Hello, is this the creepy residence?

Being back in Saigon was both nice and crazy. It was good to be so close to everything again, but I had almost forgotten how intense the heat and noise of the city was. I'm so glad we spent our first day back doing nothing because I was exhausted. We did fill our days though.

We hadn't done a city tour of Saigon on our first stay there, and there are some really interesting things to see in the city. Our tour picked us up at 8.30am, which isn't too early really, and we headed out to meet our tour guide, Po. Po was a rather rotund Asian man who tld us that his friends call him Po because he looks like the panda in Kung Fu Panda, hilarity ensues. Our first stop was the War Remnants Museum, which of course stopped all hilarity. The place was harrowing yet interesting, I imagine it's the same kind of feeling you get when visiting somewhere such as Auschwitz. The whole experience pretty much reinforced my belief that America should have never been in Vietnam and that the tactics they used were barbaric. I understand that because the museum itself is Vietnamese, there would be a certain amount of bias, but try telling Westerners that they are prey to propaganda from their own Governments also and you would think you'd said something terrible about their mother. Anyhow, some of the pictures in the place were not for the faint hearted and make me feel quite sick. I don't care why war is fought, there is absolutely no excuse for mutilating people the way that some of the Vietnamese were. For this reason, we didn't take many pictures at the museum, only two in fact. It felt very disrespectful to even have a camera with us.

Our next stop was a temple in the middle of the city. Again, it's amazing how peaceful it is inside the temples when they are surrounded by absolute chaos. Outside we saw one of the many cages filled to the brim with birds. Po explained to us how the Vietnamese people will buy a bird when they come to the temple and set it free, bringing them good karma. However, because the birds know they will be fed with the sellers, they often return just to be set free again.

The Reunification Palace came next and it was interesting to put a picture to the place that marked the Communist victory over the South Vietnamese Government. The tanks that stormed the palace that day remain in the places where they crashed through the fence and the places where bombs were dropped remain marked. The building itself is quite odd because the architecture is noticeably 1960s but the interior is decorated with a mixture of French and Asian design. It consists of Government rooms as well as the Presidential living quarters and a basement war bunkers, which we looked around. Any South Vietnamese flags had been destroyed since it's now illegal for them to be anywhere.

Another tourist attraction in Saigon is Notre Dame, a catholic cathedral that's a copy of the real one in France. It looks rather out of place in amongst the cyclos and street stalls, but I like how it's a centre of peace and tranquillity in all the hustle and bustle. Next to that is the old post office, which hasn't been modified since it was built except for to add a picture of Ho Chi Minh.

We headed back to the hotel to have a little rest then get dressed up in our fancy Hoi An clothes for the night. Fact is, we were probably over dressed but it didn't matter because we felt like we were important. The cyclos picked us up and we got a glimpse of Saigon at night which was fun and to see it on the front of a glorified push bike was even funnier. The end destination however was a water puppet theatre. Despite the seats being tiny (Dom didn't have enough room for his legs) the show was really good, granted we couldn't understand a word of what was said but I for the life of me cannot work out how they did the puppetry. After the show we got back on the cyclos to the harbour to get on our river cruise for dinner. The dinner was really nice and Dom can use chopsticks now - yay! Sadly, the car that was meant to pick us up never came which resulted in us getting majorly ripped off my the taxi driver. Bugger.

We didn't do too much on Dom's last day except for take a wander around Saigon Square shopping area. It was Valentine's Day and a few people offered Dom roses for me, instead he chose to try to push me into a sprinkler much to some old Vietnamese women's amusement. I actually think they were more laughing at my pathetic attempts to get away. Anyhow, Dom left around 5.30pm and I spent the night talking to Mum and watching Pan Am before I left in the morning. My flight to Hong Kong was fine really and now I'm in my (far too posh) hotel getting ready to fly to England tomorrow. It's going to be so strange to be home, I'm not sure it's even hit me I'm going home yet. Was has hit me is that I want to be in first class, it really is unfair how they make you walk through first to get to economy, it's like rubbing your nose in it. So my plan tomorrow is to sweet talk my way into first class, it'll probably fail but nothing ventured nothing gained.

