So this morning we were up early with breakfast at 6am and departure at 7am. Breakfast was a mix of Vietnamese and English but really delicious.

We had a 2 hour bus journey to our first stop through rush hour – I’m really glad we weren’t cycling as it was chaos. 14 million people live in Ho Chi Minh City and there are around 8 million mopeds in the city.

Our first stop was the Cu Chi Tunnels. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but it was so interesting and pretty horrifying all at the same time. The first part of the tunnels were built during the French occupation in 1956-58 just as hiding places but once the American war started the Viet Com extended the tunnels and built 2 lower levels to ensure the bombs couldn’t get them and also agent orange didn’t affect them. The tunnels now extend over 250km.

The first thing we saw were the booby traps that the Viet Com set – they were horrendous and probably led to a very slow and painful death.

We then saw some of the tunnels. These were tiny and so narrow and to think that people lived in them for years is pretty unbelievable. We climbed down into one of the entrance tunnels and also walked through around 200m of one of the. It’s definitely an experience as you have to walk hunched over and it’s quite claustrophobic.

The tunnels did have ventilation systems with bamboo. The outside ventilation was built to look like a termite or anthill with snake holes. It was very clever. The Americans did twig though and used dogs to sniff out the men in the tunnels so the Viet Com cut up American soilders clothes and put them.in the ventilation holes to confuse the dogs.

We saw some of the tanks and artillery, how some of it was made – the Viet Com soldiers sawing up unexploded bombs etc.

We also saw a Vietnamese lady making the rice wraps for spring rolls from the rice milk and also learnt how the rice wine was made.

The last thing we saw was some of the bunkers, some of these have now been opened up so you can see what they looked like.

We had a small cup of jasmine tea and some cassava before leaving the tunnels.

Then it was back in the bus for around 2 and a half hours, a little snooze, before our lunch stop. Here we also picked up our bikes which had miraculously appeared by van.

We then cycled for around 50km. The route was through some main roads, some concrete paths, some muddy paths and some gravel. The roads were crazy, moped driving towards you on the wrong side of the road, everyone just taking their chance at junctions and very few mopeds with lights on once it was dark.

It was hot and humid to start but we also had some torrential rain that lasted quite a while and some hailstones.

Around half way in Lou was hit by a moped head on – it was over our side of the road, it was going to fast and it was wet. I didn’t actually see it happen but luckily Lou is ok – just quite a deep cut on her knee.

The scenery was beautiful, very lush and green. Unfortunately it’s really hard to take photos whilst cycling, especially in the rain.

So an interesting first day.

Dinner was at the hotel and it was delicious. I’m really enjoying the food. We popped to the bar over the road for a drink. Ali and I ordered mojito but think we ended up with like juice!

We went out as a group for dinner at a lovely restaurant which had a swimming pool. If only I’d known I would’ve taken my bikini.

The roads were really busy even though it was night time.

A few of us spotted a roof top bar so went and paid it a visit. I must admit I was flagging but the views from the top were pretty impressive.

I managed to stay up for one drink but it was so nice to go back to the hotel and get into a lovely clean bed.

It was quite a reasonable time to get up for a change, 645am to be at Heathrow airport for 830am. Luckily I have some lovely friends (Jamie and Ticket) who came and picked me up and dropped me off at the airport. Unfortunately there was loads of traffic as a van had burnt out on the M4. But I still made it, even if around 20 minutes late. It was great to see Ali and Karen when I got there and meet Sherrien too – and the other 27 people I was travelling with.

After chreck-in, as per normal, we headed to the bar for a little tipple before the flight.

We got chatting to Mark and Jim (Shrek and Donkey) and Louise too. We were so busy chatting and shopping that we didn’t realise the time and ended up having to do a very fast walk to the gate.

Seats were all allocated randomly in the plane but I managed to swap with Ian, the Discover Adventure leader, and sat with Karen and Louise.

The flight was around 13 hours and Singapore airlines were brilliant. The good was really nice for airplane food, the alcohol was free and you got real cutlery!! I watched 3 films, ate loads and tried to sleep but probably only slept for around 30 mins or so.

