Gooooodddd Morning Vietnam!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sooooo after a cracking few days in Bangkok, it was time to board my bargain Air Asia flight to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon).

For me this was the most carefree travelling I’ve done so far. I had four nights booked at a hotel in town, but beyond that, nothing till I have to be in Singapore in November. My theory was that I could book my further explorations of Vietnam and Cambodia cheaper once I got there.

When I got to the airport I stocked up on several gazillion Vietnam Dong (so far I’ve resisted channelling Leslie Phillips and adding a “Ding” to that). A $100 US buys about a million of the things, I feel like the latest Euromillions winner - minus the abandoned child of course!

I hopped in a cab to District One, and checked into my hotel. It’s a 3 star but all clean, safe, and full of fantastic staff. It was also perfectly placed for the local market and most other amenities. It’s called the Blue Diamond, check it out.

I dumped my stuff, and disappeared off into the midst of the night market to explore. I found a food stall and sat down for a feast that was unfeasibly cheap. I had a little wander about to walk the dinner off before sampling the Vietnamese coffee at a sidewalk cafe opposite the hotel. It sure is different to Starbucks! Delicious but unlike any coffee I’ve ever tasted.

I decided to book a city tour for the following day as a way of orientating myself. I’ve done that in most of the places I’ve visited and it really helps with getting your bearings in a new city.

So far on this trip I’ve yet to meet any English people travelling. I guess the credit crunch really is hitting everyone. Aussies are a different matter - they’re everywhere, including my tour of Saigon. There’s the two cool teachers Sarah Rose and her pal with the hard to pronounce name who were both great fun, and there was Trevor from Brizzie who was the perfect straight man and a softer touch to the local sales folk than I am!


We started the tour at the War Remnants Museum which was a pretty grim way to begin the day. It was heartbreaking seeing the horrors inflicted by the US soldiers on the locals. The photographs of the effects of Agent Orange, still being felt to this day, made me weep with shame for the ability of mankind to harm each other.



From there it was onto the “Mother Sky Pagoda” which is home to the followers of Cao Dai - from what I can fathom its a mix of three religions including Buddhism, good enough for me - the incense was burning like billy-o as locals prayed to their gods for good luck and forgiveness.


Other stopping points included the Reunification Palace, the enormous French-built Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral which is modeled on the Paris original, and the Father Sky Temple which was teeming with turtles on the non-ninja mutant variety.


The most exciting part was stopping at a cafe for some Pho - Vietnamese soup - and getting a lesson in how to pronounce it, much to the amusement of the locals!

HCMC perhaps doesn’t need a guided tour, its not that big, but it was a cracking day with a top guide and great fellow tourists.