Wow I’m kind of behind right now. I’m blaming below par internet connections, and nothing to do with procrastination or laziness…..Also I cant work out how to move the pictures so they’re all at the bottom so please still read it! 🙂

So from the party central of Nha Trang I journeyed South to Ho Chi Min City or Saigon as it is now called. I arrived off the night bus at 6am and was immediately confronted by what seemed like thousands of moto-taxis, all shouted at me ‘Taxi, taxi’ “Lady where you go!’. Luckily I had done a bit of research and knew that the bus dropped me off in backpacker central so ignored everyone and walked for five minutes looking for accommodation. They were all surprisingly expensive but I stumbled upon a silk shop with a large sign outside advertising rooms. The place looked nothing like a guest house and I had to climb about six flights of stairs but eventually got to my room which was large, had a fan and even a balcony looking over the main street. I knew my friends weren’t arriving until the next day so I had some time to explore on my own. What usually happens when I explore on my own is I end up getting ridiculously lost, walking round in circles and not seeing anything interesting but I’m sort of used to this by now, and my awful sense of direction is not improving!

Saigon city is completely mental, the traffic is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Everyone has mopeds which constantly clog the roads, ignoring all traffic signals. This makes crossing a road a very nerve-racking experience but I soon learnt the only way to do it is walk and hope they avoid you. I know this sounds suicidal but if you dont take this approach you would literally be standing there all day. First I decided to check out the huge market in the centre of the city but thought I should move on pretty quickly before I ended up blowing my travelling budget on a Prada bag or something equally ridiculous (no, going travelling hasn’t made me appreciate gorgeous fashion items any less!). The other thing that makes walking around very difficult is that the pavements aren’t actually used as pavements. Cars park across them, people sit playing cards, stalls are set up on them so you are constantly weaving in and out of obstacles. As I got into the centre of the city the scenery completely changed, everything was very upmarket with shiny shopping centres, ridiculously expensive hotels and gleaming skyscrapers. I walked for a few hours, soaking up the city before grabbing some local street food at the market. There were lots of delicious looking things on the menu, such as fried frog, duck embryos and fried crickets. I just stuck to noodle soup, I will pretty much eat anything but there are some things where I’ll draw the line! That night I got an early night; the road outside my room was so loud but I’ve got pretty good at sleeping with noise.

The next day I met up with my friends Leeroy and Tooley and we headed off to the main sights, the Imperial War Museum and the Reunification Palace. The War Museum is an absolutely fascinating place, but very hard to visit. It documents the atrocities of the Vietnam war and describes in great detail how villages were completely destroyed and men, women and children raped and murdered. There are lots of pictures of the victims of the war and stories from those who survied. As we were walking round an American guy started talking to us telling us he had served in the war when he was nineteen. I cannot imagine how terrible it must have been for him to be so brutally reminded of what he was involved in, and he made his hatred of America very clear. He was more positive about the election of Obama and hoping for changes but he said he would never return there. He now lives in Vietnam and works for an NGO who help to get street kids into education. It was amazing having that snapshot of how it affected the soldiers fighting as well as the Vietnamese. It was a very moving experience and after leaving we all sat in silence for about an hour and didn’t feel like talking or doing anything. After our reflection we visited the Reunification Palace which was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates. It was interesting to see as its been kept exactly how it was in the 70’s so it is filled with antiquated communication equipment and maps.

The following day was a complete constract, we went to an amazing American style bowling alley (so cultural!) and I came second in both games which I was pretty pleased about as I beat both the boys. After that we visited the weridest zoo I have ever been too, we just stumbled into it and it was so cheap to go in we thought we may as well. In a way I wish we hadn’t as the animals were in dirty tiny cages and didn’t look at all happy. The weirdest thing was when we were looking round the reptile section we saw a glass cage with some rabbits in. We were all wondering why rabbits would be kept in glass cages with no grass until we turned the corner and saw four huge pythons eyeing them hungrily. I felt so sorry for the poor rabbits, I had to leave!

After a lovely dinner and a few drinks with my friends, we parted ways and the next morning I ventured off on my own again on a tour of the Mekong delta. The area is a huge water world, in fact it really reminded me of that really bad Kevin Costner film from the ninetees. Everything is floating, from the houses, markets, even the petrol station is floating in the river. We took boats around and saw some amazing sights. We also visited the local Cham people and saw them making rice noodles and farming. They even had floating pig farms! The pigs were so cute but they really stank so I didn’t hang around too long.



Map of Mekong Delta



The view from my balcony in Saigon

Floating pigs!

Floating markets in the Mekong Delta