So we spent our last day in Hoi Ann visiting the Marble Mountains. It was great going on bikes rather than a car as we got to see so much more on the way and the weather was fantastic. It was quite a hike up in the heat but the views were great. The Marble Mountains consist of five marble outcrops that used to be islands- once we made the climb up we were rewarded with natural caves housing Hindu and Buddhist sanctuaries, pagodas and stunning views of the ocean and countryside.

From Hoi Ann we caught yet another night bus down to Nha Trang for some serious beach time! The 6km beach was fantastic and so was the weather and unfortunately i`ve got nothing other to report on our three days of sunbathing- interspersed with a little rain! So, onto Saigon, Vietnams` largest city with 10million people ans 3million motorbikes! This time we chose a bus full of beds- bunk beds infact and we both actually slept! After sitting out an exceptionally heavy downpour over lunchtime we headed to the War Remnants Museum. On display were retired artillery pieces, a model of the tiger cages used to house Vietcong prisoners, and a heart-breaking array of photos of the victims of war. Having studied the war at university i was already familiar with several of the more famous photographs but still found the visit a difficult one. It is so hard to comprehend just how brutal the war was and many of the photos literally sickened me, it was very sad, especially since it all happened in the last 50years. When we visited the war museum in Hanoi, all the photos demonstrated US POWs enjoying christmas dinner, board games and a volleyball net- it was a stark contrast.

The next day we took our Mekong Delta trip- the nations` rice basket, which gave us a glimpse into the life of Vietnam`s agricultural workforce. It was great taking the rowing boats along the small creeks branching off from the river and seeing all the locals who live on the river. It was very quiet and peaceful and so nice to see all the little rowing boats tied up instead of noisy cars! We were able to make several stops along the way to visit a coconut candy production plant, bee-keeping farm and small village where we were given tropical fruits and listened to traditional music.

On our last day in Vietnam we decided to take a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels jus outside Saigon. We visited the Ben Duoc Tunnel which is a system of tunnels underground, three layers deep. The tunnels stretch to over 200km long. It was a really interesting visit and we had a good guide who explained to us how the people survived underground. The tunnels really did demonstrate the undaunted will and intelligence of the guerilla fighters during the war. The tunnel that we were allowed to go down had been enlarged by 50% for tourists. Even then i was nearly bent double and my back kept hitting the ceiling. It is hard to imagine 16,000 people surviving in tunnels half that size. Our guide showed us many of the traps that the guerillas used against the americans and how they built fake tunnels, used camouflage and used chimney systems to take smoke 100metres away from where their actual kitcen was.  Compared to the shear power of the american weapons, the Vietnamese war tactics were virtually primitive, yet they still won the war. They even used such simple tactics as wearing their rubber sandals backwards when it rained so their tracks went in the opposite direction to them. It was a really interesting visit and i`m glad i managed to do part of the tunnels just to get a feel for what it must have been like for the vietnamese people