Thankfully our bags arrived on the carousel in Saigon as the airline staff were a bit worried at one point and seemed to think there was a problem. Our last flight for a while now went smoothly for the budget Asian airlines we have being using. We all know what's been happening and a lot more go down than make the headlines. But you can defiantly tell a difference between them and our prebooked Emirates flights. The planes are smaller and bumpier, the dress is not as appealingly and the safety announcements are still done by hand but they get you from a to b so we have no complaints. Our second hurdle of the day was getting our visas. We were leaving it down to, what looked like, a microsoft office IT homework piece of writing that claimed to be a letter of approval for us to get a visa on arrival. It must be said we purchased this letter on line for $30 and there are a lot of people getting ripped off. We sat waiting with the masses and luckily our names got called and everything was correct.

We are millionaires! Today we withdrew 4.5 million Vietnamese dong out of a cash machine not really knowing how much this was or how long it would last. It turns out it is £135 and is three days budget. It still felt good in hand.

It took less than half an hour of being on Vietnamese soil for us to be in the back of a taxi, fearing for our safety, as the 'clearly on drugs' woman driver weaved her way through the chaotic traffic. Surprisingly it was easy to find out accommodation in the middle of the narrow alleys and busy streets.

The fear feeling returned slightly today as we didn't know what the vibe was like in the city of this new country. Nevertheless we went out to find the night market to eat. THE FOOD IS AMAZING. It is now clear why people get fat in Vietnam.

The 8pm stroll back to the hostel for an early night found us having a drink in a near by bar, returning at 1.20am.

We got chatting to Julia and Johannes (German) and then a group of Americans. 1 beer = 10,000vnd = 30p

Other events of the night....

- Shots
- Women coming round selling, we didn't want anything but felt bad so we gave one of them 5000 as she was such a happy person.
- Another came with baby and gave Matt the baby to hold which was a bad move. We then felt we had to buy. She wanted 15000 for chewing gum which is a lot (in Vietnam). Char tried to give her 2000 for but for nothing in return (making her child cry) but she didn't want it, resulting in a 15000 payment for chewing gum... Lesson learnt, don't be attracted to the babies!

Matt was drunk but only because Char 'drinks beer'. This means she has half and gives the rest to him. Meaning he has double.

On arrival back at the hostel it was locked. After a 10 minute, 'what do we do?' situation, someone luckily let us in.

M & C xxxx