The first day was spent exploring the city. Our hotel was in backpackers central, so there was loads of things to do and people to meet. We decided to book our transport all the way through Vietnam. We booked an open bus
ticket that stops off at 5 major cities for $40. We have to use it within a month. Since its Chinese New Year at the end of the month and buses will be busy we may have to pay a few dollars more during the silly season which lasts a couple of weeks! We're expecting some good parties during that time though. We found some places to eat and a bar, then we headed to the night market to buy some new shorts since we put all of ours in the wash. After some decent haggling work by myself and James we bought some for a few dollars.

The second day in Ho Chi Minh city we went to the tunnels the Vietnamese used during the war, which is one of the main tourist attractions. After an hours bumpy bus ride we got there. It was an alright attraction but there was a lot of propaganda. We spent about 20mins crawling around the tunnels themselves. I had to go on hands and knees at some points with my shoulders rubbing both sides of the tunnel. We got a bus back in the early afternoon and had a couple of American girls to talk to so the journey went a lot faster. We ate some lunch and got another tour in the afternoon going around the palace, cathedral and the war museum. Not the best trip we'd done but still worth seeing. When we got back it was pretty late so we ordered a pizza to the room. We ordered online but after an hour of waiting we got fed up and went for a burger instead. They were buy one get one free, we resisted the urge to have 2 each.

The last day we spent walking around the city, visiting some bars and planning our route through Vietnam.

We caught the bus at 10am, which as with all buses in Vietnam was running 2 hours late. I talked to an older Dutch couple to pass the time. The driving in 'nam is the worst we have experienced yet. The way it works is; people
in front expect people behind to brake or move. So people just pull out of junctions without looking. Also the overtaking is insane, beeping their horn going round blind corners. James got a little angry with the driver using his horn so much, plus his iPod has ran out of battery. Top tip if your going to Vietnam - get the train! We arrived a couple of hours late but still had enough time to check in and find a restaurant. It was so cheap we decided to get a room to ourselves. I had 2 double beds in my room. When I started to push them together to make a massive bed James walked out.