Day 24 Mekong Delta The guide was at the hotel before 8:15 AM. As the tour was a "group tour" and not a private tour, I was supposed to meet at the Innoviet office around the corner and about two blocks away. I had been able to convince them that since I had my big bag and was so close that they should pick me up and that they did. I met my travelling companion, Veronique, a 45 year old woman from Marseille, France. Her English was definitely better than m...

Day 23 - Visiting Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnels Awaking after another rough night with restless sleep due to the cough and congestion, I ate breakfast at Saigon Mini Hotel 1 (small piece of watermelon, small banana and for me, cornflakes with yoghurt, juice, and coffee, and then I met my guide, Chung, for the Urban Adventures tour. We set out to pick up the others - one couple had changed hotels so we had to find them. There were two other couples, both ...

I am now on Phu Quoc Island and trying to catch up on the blogs, so here goes. I woke up this morning not feeling well at all, raspy throat, increasingly congested, but took my antibiotics and set out to make the best of the day. With some advice from the hotel, I decided to take the public bus #1 to Cholon, known as the Chinatown area, to explore the market there. Although unknownst to me the bus ended at the bus station in Cholon, I wasn't quite sure about wh...

As I started the computer, the TV had what I think was the Vietnamese version of American idol, but no one who seemed to have quite the character of any of the US judges (of course, I can't understand a word they are saying). So what are the other TV choices - here are my guesses - unbelievably melodramatic Korean soap operas, Vietnamese comedy shows (I can tell from the canned laughter), Chinese medieval war stories (these I recognize from China), some soccer ga...

It's been hard to keep up with the blog and the photos, so I will try to fill in the gaps, but here is today. Sleep was fitful as I had a really bad sore throat that came on suddenly last night. It was a little better this morning and as the day passed seemed to go away. I hope it is not the antecedent of something more serious. I enjoyed my corn flakes and yogurt breakfast with some fresh mango and coffee. After checking out, I met Thao and he was able to secu...