Whose counting down the days until I'm home?! (Except you Mum, it doesn't count if you've been counting since June 24th 2011!) Yes that's right excited Great Yarmouth-ians, all the rumours you've heard are true, well most of them, but the one about me being home in just seven short days is most definitely fact checked. That is if Heathrow is operating to full capacity again and the whole country stops freaking out over the snow. The guys told me that Helsinki airport has never closed because of snow... England, let's take a look at Finland and learn, yes?

Dom and I have spent the last few days a bit more northerly, specifically in Hoi An and Hue. We got up horribly early to get to Ho Chi Minh airport for a flight which I'm happy to call sketchy. If anyone has ever flown with Jetstar (hello Australia/NZ) you'll know that at best, their service is mediocre. Well it turns out they have an Asian wing of the company, Jetstar Pacific. Britons, Jetstar are on the same kind of par as RyanAir, budget till they die, which they will. Anyway, combine a budget airline with how things work in Asia and you've got yourself one hell of a risk assessment form to fill in. The flight wasn't terrible however, and since it was only an hour to Da Nang all was good. We were met at the airport by our driver with our name sign. I love saying 'our driver', it sounds so posh! (As if I could ever be posh...) We headed off to Hoi An, which was about an hours drive away and got to our hotel, Green Fields. The place was lush, there's no denying that Dom, or rather his Mum (thanks Rose!), did a great job in looking up where we should stay and what we should do. Green Fields had a pool, free cocktails between 6.30-7.30pm and our room was beautiful, with possibly the comfiest bed I've ever slept in, all that was missing was an electric blanket, not that you need it in this heat. It was getting on into the afternoon when we arrived, so we went to the tours desk to plan our days and the lady there told us how Hoi An is famous for it's cheap and very talented tailors. She gave us directions to the best one and we set off to have a look, but not before we were warned of peddlers. I'm used to saying "No thanks" on the street by now, but these guys were really persistent, possibly even worse than in Indonesia. After reaching the tailor and having a long chat with the women in there, we decided to treat ourselves and have some clothes made. Dom got himself a charcoal suit with turquoise lining, skinny fit and three shirts to match. Got to say, it's a really well made suit and does look really good. I got a fitted royal blue dress that goes in nicely at the waist with a high neckline and a plain black blazer, all fitted nicely. The lady measured us up and down and told us to come back the next day for a fitting, which we promptly decided we could do.

I was all for taking a wander around the ancient city centre, but was told that I best wait until night time, a decision I would not regret. We had been pretty disappointed to have just missed Tet, or the Lunar New Year celebrations here in Vietnam, so as a surprise, Dom and his Mum had planned to bring me to Hoi An to see the Moon Festival. It turns out that in Hoi An, the Full Moon Festival is held on every 14th day of each lunar month, that is the Chinese calender, to honour and remember the ancestors. For the festival,the only lights in the old quarter are lanterns hung absolutely everywhere, all the cars and motorbikes are banned from the area and pedestrians have full discretion to where they go. Besides that, it's just so pretty! It was such a lovely surprise and I suppose it must have been quite funny for Dom as I spent the whole walk down there saying how the few lanterns that were about were so beautiful, not knowing what was to come. We strolled through the streets and went into a Chinese temple which was beautifully decorated. As part of the New Year celebrations, people were queuing up to pick a stick from a jar and then get a 'fortune', so we started to wait our turn. However, we got halfway around the line and were then ushered away by a Chinese man just saying "No", so I suppose that wasn't for Westerners then. After being rushed out, we walked a little more and found a restaurant called Gourmet Garden, where I had the set menu which was delicious. What really made the night though, was our hilarious waiter who invited us to the bar with him when he finished work! After eating, we took a walk down to the river, where we found it was considered good luck to place a candle in the water and make a wish. The river was full of them, it was stunning, and it was humbling to be wished prosperity by the family next to us. We walked around for a little longer and marvelled at the amazing lanterns that were on display, some of which were really intricate, before heading back to the hotel. Sadly though, this wasn't without trouble. I tried to draw some more money out of the ATM only to find my credit card was declined, nightmare. On calling Lloyds when I got back to the hotel, I found I can only draw out half of my credit limit and the rest must be spent on the card, which is pretty useless in Vietnam as hardly anywhere will take credit card.

