An un-pho-gettable tour

As if we were down to the last few days - where had those two weeks gone! Although some days felt like they went a lot slower in comparison to others, it still seemed mad to be nearly over. The last stops on the tour were Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekhong Delta. We were up early to check out of the Van Loi Hotel and get on the bus to Hoi An airport ready for our flight to the big bad city!

I thought Hanoi was mad but I don't think anything could have prepared me for HCM - it was absolutely MENTAL with all the cars and mopeds on the road and Huyen had warned us to be careful of our bags and valuables as there is more snatching there.

Whilst we were sat on the bus, Huyen had mentioned we could go to the Cu Chi Tunnels on the way from the airport as it would be quicker than going from the hotel. I was so up for this as the tour hadn't said we would go so it was the only reason I extended my days in Vietnam. Thankfully, the rest of the group were totally up for it too!

Despite being an absolute scorcher of a day, it was incredible to hear about the history, the rough layout of how it all worked and the different tunnels and traps that they made using small spades. Of everything though, what hit me most is the thought of war itself. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ignorant enough to think it's not happened/happening or shied away from history (quite the opposite in fact) but being there amongst it, similarly to how I reflected in Cambodia at the School Museum and Killing Fields, it dawned on me that this killing is absolutely merciless. When you're watching footage where a young girl is being given medals for her bravery in going out and trying to shoot as many people as possible it becomes a scary thought; can killing innocent people achieve anything? Now on the reverse of this, I'm not here trying to start up a debate about who should be dead and whether wars should have started as they all begin for one reason or another and Hitler is a prime example of someone who deserved what he got. I'm merely stating that at that exact moment in time, I really felt for those people who had to go out and kill someone point blank and also those who were on the receiving end.

Anyway, pensive rant over, it was great looking at everything and I got to climb into an original hidden tunnel and stick the roof over my head and later climb into one and walk along. It was so hot down there so I went down the 20m one and decided not to go any further, as did the rest of the group as we all needed to come up for some air!

After the sweaty day and a 2 hour coach journey back into the city, it was great to get checked into the Asian Ruby Select Hotel and have a nice shower despite the fact our window didn't shut and let all the mozzies in! Huyen had chosen a restaurant called Propaganda for dinner and when I looked it up on Trip Advisor, it looked quirky and a little bit Shoreditch-esque. The food was more expensive than we were used to as it was leaning more towards a Western style restaurant with some Vietnamese fusions but the roast chicken and rice I had along with a lemon mint drink was really nice.

Everyone was fairly knackered so headed back to the hotel except the boys who were off to do a recce of the bars for the final night out and so they could get some pics and footage for their vlogs. I joined Connie, Stephanie, Lyn and Neville for a gin and tonic at our hotel's rooftop bar but we hadn't realised they shut at 10pm and pretty much got chucked out which brought us to a close fairly early on so we headed off to bed.

The next morning we were up early for breakfast (I had waffles with honey and banana!) ready for our trip to explore the Mekhong Delta and go for a homestay with a local family. The entire group was a little more apprehensive about this one though as Huyen had made it apparent it was very different to the one in Sapa and wasn't as good.

We got the bus to the pier where we caught the boat across and then we had a variety of activities planned which started with tea and fruit whilst being welcomed with traditional songs and instruments being played. Following that, we saw the jack fruit hanging, cacao trees, tasted the honey, royal jelly, banana wine and honey snacks when we looked at the bees, held a python and saw some birds, got another boat across the water to see how the coconut candy is made and tasted it, had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water whilst it absolutely chucked it down (I had the largest plate of beef noodles you've ever seen and needed help!), got a little rowing boat up the river towards the homestay which was really old and rickety so we thought we were going to fall in and then got on a very bumpy tuk-tuk ride to the house where we were thrown all over the place and kept getting hit by the low branches as we drove!

Huyen couldn't have been more right about the stark contrast between the two homestays! We were surrounded by mozzies and after looking around the facilities, no one fancied taking a shower so we all just sat at the tables, got the beers in, charged our phones and cameras etc and chilled out on the hammocks until dinner was ready.

The family had a puppy which was pretty cute and Huyen had announced when we arrived that he had seen it catch a big rat in its mouth - grim!! Didn't bear thinking about as we knew we were eating and sleeping out in the open on makeshift wooden camp beds with mozzie nets for cover! It was definitely an experience but I think I adjusted fairly quickly as I had been in a similar setting when I taught English in Thailand back in 2010. I'd spotted a pack of cards in the bin so Nathan braved it and pulled them out (we tried not to think about the various reasons they could be wet - there was nothing else to do there so it would have to do!) The boys then taught me how to play hearts and we managed to fit in a few rounds before dinner was served up. It was really yummy - soup, fish in rice paper wraps with greens, pork, rice, fruit for dessert and the obligatory potent rice wine which was like drinking nail varnish remover - grim!

None of the group was keen on hanging around but Ash, Nathan and I knew we were unlikely to get loads of sleep so they taught me how to play a different card game (arsehole) and we had numerous rounds of that - I was the most frequent arsehole and Nathan managed to get an excellent run of Mr President! Was a good laugh as always and beat climbing into the mozzie net.

Going to bed that night was one of the funniest moments yet - not long after Ash, Nathan and I had crawled into our beds and made sure the mozzie nets were secure, Ash jumped out of his bed with the flashlight of his phone shining brightly and was freaking out saying he was done and couldn't sleep in there as there was a big spider in his bed so he would have to sleep in Nathan's bed with him. I'd turned the light on my phone off so the boys couldn't see me but I was howling with laughter. I know spider phobias are horrible but I couldn't help myself - being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a makeshift bed surrounded by nature whilst worrying if any more rats were going to crawl around amongst other things, it was just too much!