As we flew into Singapore the sun was just rising.

We had a two hour stop over at Changi airport in Singapore so headed to the bar and had a couple of very expensive beers!

Once we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, otherwise known as Saigon we were picked up by the local guides Trong and his mate whose name I’ve forgotten. We headed through the city to pub street. It’s crazy, nobody gives way and the number of mopeds on the road is huge and some of them have four people on them! The electric wiring is interesting too.

We drove past the palace, which is the independence palace. Very impressive, shame we couldn’t stop and look around.

Lunch was delicious, but way too much of it.

After lunch we checked into the hotel where we will be staying tonight (tonight now being the day after we left as Vietnam is 6 hours ahead). The rooms are lovely and I can’t wait to get into it later!

Once everyone was checked in we then went to try out our bikes. The bikes are pretty good although as I was cycling round the car park on mine the gear cable popped out – they say they’ll fix it by tomorrow.

I made a lovely cute new friend too.

He was so pitiful I really did want to stick him in my rucksack and take him home.

So, we still had some time to kill before dinner and I know if I go to bed I’ll fall asleep and not wake up! So we had a look around the local market and surrounding area.

Then it was back to the hotel for a beer and a shower before we head out for dinner.

One of the good things about being home is catching up with family and friends and catching up on all the gossip.

I phoned mum and dad as soon as I got home obviously- they were a little bit worried about me travelling alone around South America. It doesn’t matter how old you are your parents will always worry about you. Anyway, I think they’re relieved that everything went so well.

I spoke to my sister straight away too – she’s also living in Germany so I won’t see her for a little while.

And yesterday I spoke to my older brother and visited my little brother and his girlfriend, Helen, for the weekend. This is my little bruv with one of his cats.

It was a great weekend. A couple of Helen’s friends were down for the weekend too. Helen cooked a delicious spag bol, we drank gin and prosecco and had a quick dip in the jacuzzi. After all this we were dancing and singing in the kitchen until the early hours of the morning. We also watched some Eurovision – I actually thought the UK entry was pretty good but we didn’t do that well as everyone scores politically!

I probably should have felt worse than I did this morning, but I was up fairly early eating porridge and drinking coffee, watching the cats playing in the garden.

After driving home I started to sort out my patio but then had a little nap. Think it will be an early night tonight.

Today I was working from home so when I woke up at 8am I decided to get up and go for a run. As I’ve been away I haven’t been running yet this year so I took it nice and easy and just ran a gentle 5km. The sun was shining and it was really nice running along the canal.

It’s strange because when I was at school I used to hate running. I really only got into it again a few years ago. In 2014 I signed up to run the Surrey Half marathon as motivation to get me out and running. And it did motivate me, I ran the half in just over 2 hours. And I got the bug for running so decided to try a marathon. In 2015 I ran the London marathon and although I loved it on the day I didn’t enjoy training for it so I’ve vowed I won’t ever run another marathon.

Over the last few years I’ve run some more half marathons but mainly I run 10k or just a little run in the mornings, mainly at weekends. I still enjoy running, I think it’s because I’m outside and I can switch off from everything.

This year I’m not intending to do any major runs, although I might do the Denbies half marathon as they offer wine every couple of miles!

This is a photo from last year’s ‘race’. I think it took us around 5 hours to run 13.1 miles!!

Today I travelled into London to go back to work. It was a lovely sunny day which made the commute in a little bit easier and nicer.

It was quite depressing though, being back at work, although of course it was lovely to see all my friends at work and catch up on everything that’s been happening whilst I was away. Another reorganisation has been put in place but luckily this doesn’t affect me directly so my job is safe for now. I think it’s just the thought of getting back into a routine and not seeing new things every day that’s a little bit hard to get my head around.

I had quite a few emails to get through – just under 2000. I deleted all the ones that were no longer relevant and answered a few of the more recent ones.

I was really tired by the end of the day and glad to head home, again in the beautiful sunshine, I’m loving this weather.

I don’t think it will take me long to settle back into work and my life back here in England but now that I’ve been travelling I really want to do more of it. I’m seriously looking into how I can make that happen!