In the morning we got a bit of a lay-in before meeting our driver at 10am to go on a tour to the My Son Holy Land. The Holy Land is the place where the former capital of Chăm Pa civilisation in Vietnam, from the 4th to 15th century. Chăm Pa culture has left a noticeable mark on the practice and cultures of Vietnam, but here you can distinctly see it in the architecture. Between the 4th and 15th century, the building at My Son were a spiritual gathering place for the Chăm people, which consisted of around 70 separate buildings in total, of which 20 remain standing, 8 of which are classed as ruins. The really sad part about this is that many of them were destroyed by American bombs during the Vietnam war. We walked around the remains and into some of the still standing buildings and admired the carvings of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma that were adorned absolutely everywhere. On a side note, I can now recognise these Gods without prompts, yeah that's right I'm learning! Actually, being in My Son reminded me of how I find theology really interesting, I might see if I can take a class in it. The day was really hot, so we were glad to walk back to the car through the cover of the trees. We arrived back at the hotel in the afternoon and had a little bit of a crisis when Dom checked his card and realised he only had £38 in the whole world. Combining this with my credit card situation it seemed like we were royally screwed. Luckily, Dom's Mum is quite literally a saint and saved us major problems and with my supreme budgeting skills, we managed to work it all out pretty smoothly. We walked back to the old city for dinner that night in a small place that served amazing strawberry tea.

On Tuesday, we went to Chăm Island, about an hour's boat ride away. The island was beautiful and is really simplistic. There is no electricity of running water, and the people are truly at peace. We walked around the village and through the rice paddies to reach the Hai Tang Pagoda, which is 330 years old, before heading down to our boat to go snorkelling. With my success in the Gili Islands, I was looking forward to this, but in true Vietnam style there we no flippers and not enough actual snorkels, so instead I read my book whilst Dom went in the water. It was a little chilly in there anyway! We headed around to another beach after that and had a seafood lunch and then laid on the beach for a good hour. I have a tan, England. You know, those things that we try and fake all year round. How do I know this? I have bikini tan lines. Hell to the yes. When we got back to the hotel that night, we spent quite a while packing our new acquisitions as we had bought some little lanterns and the clothes we had were pretty bulky. We had room service dinner that night since I was pretty tired. Boring, I know.

The next morning we checked out around 9.30am and met our driver who was to take us to Hue, via the Marble Mountains. We stopped at water mountain, one of four which represent the elements, to have a look around. The place has a million steps. Maybe not a million but an awful lot, but luckily the day wasn't too hot so it was doable. The whole complex was fantastic; not only were there ancient pagodas and buildings, but natural caves hidden everywhere with secret treasures and statues inside them. Our guide asked us whether we wanted to go to heaven, which evidently is the highest point on the mountain, but warned us it was a difficult climb. Dom commented on how we should because it would be the closest either of us would get with our lives of sin, I told him to speak for himself and that I still had high hopes. Regardless, up to heaven we went. The climb wasn't too difficult, although the way was narrow and it literally was a climb rather than a path as you had to scale some rocks and such. I really enjoyed it actually, it was real rock climbing. Although the view from the top was spectacular, it was topped by the cave we went into afterwards. A massive natural cave with a giant Buddha statue inside which took your breath away. It was one of the moments on this trip where I couldn't help saying "Wow..." out loud. It was phenomenal. I'd also say the view from the top was a little spoilt by some Vietnamese guys wanting to take a photo with me, our guide tells me it's because I'm Western and have red hair, go figure.

