Vietnam - Welcome to SE Asia

After another truly wonderful overnight 12 hour flight (I have never seen so many movies in my life!), and a short jump we landed in Ho Cho Minh City, Vietnam. And a big shock from Europe it was too. Its hot, its humid, its cheap and its the middle of the monsoon, making it wet too.

The reunification palace in the city is quite a surreal place to wander around. Its a great piece of architecture, grand and open. There are replica tanks in the grounds (the ones that smashed through the gates). We really liked it. The War Remnants Museum was a great experience too, even if they do leave you feeling a little physically sick. The Cu Chi tunnels were squeezy and hot, and portrayed by the locals in an odd fashion. A bit like 'we were this little oppressed people, weren't we so great at using ingenuity and traps to defend ourselves'. When in reality they had Russian AK47s. Don't get me wrong, the Americans did some utterly, utterly despicable things, but the South Vietnamese Army doesn't seem to have ever existed.

We wondered the streets for ages trying to find a little place that has famous Vietnamese Pancakes. We were not disappointed. We sat down on little blue plastic chairs, knocked back our ice cold Saigon beer, rolled up our pancakes with fresh herbs and cooked our pork on coals (our hands dripping with chilli and fish sauce). All to the soundtrack of monsoonal rain hitting the tarp above our heads. This country can do good food!

Crossing roads is an experience in itself. This country is the reason Japan's major motorcycle companies are profitable. Their scooters are absolutely everywhere! And to cross a main road takes faith and luck. Just walk slowly and allow the tide to flow around you. Do not show fear, do not move suddenly - fatal mistakes.

Upon arrival in the Mekong Delta, we organised a homestay and proceeded to have a couple of days with our own boat driver. We saw a floating market, sweet making, an old house and a bonsai garden. At one stage we went on a row boat back to the homestay............ in torrential rain! The food was great and we got a good look at Delta life, with working boats all around (and rubbish, my god!)

From here we are heading out to our next stop, Phu Quoc island.