M: Well, after four months for me and three for Anne, the odyssey is drawing to a close. Welcome back those of you who have been waiting for Facebook prompts to read us. Vietnam blocks Facebook, so most of the backpackers must be struck digitally dumb! Thursday was our last day in Vietnam, and we had left it pretty well open. We wanted to get a few gifts, to attempt to catch up with some friends from Australia and to collect our tailoring. We also set aside som...

M: Wednesday - cooking day and eating day with a cooking class in the morning and a special restaurant in the evening. (PS If you are wondering about the photo for today's entry, read on!) For the cooking class, we organised with our hotel to do both the visit to the markets to see the foodstuffs and the cooking class itself. Like many activities here there is a kind of aggregation process, with tourists from a number of different sources coming together for a...

A: Day five in HCMC, and after a thoughtfully prepared breakfast of Vietnamese soup ie Pho, with vegetables added for my benefit (M: When does it cease to be pho? I think in the mind of our friendly breakfast staff, soon after Anne mentioned veggies:)). Then we were off in a taxi called again by Nang to the first of two museums about or connected primarily with Ho Chi Minh, or Unce Ho as he is affectionately known here. The first was called the Ho Chi Minh Muse...

M: We didn't have the heart to turn down pho for breakfast again so started the day well fortified. (A: The pho was particularly good in fact, but once again it is frustrating that we don't think we can add the usual sprouts and basil due to the fact that they have been washed in water here.) The process for today's sightseeing was similar to Saturday, except there were 6 of us going from the Xuan Mai. The bus was a bit late in leaving, but today's trip was onl...

M: The weather forecast for Sunday had suggested that it could be wet, so we decided to make this a day in HCM, with lots of indoor activities. After breakfast on the rooftop again, blessedly cool in the early morning breeze, we asked Nang to organise a taxi to take us to the Notre Dame Cathedral, where there was a mass in English at 0930. The distance is not huge, but quite frankly, being a pedestrian in this central part of Saigon is not at all pleasant as yo...