Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

The bus luckily stopped right in the area we wanted to stay in. Lucky because Saigon is huge! We haggled our way around hotels and found a windowless room for 5gbp, not as bad as it sounds though - it's got a bed!

After getting our laundry sorted we headed out and found some cheap local food. We weren't sure what was in it but it tasted good. You just sit down on plastic chairs that would only be suitable for year 1 kids and eat your dinner at the side of the road.

We found 'fresh beer' which is the cheap beer we've had in Vietnam. This time for 5000dong or 17pence!

We had a lie in and headed to the reunification palace. It was a bit boring, walking around large rooms which had 60s deco! The palace hasn't been changed since the tanks went through the gates and retook Saigon to end the war. The photos were interesting that were in the basement which documented the palaces' history. We headed toward Notre Dame cathedral as it was close by, needless to say it wasn't anything like the one in France- we didn't even bother to take a picture!

We found the Market our mate Rick Stein had been to (we watched his odd cooking shows) and tried to haggle for some clothes. The lady quoted a high price and converted it to pounds on the calculator and kept saying it's very cheap for us "you come to Vietnam with a lot of money". But that's no reason to let her rip us off! She wanted near enough proper prices for fakes, but they're just cheap tshirts. She wound us up and we left anyway. It may be cheap for us, although primark is cheaper, but the markup they make on them is huge! We bought them cheap the next night anyway! The problem with Saigon seems to be that a lot of people on a 2 week holidays come here and find everything is cheap compared to home, but then the backpackers find it's pricey compared to the rest of Vietnam! Whilst we're on that subject Saigon is the first place we've seen a lot of old men with young Vietnamese women. It's pretty creepy to see (or hear groups of men talk about their plans).

That evening headed for a cheap meal but it was cheap because it was a veggie meal. I had a nice sweet potato curry and naan!

An early start as we headed to the Cu Chi tunnels. We watched a propaganda video which basically was one sided against America. I have no opinion as I don't know enough about it but it was interesting to watch. Emma volunteered out of our group with a Canadian to go into the first really narrow tunnel, where there were no lights. The guide gave the guy a weak torch and down they went. I waited about 5 metres away for about 3 minutes. They emerged and said there were dead ends and it was pitch black. The guy pointed the torch to the ceiling and Emma saw a bat looking right at her (she had already suspected she was sharing the tunnels with bats after feeling things fly by her head in the complete darkness!) She also felt crawlies by her feet! Ewww.

The Vietnamese had to improvise using shrapnel from bombs dropped by the US. They made homemade bombs and weapons. The traps looked pretty nasty too!

We came to a long tunnel of 100 metres. We both went in this time and being the man I (was told to) lead the way! It was pitch black in places and there were a few exits where we couldve popped up early but decided to go the full distance.

A worthwhile visit. The photos don't do it justice for how small it feels inside!

On the way back we stopped off at "Handicap Handicraft". That's what is was called and is a government backed project to help them work. We were told that they were affected by Agent Orange chemical which has been passed down the generation. The handicrafts they made were impressive, using egg shells for decoration and then glazing them or carving wood and chipping stone. We genuinely would have bought things if we were on a 2 week holiday. The tour guide had emphasized that there were no machines used but as we walked to our bus there was a factory full of machines! You get the impression we you visit these places that they're having a beer and as soon as they get the tourist call they get to work!!!

We got dropped off at the war museum. It was mainly photo based apart from the US weapons and tanks outside. The photos were pretty horrific and was again biased showing the destruction caused by the Americans (particularly through their use of Agent Orange). A couple we have met a few times said it was worse than the Hiroshima museum. Headed to the river and crossed and recrossed the busiest roads known to man. The plan of action when walking across the roads is to walk slowly and don't stop. The bikes just go around you, although sometimes at the last minute! We pigged out that evening on a mixture of Western and Vietnamese food.