mixing elements of Buddhism, Christianity and Taoism. The temple itself was beautiful and incredibly serene and the music and the service was beautiful. 
The different religions wear different colours during the service. 
Day 2: 
Our second day in Ho Chi Minh saw us on a second tour, this time to the Mekong Delta. The river itself is huge however it is also made up of many smaller tributaries which snake their way through the thick undergrowth of the jungle-like landscape. We had the opportunity to be rowed down these parts of the river in a traditional narrow fishing boat, complete with Vietnamese conical hats! 
We stopped off at many places along the river where we saw locals making rice paper, a coconut candy, .JPG)
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listened to traditional Vietnamese singing and instruments, 
tried delicious honey tea (complete with bee pollen) 
tried local fruits, 
and rode in a horse and cart through the riverside villages. Although I am sure it existed for tourists mainly, it was nevertheless a fascinating insight into the lives and traditions of the Vietnamese. 
In the evening, we continued our culture and went to see a water puppet show! 
Day 3:
The third day could not have been more different! We travelled by night bus up to Dalat and thus arrived rather bleary eyed and sleep derived in Dalat about 5:45am. Dalat is a beautiful town up in the mountains with a distinctly French colonial feel to it. It was much more relaxed than Ho Chi Minh however it still contained the ever present hum of motorcycles. We breakfasted outside in a beautiful café overlooking the town
and then decided on a highly recommended motorcycle tour of the town. Two wonderful motorcyclists took Katy and I on a whirlwind tour of 9 different sights in and around Dalat as well as being able to take in the incredible lush countryside of this part of Vietnam. 
It is hard to explain all that we did that day but highlights include… Being sung to (multiple times) by an old man in his shed/workshop behind his house before being offered a straw and asked to drink some of his wine from a large ceramic vase covered over by clingfilm…Surprisingly we did not join him in the communal drinking of what seemed like sawdust.. 
Liangabang mountain. 
The views from up here were simply the greatest of the entire trip. You went up in a Jurassic park style jeep to the top and then had time to wander and take in the panoramic views from all around you. 
Crazy House. I will let the pictures speak for itself but sufficed to say it most definitely lives up to its name. Also somewhat stranger, I think people live there. 
Day 4: 
We did not stay long in Dalat and headed soon after the tour to Nha Trang, arguably the nicest stretch of beach in Vietnam. 
We arrived in the evening and had a beautiful supper in a local restaurant where the waiter took quite a fancy to Katy who ordered an amazing supper which came in a coconut. 
Nha Trang was a typical beachside town filled with bars, restaurants and boutique style shops. 
We found an amazing beachfront restaurant complete with an outside pool for guests (as well as an ice cream and cake counter!) so needless to say we spent quite a part of the day there. 
In the evening, it was such a nice treat to bump in to 2 other Chatteris girls and have a drink with them! We both knew each other were going to be in Vietnam but it was nevertheless an amazing coincidence and such a treat to be able to have met up and had a drink with them on the beach in Nha Trang. 
While they were going to stay there for a couple more days, we headed back to Ho Chi Minh, this time on a sleeper bus (complete with bunk beds) for our last day. 
Day 5: The war remnants museum was top of our list for the day and although sleepy, extremely hot and carrying our bags, we made it to the museum and I am so glad we did. 
It contained 2 floors of relics in the form of posters, photographs, weaponry from the Vietnam War and was an extremely moving and shocking experience especially considering the ongoing effects of the chemical warfare today. 
Later, we gave up on walking around in the heat and opted instead for the extremely toursisty but surprisingly comfortable cycle taxis which took us around the main sights of the city. 
The reunification palace gates were where famously the national liberation army drove an army tank which was caught by worldwide media and symbolized the end of the war for all. 
The architecture in the city was beautiful and you can see the French influence everywhere especially in the impressive Notre dame cathedral, 
the post office, 
and the court house. 
Our final evening we went for supper at Huang Lai, a restaurant which trains up young homeless children and orphans to be waiters and chefs. The food and the service and the general atmosphere was wonderful and could not be faulted. 
Thank you to Katy for her wonderful company, for her travel expertise and knowledge, for her patience when I had a near sense of humour failure on the last day! for lovely evenings trying delicious Vietnamese food and wine whilst discussing the past present and future! And just generally for her positive outlook and attitude towards life and her constant refrain of truly excellent! Quite the way to sum up our trip! 