The way to 'heaven'

The drive to Hue was long and pretty boring. We stopped at the top of the Hải Vân Pass (which means the ocean cloud pass) to take a look at what is supposed to be the second most beautiful view in the world, where you can see from one end of Vietnam to the other. Furthermore, it marks the spot where the Chăm Kingdom and the kingdom of Đại Việt (the Vietnamese dynasties) border formally was laid. Unfortunately for us, the day was very cloudy and we couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of our faces. Regardless, we had the best coffee we've had in Vietnam and I bought a bracelet and a little wooden Buddha. Onwards to Hue and we found our hotel room wasn't ready so they moved us to their sister hotel, which was just as, if not more, comfortable. We ventured that night to the Royal Park Restaurant, recommended by our receptionist, where the set menu was a variety of Vietnamese delicacies, the best being the egg rolls. I have finally learnt how to use chopsticks too, and successfully ate my whole meal with them, albeit slowly.

On our only full day in Hue, we took a half day tour of the DMZ. It's quite a drive out there but I'd say it was worth it. We looked around a Viet Cong cemetery at the Doc Mieu base and it really drives home what Minh (our tour guide in Saigon) said, "In war, nobody ever wins, there are only ever losers." Because the people in those graves are someone's brother, someone's father, someone's son. Our guide, Hai, told us how the doors in the top of the graves are there because of the Vietnamese belief in reincarnation and that it lets the soul out. Also, she told us how the family will light incense to call the spirit back when they visit. What really struck me though was how the writing on the pillar in the middle of the cemetery directly translated to 'Lest we forget'. we're all the same y'know, every single one of us is the same on the inside. After that we walked across the bridge at the Ben Hai river, which formally divided North and South Vietnam and looked around the small museum there talking about how the Communists in the North defeated Diem and the American installed Government in the South. Our final stop was at the Vinh Moc Tunnels, which were completely different to the Cu Chi Tunnels, mostly because they were originally a lot bigger and were for living in rather than as part of the war effort. We walked around the tunnels with just our guide, which made it more personal, and saw the family rooms and a maternity room where 17 babies were born during the course of the war. That night we had the best meal we've had so far in Vietnam, at a restaurant called Bloom. It was dirt cheap because the place is run to support young people who have no parents or who are disadvantaged, of which there are a lot in Vietnam. The food was delicious and the service better than some other places we've been, I wish we'd have found it sooner.

Yesterday we left our hotel early in the morning to do a tour of Hue city. The tour was mainly of old dynasty buildings; the tomb of Tu Duc, the tomb of Duc Duc, the Citadel and the Thien Mu Pagoda. The architecture of the buildings in Vietnam is unbelievable, especially the decoration of the interiors. We finally left Hue to get back to Da Nang airport, but because it was a clear day decided to give the pass another go. I'm so glad we did because not only did we get the most breathtaking view, but we got to have our favourite coffee and I bought a pearl ring. Because pearls are so heavily cultivated in Vietnam, they're very cheap, so my ring was just 8USD and it's beautifully simple. Plus you know it's real because it doesn't burn and leaves powder on a mirror when rubbed against it! (Thanks, mythbusters!) We also got to feel like we were about ten years old when we went off on our own and just basically climbed on stuff. We managed to get into the second level of the divide between the former two countries, so cool! However, we got to Da Nang far too early for our 7.55pm flight, we arrived at 3.30pm. Then we saw it had been moved back to 8.40pm. Then to 9.30pm. So food and reading became the past times. Today we're having a lazy day after being totally knackered and not getting back to the hotel until midnight, it was a long day!