Vietnam

I left Phnom Penh in Cambodia and took a taxi to the border with Vietnam. Here I entered Vietnam and took another taxi to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City as it is officially known as now. It struck me how busy it was and how many people there were whizzing around on little motorbikes compared to the Phnom Penh where it was more laid back and less affluent. I decided that Saigon was quite an exciting place and went off to find somewhere to stay, armed with my Lonely Planet Vietnam book.

After the things I had seen in Phnom Penh such as S21 prison and thousands of skulls I was quite hardened to those sorts of sights and so the following morning I headed for the War Museum or War Crimes Museum as it is known locally. Here I came across all kinds of military hardware from fighter jets to enormous bombs and tanks and other artillery. It was quite shocking seeing what had been dropped on people during the war, and some evidence of the effect of Dioxins from Agent Orange are displayed.

Another day I got a motorbike taxi driver to take me to the Cu Chi Tunnels which were the network of tunnels that the Vietnamese used to move around in undetected by those above ground. It was quite a feat to construct these tunnels, but it’s only when you see them that you realise how small they are, too small for a lot of larger western people to move in without getting stuck.

After a few days of sightseeing and relaxing I caught the train to Nha Trang which is one of Vietnam's most famous beach resorts. It was quite a slow journey as Vietnam is quite mountainous so there was a lot of going up and coming down, but it was very scenic and relaxing. We were fed whilst on the train which was something with rice eaten with chopsticks. I managed this ok, but the Japanese man sat next to me was a real expert picking up grains of rice.

Whilst in Nha Trang I decided to take one of those notorious boat day trips. Basically hundreds of people board a number of boats then they all sail off together to have a party see a few of the little islands in the vicinity. There was lots of loud music and liquid refreshments and I really enjoyed the experience.

After five days here I decided to carry on my rail journey further north to Dannang. Whilst here I found an interesting little bar called 'The Heart of Darkness' which was inspired by the famous war film 'Apocalypse Now'.

The highlight of my time in Vietnam was when I took a day trip from Dannang to the Marble Mountains. I always try to see temples and cultural sites and the Marble Mountains really surprised me as they contain a number of caves which themselves are home to some really large and stunning Buddha statues. I've no idea how they got there or if they were carved where they stood, but they were really impressive.

One thing about Vietnam that was different to other countries in the region was that the Vietnamese really loved having their photos taken with western people and that happened a lot on that day trip.

After 4 days in Dannang I decided it was time to head for Laos and the border at Lao Bao. I bought a ticket on a minibus to take me on the 90 minute journey to the border.