Well I've arrived after a very long day (or what feels like it anyway). From a long queue at the airport waiting to check in to a very full flight in a section of the plane where the entertainement system only worked for 20 mins of the 9 hour flight. Off the plane and I'm sure I picked the slowest customs queue there was. People always say the American immigration staff can be grumpy, they obviously haven't been to Vietnam. After an hour, finally collected my bag and thankfully my driver hadn't given up on me and was still waiting, although I don't think he was very pleased. He gave me a letter from Intrepid to let me know the hotel I was booked into was overbooked so I had to go to a different hotel for tonight and then move to the other hotel tomorrow as that is where the tour starts from. Things can only get better!!

Where do I start about the traffic. You read about it, you see it on the TV but it isn't till you are in the middle of it that you realise it is indescribable. For starters, I have to get used to being back on the right hand side of the road. The only traffic rules appears to be there are no traffic rules and just beep your horn. The bikes are just nuts. There are so many of them. The most I've seen on a bike tonight is 4 people. One bike had the driver and 7 cartons of Heineken Beer and another one was carrying a large tripod with what looked like a memorial reef on it. Pedestrian crossings don't mean anything, people just put out their hand and slowly cross, hoping for the best. I've seen lots of Christmas decorations on shops and we drove past this huge building which had a light show happening and it appeared as if a band was also playing. There was a big gate surrounding the building and everyone was behind the gate and on the other side of the road in the park watching. Driver was unable to tell me what the building was and so was the hotel reception. He apologised for his bad english. I apologised for not knowing Vietnamese. I think this could be a common occurance during this trip.

So no exploring for me tonight, time to hit the sack and be brave tomorrow...maybe.

PS..it was the Reunification Palace