Ho Chi Minh City - Da Lat - Nha Trang

(Amy) We spent Sunday trying to find a way to get off Phu Quoc island, but apparently every boat off the island was full, so instead we managed to get a cheap flight off the next morning. That day was also pretty wet but we managed to find our way to a cool waterfall before having our first intentionally western dinner... We were craving pizza! We watched the first half of the World Cup final at 2am in a bar, before the storm got so bad that the signal went and we had a long walk home in the rain. 

So after very little sleep we headed off for our early flight to Ho Chi Minh City. The hostel we wanted to stay in was full so we ended up in this nice hotel with the loveliest young Vietnamese lady running it. She sorted us out with maps and plan for the day. First stop was the nearby market- this was crazily busy in typical HCMC fashion! We were swarmed on as soon as we set food in the food section so had lunch here. I has 'pho' which is Vietnamese noodle soup, and haz had the 'best fried noodles' she's ever had! 

Next stop was the war remnants museum. Some of this was pretty difficult viewing, particularly all the stuff about the entire village massacres and agent orange bombs from the Americans. It's pretty shocking that so many of the countries we are visiting have such a horrific recent past. 

We were feeling pretty knackered by this point so had a nap before exploring the backpacker part of district 1. 

The next day we went on a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels. The Viet Cong dug over 200km of tunnels under the ground around HCMC... Pretty impressive considering they were all basically dug with a small shovel. They were pretty tiny too so that the 'large' Americans couldn't fit down. 

After this it was time to go to the airport to meet lizzie!! We introduced her to the whirlwind of HCMC and went to a few bars and had dinner, and booked a sleeper bus for the next day. 

The next day we set off to try and see the palace, but got there to find it was closed for lunch... And so was the cathedral. So we found a cafe and went back at 1 when it opened. It looked pretty unimpressive from the outside but the inside was quite interesting, with a lot of the communication equipment from the war still being there. 

Next we made our way on the public bus to Chinatown, and this is definately the 'real' HCMC as we saw very few, if any, tourists. 

We eventually managed to find this tiny kitchen restaurant that the hostel recommended, and a there was no proper English menu, so it was basically point and pick! I had some very weird but quite nice bean dumpling thing. Pudding was very very weird- some weird brown jelly thing and more dumplings! 

Before the night bus we got a foot massage to pass the time...

That evening we got the night bus to Da Lat, which was the first transport we've had that arrived earlier than scheduled at 6am! Luckily we were staying in the most lovely hostel and the lady running it let us into the dorm for a few more hours sleep. When we got up again we set off with a map to the Crazy House. This was the weirdest house and hotel ever, and we had fun exploring it. 

We then went to the most unimpressive palace I've ever seen, the less said about that the better. Next we went on a cable car across the valley to a temple. Da Lat is up in the highlands at about 1500m, and so much colder than we were used to! We needed jumpers for the first time in nearly 6 weeks. 

That evening we had dinner in the hostel, cooked by the family that run it. 5 dishes to choose from for $2! All of which were very nice... Apart from the 'dessert' of green bean soup. 

The next day we went canyoning, which was insane! Involved various abseils down dry cliffs and through waterfalls, natural water slides, and cliff jumping. So much fun, though we were pretty chilly by the end! All the photos are on another girl from our groups camera, so we're really hoping she sends them to us. 

It was Dooves last night so we all went out for dinner and also bought some snacks for the bus journey to Nha Trang from this massive bakery. 

The next day we said goodbye to Doove and set off on the 4hr journey to Nha Trang. The bus driver was a bit of a nutjob and the roads were very windy so there were a lot of chundering people, not the most pleasant of journeys! Anyway we met up with Emmy and Katy (my friends from school) and had a few hours on the beach, and then went out for a really nice meal. We then headed out to the bars for some cheap cocktails and buckets....

Pretty early 7am start but it was well worth it for the snorkelling trip. We saw loads and had a really good day, although we are all now really sunburnt- not used to the sun!

In the afternoon we had a quick visit to the mud bath spa, which was pretty weird but a fun experience... And quite soothing on the sun burn! Now we are on the night bus to Hoi An and will probably be there for a few days :)