My first day in Saigon was long and hot. I decided to go walking round the city and see some of the sights. I visited the Saigon version of Notre Dame which was a nice little Church sort of similar to the one in Paris except this one is made of red brick and is not quite as ornate on the outside as the one in Paris. Across the road from Notre Dame is the Central Post Office, still in use and very ornate itself. I was pleased when I went in that they had a clock with London time on it as well as other major capital cities from around the world. It sounds stupid but there have been areas in Vietnam where London has not even featured which I thought was strange.

I also went to the Reunification Palace, which was built back in the 19th Century when the French were trying to invade most of Vietnam and colonise there. It was over taken by the Vietnamese in the 20th Century where they changed the name and some of the architecture. It's not your traditional palace, the outside actually resembles more of a random office building but the inside is a bit better. I think the furniture made it seem more of a palace. Although it was a bit weird walking down into the basement and seeing maps and random telephones everywhere as a main base of operations.

I'd also taken a look at Phuoc Hai Tu (The Emperor Jade Tortoise Pagoda). I almost gave up on it as I just couldn't find it, it's not like your traditional Pagoda in which it's on the front road on land of it's own, it's actually down a little road surrounded by guest houses and restaurants, if you didn't know the address you'd definitely miss it. It was a nice little Pagoda and I did see some very strange things there. There was a small enclosure with the biggest Turtle in it I had ever seen. It made me sad though as the enclosure really was small. Across the courtyard was an area which had massive fish swimming in it. I sat down for a bit and think my chin hit the ground when a couple of people came over with bags of little fish, prayed and tipped them into the pond! The water level was about 8 ft below the area we were standing so it was from a height. I liked the Pagoda but I will say not to visit if you have a problem with incense as there are extractor fans inside as so much of it is being burnt at the same time.

I also walked down Le Duan street which at one time was the power street of Saigon as it has the French, British and American Embassies / Consulates located there. Once again the Americans have outdone the British. Their building is very swish with guards and nice plantings etc then you come to the British one which looks like some crap building out of the 1970's, in badly need of an update it almost looks like the CI5 building in The Professionals...

I came back to the hostel just in time before the heavens opened. Actually right before I had been sat down and almost got scared to death when a giant lizard fell out of a tree straight in front of me and then ran away! Someone told me there's a market here which specialises in military products. He said they were selling land mines and detonators to anyone who would buy them. Which I think rounds off the strange first day in Saigon. Bumped into Jackie and some other people on the way out to dinner and had a couple of Bia Saigon with them at one of the local street bars. Think I'll visit the Vietnamese War Museum tomorrow and then book a day at the Cu Chi tunnels - once I have some other clothes to wear. I looked like a clown walking round town today in the last clothes which were clean!

The picture is me outside of the Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral.