Our last few days in Vietnam were spent in Ho Chi Minh City. We had some shopping to do, Neil’s backpack was looking a tad torn and the trainers he brought with him were also well past their sell by date. So, we bought a new cabin sized wheelie case, solid and tough and with lots more security that we hope should see us through the next few years. The trainers, Nike and made here in Vietnam, were just £15.

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On the day we shopped for the case the heavens really opened. We were lucky just to get to the indoor market but the noise on the metal roof was absolutely deafening!!! Real warm tropical rain.

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Our last night was spent with our Vietnamese friends Tien & Phuc. We met them in Dalat in February during the TET Festival. Tien is an English teacher in HCMC and she was home in Dalat visiting family. We kept in touch and they took us to a Vietnamese Restaurant where we had some very delicious traditional foods in what was a very popular restaurant indeed. They are a lovely couple who told us lots about Vietnamese life, her dislike for the big city and her longing to go home to the mountain cool of Dalat and her family. She answered lots of our questions and, equally, we hope we answered her questions too.

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The flight from HCMC to Bangkok was pretty uneventful as was our hotel near the airport…..good standard and we would use it again. Tomorrow would be the test……would we stay or would we go?.

It’s a no brainer, Ash Cloud wins, we stay!!!! The earliest flight that Etihad could get us on was May 5th. We had already guessed that this would be the case and, as we now have a new 30 day visa and there are people much more desperate to get home than us, we decided to get home into the UK on May 13th.

So, was it to be 3 weeks in Bangkok?…..not a chance……3 weeks in the North?……too hot……..3 weeks on the Andaman Coast?……..too wet…….NO, ……back to Hua Hin where we started this trip back in October and the Hillside Resort and our favourite swimming pool. We looked at the cost of travelling into Bangkok and getting the bus to Hua Hin, about £30 for a 6 hour journey providing everything slotted into place. We felt that if we could get a taxi all the way from the airport for not much more then it would be worth it for all the hassle we would lose. RESULT: £40 door to door in less than 3 hours…..nice one!

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