Well we made it into Vietnam last night at about 8:40pm local time, which is of course 3 hours earlier than home. Thus by the time we got to the hotel and got everything sorted out it was 10pm local, meaning we were getting pretty tired.

The three hour stopover in Brunei was less than enthralling, but flying in over the mountains made me want to go to Borneo one day for a look. Beautiful reefs just to the East disappear as you come into the mud plume that emmanates from the huge mangrove systems - there is obviously a lot of water flowing out. On the Western (Brunei) side there was the largest group of cargo ships that I have ever seen in one place - there were dozens of very large ships.

The flight from Brunei to HCMC was just under 2 hours, and our arrival at the airport lulled us into a false sense of security. The airport is huge, cavernous and was all but empty. There were a large number of efficient (but very surly) customs officers so we were out quickly. The illusion of calm and order was pretty much intact outside the terminal, with a few guys touting for fairs but not much else. Then we left the airport and the true nature of Saigon was revealed - it was chaotic! The shuttle bus trip to the hotel was almost worth the trip over here on its own - the kids were amazed - motor bikes everywhere going all over the place with very few detectable road rules. The one rule we could pick was, if your unsure what the guy in front of you is going to do, lean on your horn.

Having arrived at the hotel we went upstairs to our one room (we were sure there should be two, but they assured us it was OK). I took picture so hopefully I can get them into an album. The room was tiny and only just fit the double bed and one extra single jammed up against it. This was to be our accommodations for three nights! We were so tired we were going to put up with it, but Janie was sure there was a mistake. She did sort it out and we ended up with two rooms, so Janie and Georgie are in one on the first floor and Callum and I are on the second. Rooms aren't flash but we will make do.

Cal and i woke early and went for a walk at 5:00 am, just up the street and back. There were people sleeping in their cars and on banana lounges outside their shops. A couple of really clever ones were balanced across their mopeds - didn't have the camera though. On the way back we were stopped by a fellow on a motorbike who offered to take us where the drinks were cheap and the girls easy. When I politely declined he then asked if we wanted to buy some dope. This was Cal's introduction to the seedier side of life I suppose.

When we got back the girls were awake and we went for another wander at about 6:00 am, when everyone was starting to get going. We came accross a procesion of a brass band behind a highly decorated truck. They were throwing fake money and other pieces of paper around. We thought it might have been a funeral procession, but Phuong if you have any idea please post us a message. Again hopefully there will be photos if I can get this PC to work properly.

Most of the rest of the day was spent wandering through shops/markets and looking around. We got the hang of getting accross the road pretty quickly, which anyone who has been here will know is a pretty daunting prospect because they just don't stop for pedestrian crossings. A lot won't even stop for a red light, which are few and far between compared to most big cities anyway.

We have booked a tour of the CuChi tunnels and the Cao Dai temples tomorrow, so hopefully there will be a blog and some photos of that later.

So bye for now on behalf of the four of us.

Shane