Since I last wrote we made our way down from Hoi An to party town Nah Trang. Overnight bus. I'll be honest, that was our last overnight bus and I'm very glad for it. The other trips were fine but on this occasion I was awake the whole way watching the driver on the wrong side of the road, overtaking whatever he could and in the most dangerous way he could. We only had one day in Nah Trang but we were efficient and booked a days snorkeling out near the islands. The area has been named as one of the most beautiful areas in the world by unesco and it was incredible to be able to snorkel around the coral reefs watching the tropical fish go about their business. All the same though, I saw loads of rubbish and scuba divers touching the coral. Not so cool. The rest of the day was spent out on the beach with an overwhelming amount of Russian tourists and getting a pedicure in what could only be described as a brothel.
The following day we took a bus down to Mui Ne. Now, I had high hopes for Mui Ne as a beach destination but I was disappointed. There was no beach as far as I could see. I think the string of hotels and 'resorts' the length of the beach have destroyed the natural lay of the land. The waves come right up to the hotel walls leaving little distinction between high and low tide. Anyway, we spent a day by a hotel pool soaking up the sun which took the sharp edge off the disappointment. Not much else to report apart from a fair evening ripping up the dance floor in true Daddy Kenny style.
And then we reached Ho Chi Minh. I wasn't looking forward to it since I found Hanoi so extremely busy and completely overwhelming. Lorna was joking she'd have to put me through Ho Chi Minh training; run around me screaming while throwing stuff at me, getting me to dodge or 'die'. I almost considered it. But I loved the city. It is fantastic and much greener and cleaner than I expected. We took a tour out to the Mekong Delta, learning all about the farming activities out there. Our second day, we booked a tour out to the Cu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong waged guerrilla warfare on American soldiers with 200km secret tunnels. It was an incredible, a huge insight into how the local people survived and fought tooth and nail. We also saw the most biased, propaganda video ever. Later in the day we went to the war remnants museum which is a must see. But again, very biased, unbalanced and conveniently leaving out a lot about the Vietnamese own actions and north vs south. But then saying that, I'm no expert.
And that's that for Vietnam. Ready now to dive into my Cambodian adventure!
