Little Wandering Wren …. chats!

We ended up in Nha Trang, Vietnam entirely on a 'that looks nice' decision looking at the Luxury Escapes website. Outside of Australia, you may not know Luxury Escapes. It’s an Australian company offering affordable luxury in high-end hotels usually in destinations which need their profile building. I barely knew of the coastal resort of Nha Trang  despite it being known as the Riviera of the South China Sea. It’s a part of South Vietnam that is about to explode as a destination judging by the mass of property development. It has a very pretty six-kilometre stretch of white sandy beaches, with abundant marine life, in a huge bay with nineteen islands to explore and a mountainous backdrop.   It is well discovered amongst Russians and the Chinese but our circle of friends we less impressed, preferring Da Nang or the more historic Hanoi.  So it was with slight trepidation that we arrive a Nha Trang, a one hour flight from Ho Chi Ming City. ...

I've never liked Vietnam  as a holiday destination.  This puts me at odds with most people who go there and love it.  They love the culture, the food, the cities, the shopping and the beaches... For sure it is as interesting as the rest of Asia, but for me, I could never escape the weight of history. I found the constant setting the scene in terms of the Vietnam war as quite frankly so horrific, that it would impact on my holiday.  I won't repeat what we already know about the Vietnam war, described as one of the US's most controversial military campaigns. Australia's involvement included nearly 60,000 Australian military personnel on the ground. Mental and physical scars run deep across the world. I found that on previous holidays the average Vietnamese tour guide was so concerned to set everything we saw in terms of its  context if any, to the Vietnam war that it always impacted on my mood. At one point it was so bad  we would say 'No,...