Our Vietnam trip was exciting and very enjoyable. We started in Saigon and travelled through Nha Tran, Hoi An, Hue and Hanoi. Poverty is throughout but doesn't diminish the goodwill and friendliness of it's people. Saigon was an exciting, bustling city but could also be likened to a large friendly country town. I for one , fell in love with it. Getting around by cyclos was a great way to see things in a leisurely manner, a little frightning in the traffic at first but you soon become accustomed and get very laid back. An all day trip took us to the Mekong Delta, more boat trips and lunch included and a few hours at the Cu Chi Tunnels is must too, along with the Military Museum, brings home the atrocities of war. The food was beyond expectation and the seafood was probably the best, especially in Hoi An.

Most older people still refer to Saigon and the children Ho Chi Minh City. To me the name Saigon has a taste of the exotic where as with no disrespect to Ho Chi Minh, it doesn't quite do it in the same way and it is really deserving of an exotic name. Nha Tran is a beautiful beach city where a lot of soldiers were stationed during the war.

Hoi An, probably my favourite and I am not sure why, really. One of the poorer areas but so nice to be there and experience the sights and sounds. The river was a big drawcard although it floods very badly in the wet months, the housing is flooded up to 6ft as one family showed us.

We had 3 train trips and certainly was an experience, the 4 berth compartments are mixed so you could end up with girls or boys., but they are comfortable and didn't have any trouble sleeping on the 9 to 10 hour trips. We took the open bus to Hue (pronounced quay) which is a modern airconditioned bus, not quite what we expected. We went through the mountains, in fact on top of them and a few hairpin bends but the scenery throughout was breathtaking. Hue itself didn't have the charm of the other places, it is growing and building hotels everywhere, so I guess it must be popular, it is about halfway to Hanoi, and a good break from travelling but it didn't hold much for me. We visited the Forbidden City which was very interesting and had a boat ride up the Perfume River which was equally interesting, we called into the Pagoda and took cyclo rides around the city. then caught the train again to Hanoi.

Hanoi is the city of lakes, very peaceful as opposed to Saigon and we had a few extra days there. The hawkers aren't so persistant and it was a good place to end our journey. We found an old bloke who drives a motorbike that must have been left over from the war and it had a sort of trailer seat for 2 on the back, so he became our driver/guide for the time we were there, he didn't speak much english but knew Hanoi inside out and would always stop and buy us food treats from the stalls that we would never have tried on our own. He took us to everyplace he could think of, even the little zoo. We stopped at the big lake and had a speedboat ride around itmind you, we didn't know at the time it would be a speedboat, but travelling in Vietnam is always full of surprises which makes for a great holiday. We went to halong Bay for a boat ride around for a few hours, where we visited the caves (lots of steps) stayed overnight and back to Hanoi the next day. We took a fullday private tour into the outlying districts where you can witness the everyday life of the families on the river and rice fields, this included a ride in a woven boat (another surprise) and a motorboat ride up the romantic river to see the people utilising everything they could.

The photos are on my website.

www.travel-postcards.com