Hue we go again!

Another airport, another plane. Well tomorrow actually, when I say farewell to Yen and Devene and hop a plane back to Hanoi to meet up with Grandad for a couple of days before heading home.

I bought a little ao dai for Katie.

See you soon guys. Love you.

Mum xxx

Dillydallying in Dong Ha

In other words, not doing very much at all, except eating too much, drinking too much and, well you can never really read too much.

 I mentioned to Yen about how much you liked those chocolate chip cookies they do here and now there are nearly 2 kilos of them in my suitcase. Just as well my clothes got stolen, we need the space.

The driving in Vietnam hasn't improved much since last year. There seems to still be some confusion as to whether they should drive on the left, right, up the middle of the road and even (the most common choice) on the pavement.  The fact that the manky local mutts regard the junctions as a good place to curl up for a nap suggests that they consider the roads the place where they are least likely to get pancaked.

Off to Hue for a major spendfest tomorrow, silk shops here I come.

Love you guys. Talk soon,

Mum xxx

VLF and BFGs

Shooting an M16, I even hit the target

Today I went to Cu Chi, a 250km stretch of underground tunnels inhabited by the Vietcong during the Vietnam war. They began construction in the 1940s during the war for independance against the French with much of the finance and arms provided by the Russians. The tunnels were then abandoned for a few years until resurrected during the 1960s when the locals and the Vietcong took to living  in and attacking from the tunnels. Ironically the Americans built a large supply base almost on top of this extensive underground city.




Tunnel Entrances

 

 There was quite a large tour group but only half of us went into the tunnels and quite a few dropped out on the way through. The tunnels were tiny, I was bent double and I'm not tall. It was dark as the only real light came from the occasional light bulb and the tunnel exit  holes. It was hot and dusty and at one point we had to crawl and go down a tunnel through a hole in the tunnel floor. All very creepy. By the end there were only four or five of us left. I knew I should have taken the head torch.

We part company with Grandad tomorrow when he returns to Hai Phong and Yen, Shorty and I head to Dong Ha then Hue. I see much shopping in the near future.

Love you lots and missing you much.

Mum xxx

Coca Cola Can Boats and Beer Mats

Well, I've been working my way through the wishlist of goodies you guys wanted and I've tried to nab a beer mat from every bar I've been to, however most of them have either Heineken or Tiger so not much choice.

Grandad and I went to the War Remnants Museum (catchy name I know) in Saigon today. It was mostly pictures and articles about the Vietnam War and to say it was biased is an understatement. The party line is America Bad, Southern Vietnam Bad, Northern Vietnam innocent little lambs to the slaughter who never did nothing bad to nobody. There were, of course, the obligatory tanks and planes in the courtyard.

Tomorrow I am going to the caves at Cu Chi, these are the tunnels the Vietnamese built to hide in during the war. Apparently you can fire some really big old guns. That should frighten Dad.

We went for dinner at the market tonight and look what I found

Also found the coolest shades ever

Love to you both, say hi to everyone for me.

Mum xxx

All quiet

Hi Guys, you having fun? Everyone behaving themselves, pooch included?

Haven't done much so far, mostly just windowshopped for goodies to bring home. Caitlin, I've found two different Tintin pictures, a red one with Tintin and Snowy in a cyclo and a yellow one with Tintin and Snowy walking in front of a map of Vietnam (both Grandad and I think that one's best.)

Shorty is awesome, although I think Caitlin has been teaching her to throw tanties, she stamps her feet too.

We're off to Saigon tomorrow, so lots of new places to see and shops to shop.

Am in prawn heaven.

Love you this much.......

Mum xxx

Hi Kids

Well, I'm now sat at Changi Airport awaiting my connection to Hanoi and quite frankly, it's boring, expensive and most bleurgh.

I had a reasonably good flight, except that there were a HUGE number of babies and toddlers on board and they took it in turns to scream all night long. It was a VERY noisy trip.

I should be in Hanoi in a few hours so love to all and I'll be in touch soon.

Mum xx