Lizzy hadn't been feeling great and was awake so she jumped out of bed, pulled out Ash's bed, flung the spider to the floor and smashed it with my flip flop like an absolute pro so Ash could get back in! After that, all was fairly peaceful and quiet apart from the puppy who had decided to become our security guard for the night and kept barking where it got spooked!

Considering I'd dreaded going to sleep after not sleeping at the last homestay, I actually didn't sleep too badly and only woke a few times. The biggest disturbance were the cockerels from about 3am and the light from the sunrise where we were outside. I got up at about half 7 and laid in the hammock waiting for breakfast to be served; I had a real hankering for pancakes! Sadly there were none but we had an egg baguette and a cup of tea before packing up, paying for our beers and making our way to the boat which was waiting for us with fresh coconuts so we could sip that enroute back to the pier where the bus had dropped us off.

After a couple of hours journey back to the city spent blogging and making use of the free wifi, we made it back to the hotel and checked in. This time our room was bigger, we had a double and a single bed and even a jacuzzi bath - Connie volunteered me for the double bed which was dreamy!

Huyen had organised to meet us in the lobby to take us to Pho 2000 for lunch which was like a Vietnamese fast food restaurant and was made famous when Bill Clinton ate there - I had pork with rice which was pretty tasty!

After that, we all got on our individual cyclos for the tour of the city for the afternoon going past the monuments and stopping at the War Remnants Museum, the black market, seeing the flower market and finally a temple before heading back to the hotel. My driver was so sweet and gave me a cricket hat to put on my head to shield me from the blazing sun and he even posed for some selfies!

The longest stop was an hour and a half at the War Remnants Museum which was pretty heart-breaking to read up on but it was very interesting to learn about the history. Poor Claire's driver had driven into the curb and her cyclo had overturned on the way there but luckily she wasn't badly hurt but she was shaken and had a bleeding graze on her elbow which they sorted out for her when we got to the museum. In true rainy season style, as we were getting ready to leave, it absolutely pelted it down and we had to sit and wait for a bit to see if it would die down but it didn't really! Luckily, the cyclo drivers had covers to put over the top of our legs and a canopy over our heads so we didn't get very wet apart from the odd splash but it was still rather grim being out in it. I had a different driver this time round and I could have sworn he was out to kill us as he pulled out in front of a bus and made two mopeds brake in order to not hit us...pretty terrifying! When we stopped at the temple, he also decided to let me get on the cyclo and then take it down the pavement and I'm not 100% sure if that is where my horrendous bruising came from on my legs where I bashed the side of the cyclo on the way down (it's still bad a week later!) the only other alternative is that it came from the night out!

Getting back turned out to be a bit of a rush as we had far less time than we'd hoped for to get ready for our final night out! I had to get cash out and go on a search for some sanitary items as I was coming on and Connie needed cash too and we both fancied a couple of drinks to have that evening. The heavens decided to open so we threw on our ponchos and navigated our way to the Co Op store, treated ourselves to a couple of bevvies and went on a quest for some other bits. Another word of advice if you're a girl travelling to Asia - they don't sell tampons haha! I got sent to a pharmacy by the cashier and the pharmacy didn't have any so tried to send me miles away - less than ideal when you haven't got enough time. We only had an hour to both shower and get ready so quickly got back to the hotel and sorted ourselves out, having a nice drink whilst we glammed up for the last night.

The rest of the evening went ridiculously quickly! Huyen took us to a really lovely restaurant which was evidently popular with groups as there was writing all over the walls where they had written testimonials and tributes of their trips and his name popped up a fair few times! We had soup, prawns, spring rolls, chicken and rice, beer, coffee for dessert and copious amounts of rice wine shots. These started off gently when we had a toast from Huyen thanking us for the two weeks and then Tony and Neville stood up and did speeches followed by more drinks. I'd collected the money to tip Huyen so I also then got up to say a few words so I could hand him the money in an envelope. Suffice to say, it was one of the first times I'd stood up and spoken to a group without fear but let's be honest, the 7 or 8 shots had an awful lot to do with that!!

When we'd finished there, we all headed back to the hotel except Lyn and Neville as we had said goodbye to them at the restaurant so they could head straight to the airport. We had some group shots and some fairly hilarious selfies and then everyone made their way upstairs.

I'd already planned to go out with the boys for the last night and my cousin Chris had recommended a few bars for us to hit up. Connie came with us too but we all had some drinks at the hotel first and had our own gathering in the corridor with the others before lots of hugs and final farewells.

Connie, the lads and I ended up in our room for a bit chilling and finishing our drinks and then we headed out. It was heaving! What also surprised me was that there were a lot less backpackers around than I was expecting and they were largely outnumbered by the locals. The night whizzed by in a blur of more drinks, dancing on podiums with Nathan or on my own and lots of bar hopping. Connie left us after Donkey bar and we hit a couple more bars before calling it a night. By this point, we were three sheets to the wind and in need of our beds (me being the worst off!) Ash had my phone so he could navigate using the trusty maps.me and Nathan and I hit up the Circle K mini mart to buy the necessities in order to get back: Sprite and Oreos...dreamy! By the time we arrived, it was about 2am and I was more than ready to crawl into bed, especially as I had a flight to catch the next day. I was however thanking my lucky stars we hadn't chosen the 8am flight as I knew I wasn't going to be feeling pretty the next day!

Quote for the day: "Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures."

Ciao for now xxx