After two 40th parties it was time to do some exercise. I’ve been lake swimming for the last 2-3 years and I absolutely love it, for me it’s much better swimming in s lake than a chlorine filled swimming pool despite having to wear a wetsuit and the temperature of the water. There’s something good and healthy about swimming outdoors.

My friend Paige picked me up with her daughter Jordyne, which was a good thing as my car is still dead, and we set off to Heron Lake (http://www.swimheron.co.uk). It’s only a 20 minute drive away.

Because the weather was so gorgeous today, and because the surrounding lakes aren’t open yet, it was really busy. I think we waited at least 30 minutes in the queue to get in.

Paige’s husband Carl joined us at the lake too.

The lake was cold but not as cold as I thought it would be, I even managed to get my head under the water without debilitating brain freeze! Think it must have been around 11 degrees.

I swam around 500m and at least half of that was front crawl, not bad for the first swim of the year. It’s so refreshing and makes me feel really energised.

Pete and Paul and their grandson Harrison were at the lake too so we all had a coffee after the swim. It was really nice to catch up with everyone.

I’m definitely going to try and swim once a week during the summer months.

It still feels a bit strange being home. It all feels a bit surreal, like the trip was just a dream and never really happened. It’s s bit of a culture shock coming home.

I’ve spent the last couple of days sorting out my room. I rented it whilst I was away so now I’m slowly unpacking everything and I’m sorting through it all as I go along. I already have a big suitcase full of clothes for eBay!

Saturday night we celebrated my friend Kate’s 40th at the local wine bar. Although I’ve had a few drinks whilst I’ve been travelling I haven’t had a lot all in one go so I struggled a bit and ended up going home around 11pm. Bit of a lightweight but it was a good night anyway.

And yesterday evening it was Anna’s 40th.

I was going to drive over to Faye’s – she was hosting the party – but my car battery was flat – so I got the train instead. It was a great party, good music, lots of people and lots of dancing. I did drink but made sure I had plenty of water too.

I stayed overnight at Faye’s and then headed home to do more unpacking. My room is slowly looking like normal. I think I may have managed to keep one wardrobe completely empty.

So I arrived back in Heathrow around 430pm yesterday and my lovely friend Jamie came and picked me up from the airport. I was pretty tired as I didn’t sleep much on the plane but I did manage to watch a couple of great films and also eat loads of food.

The journey from the airport was a nightmare – there was traffic everywhere. I felt really sorry for Jamie, especially as the flight was delayed by around 30 minutes too.

When I got home I had a lovely cuddle with my cat, I have missed him a little bit but I knew he was being well looked after by Belén.

It’s kind of strange being back home. It almost feels like the whole trip was just a dream and didn’t really happen. I need to start planning more adventures, and soon!

Today I’ve mainly been unpacking, washing and wrapping presents. I’ve also done a food shop and started to sort out my room as I had to clear everything out in order to rent it whilst I was away.

Luckily I’ve got a busy weekend lined up which will hopefully stop me getting post trip blues!

After a shower and breakfast I finished packing up my things and checked out of the b&b. I left my bags at the b&b whilst I had a last little wander around the main square. I stopped off for a coffee and did a bit of people watching.

At 11am I went for a therapeutic massage and it was just what I needed, really relaxing. I had some time to kill before I needed to go to the airport so I decided to get a pedicure as well.

And then it was time to leave. I’m excited to be going home to see everyone but I also want to keep on travelling. I’ll just need to book another holiday soon!!

I flew from Cusco to Bogota and got my last glimpse of the mountains. I’ve loved being and trekking among the mountains, it’s really been something special.

This whole trip has been amazing and I think I’m going to need to reflect on it and make some changes in my life when I get home – as well as plan some future travels.

I managed to get a photo of the sunset in the clouds, although in real life it looked much better.

And now I’m at Bogota airport waiting for my flight to London which is currently delayed by 20 minutes.

I’ve met some great people on my travels and hope to keep in touch with them and hear all about their adventures too.

See you soon.