Good Morning Vietnam,

Well here we are in Ho Chi Minh or as its more commonly known, Saigon. None of us have ever visited Vietnam before so we didn't really know what to expect apart from the usual images of huge numbers of people on motorbikes and that western influence would be low as it is a communist country. We were spot on with the first part there are so many bikes here (but more on that later), however it shocked us how unobvious it was that it was under communist control. Every major brand you can think of exists here and so do many of the world's biggest companies.

Our brief stopover in KL was fairly uneventful and our flight went exactly to plan. We even managed to get through Vietnam's immigration and visa desk in relatively quick time. Then all we had to do was to get to the hotel where Gemma was waiting having flown the night before. This also was much easier than expected because the public bus we hoped to get was exactly where the guidebook said it would be (first time for everything). In no time we found ourselves at the hotel after a short walk from the bus station reunited with Gemma. It ended up only costing $1 for both of us from airport and when we saw our hotel room which was pre-booked we quickly realised that our money could go a long way here, it was lovely.

Once we had met up the 3 of us quickly devoured some food from one of the local restaurants/cafes where Gemma told us about her morning exploring the War Remnants Museum. As I had managed to get a bit of sleep on the plane I felt relatively fresh so decided I would go investigate for myself as the others just wanted to spend an hour or so making the most of the fact we had a lovely hotel. The museum is commonly listed as a must see sight in the city but I found it quite hard to stomach the sheer amount violence and cruelty that had gone on in Vietnam. I don't know huge amounts about the war in Vietnam and even after a few days I'm still a little unsure on some parts but it was certainly an eye opener. The museum itself was quite good with a large outdoor area containing various aircraft and weapons of both sides and an extensive collection of photos inside. A lot of the current culture here is shaped by the wars and continuous battles that have gone on in Vietnam since the French rule form the mid-1800s through WW2, then the Vietnam War and the struggle against the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. I'm not going to waffle on about the history of Vietnam in our blog but basically the French treated the Vietnamese badly, then the civil war after WW2 when the Americans sided with the South Vietnamese results in warfare that saw Americans use torture techniques and weapons that are massively illegal. The Americans actions were partly because the Viet Cong (Vietnam communist fighters or VC) proved so effective at killing the Americans and it scared and angered so many of their soldiers that fighting got very intense and bloody resulting in the death of many civilians.

In the afternoon I met back up with the others and we went on a short walking tour of the city as it got dark to get a feel for Ho Chi Minh. In some ways it is exactly as I would have thought; frantic, busy and bustling however it was surprisingly clean and with a few modern looking buildings and shopping complexes around the city. It did take quite a long time to get around the city centre though because every time you crossed the road it was like a leap of faith. The number of bikes and mopeds is incredible; nobody seems to walk in Vietnam, just get on a bike! The result is the roads appear lawless. There are marked crossings but bikes still fly past you from all sides except they will at least attempt to weave around as you are on a proper crossing. It amazes me that more don't hit each other and no-one pays attention to traffic lights! This makes it a fascinating place to just people watch.

Our short walking tour took us round the main shopping areas of town, the opera house, past all the hotels we can't afford to stay in and then along a section of the river where small dinner cruise boats became lit up in the dark. Eventually we came full circle back to the large Ben Thanh Market at the start of the shopping district. This is normally a very large indoor market during the day but at night the main building is closed and the stalls take residence in the streets surrounding it we had a brief walk through some of the clothes stalls to see how cheap/good they were before heading to the food second to get some dinner. We had seen the sizes of the portions of the other tables so ordered conservatively between us but had Pork Pancakes, a pork omelette (that actually tasted like onion bhaji) and a combination of fresh and fried spring rolls and one of our new favourites a few bottles of Green Saigon Beer. We are not sure of the quality of the last one as quite often the bottles turn up without labels on, but it tastes good and is only 60p for a large bottle!

We spent the rest of the evening having a few drinks and searching the markets to see if there were any bargains. This is the first country we have visited were the price is noticeably cheaper… needless to say some purchases were made but as with the beer we are not 100% sure of the quality so will wait and see if they last.

The next day we got up early because the 3 of us had booked on a day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These are some of the secret tunnels that were used by the VC when fighting the US in Guerrilla warfare and claimed so many lives. Although most of the network has been destroyed, some have been kept intact and turned into a living Museum. Despite almost missing the bus because our hotel had told us the wrong time, the trip was really good and we learnt a lot about the clever methods used by the Vietnamese to put up such a strong fight against the Americans. The tunnels at their peak stretch for over 250 km underground and all connected with trap doors secret hiding places and even entrances into the US Military base so they could steal their weapons and use them against them. At some points the tunnels were even 3 tunnels deep underground, the deepest reaching 10 metres below the surface. A bit like the museum the day before, some of it was hard to stomach, especially the traps used, but it gave a very clear impression about how hard it would have been for both sides fighting in Jungle like this with traps and mines everywhere.

As part of the tour we even got to climb in and crawl through a section of the tunnels going down to 7 meters underground. The tunnels are tiny as the Vietnamese are much smaller and this also help to keep the Americans out, with a height of just 1.2 meters and a width of 50cm. The section we travelled through was widened to 70cm width so visitors at least stood a chance of going through but many opted not to as it was just so claustrophobic. Gemma and I managed to venture through the whole section but it was unbearably hot down there and I can't imagine having to live for several years in these tunnels.

The tour took much longer than we expected, I think partly due to our extremely excited guide, Mr Binh. So when we eventually arrived back in Ho Chi Minh we went for some late lunch of Pho Bo (a noodle soup dish with beef fillet) which was really nice and then just crashed for a few hours before venturing out in the evening for a few bevs of Saigon Green and some curry. As we were all quite full still from having a late lunch, we went back to our favourite of naan bread and dhal of various varieties in a place the guide book recommended and it really was surprisingly good.

The next day we went sightseeing, which turned into more barging shopping with the occasional sight thrown in (just because it was round the corner). However we did manage to see Reunification Palace which is where the old South Vietnamese government fell; the Notre Dame Cathedral built by the French; the central post office building and the Peoples Committee building before heading back to the hotel to meet our friend Richard (making a travelling crew a foursome for the next week). The afternoon was spent showing Rich the sights (the shopping) before heading up the Sheraton hotel to take in the views of the sprawling city. Unfortunately it was a little overcast so the views were limited but so is our bank balance; we made a quick escape and went for a few drinks and a catch up in one of the more local bars.

Our drinking session was relatively short lived as Gemma, Katie and I needed to get on the night bus we had booked to head to Dalat, further north in the highlands. We will be meeting back up with Richard tomorrow night as he was clever and bought a flight so he could have at least one full day in Ho Chi Minh. We made sure we were early for this one as we didn't trust the hotel to get the time right again!

Will keep you all updated as we go, but it's looking like the next few weeks could be some of the best yet.

Lots of love

Martin, Katie, Gemma and Rich