The wonders of Vietnam: Take 2

Ever looked at something in Topshop and thought 'bloody hell, I wish this actually had shape to it'? Well then Hoi An is the place for you!

I for one am fed up of clothes on the high street being tailored for only one body shape, but in Hoi An you could get anything you want tailored for a really cheap price! It is what the town is known for. The streets are very pretty too:

The tailors we went to is one of the best in Hoi An; Yaly Couture. Fabrics line the walls, and once you have picked a style in either a catalogue or show them a picture on the internet, you get to choose! Trust me, there is such a thing as too much choice....

They even do shoes!

Aside from the tailoring, Hoi An is an UNESCO site, rich in heritage and remnants of the time when it was a famous trading port (around the 15th Century). The name means "peaceful meeting place", which is believable when you see the river at night:

The food was the best yet, although it might not have been to everyone's taste!

We stayed three days here. I was feeling super homesick when I was in Halong Bay, but Hoi An was so beautiful it made it all disappear!

Sadly, we had to move on. Onward to the capital of South Vietnam during the war, Saigon. (Now known as Ho Chi Minh City). On 30th April 1975 the Northern Vietnamese forces invaded the city, officially ending the war with a Communist victory. So the city is absolutely stuffed with history!

From the Reunification Palace, where the US and President of South Vietnam resided until a Communist tank crashed through its gates in 1975:

The War Remnants Museum, detailing the atrocities of the war from the (albeit biased) Vietnamese perspective:

'Repressive and murderous US'??

The Cu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong lived for years underground surviving in unbearably tight spaces:

To the french-inspired Saigon opera house, where we saw a rather odd acrobatic show using only bamboo props!

Saigon was incredible.

Traffic? What Traffic?

 Interestingly, very few people called it Ho Chi Minh city and the influence of the US is very clear:

From here we did one of the highlights of my trip - a cruise on the Mekong Delta river. The river reaches across Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, meaning it's bloody massive!

There are several craftspeople that live on the islands running down the middle, who we paid a visit to. Including this rather friendly chap....

A little boat pulled alongside ours later in the day, offering to take us on a rowing trip. So we grabbed our conical hats and we were off, being rowed along a palm-tree corridor that was spectacular:

Seriously, this place is well worth a trip and will change your mind on the hustle and bustle of modern Vietnam.

I think it's important to learn about what this country has been through, so check out a mini narrative of the Vietnam war here.

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