After an interesting flight from UK, leaving -5 temperatures behind and managing to take off thankfully!! I kept hearing over and over the air stewardess stating 'there is nothing complimentary with Air Asia' they were not wrong!! Freezing flight but no blankets unless you pay a small fortune, not going to buy a blanket for the 12 hour flight and lug it around in 30 + temperatures the other end!! Landing in Kuala Lumper ahead of schedule at 5am we walked onto the tarmac and the humidity was intense!! Had 3 hours to kill not much to do then onto Ho Chi Minh City!!!
Arrived ahead of time again, that was impressive!! Paula was waiting at the gate and let the adventures begin!!
Ho Chi Minh City
My first experience was on a local bus, we got on from the airport approx 20p as they charged for my backpack too, rip off!! We reached the bus depot and off to find the hotel, hmm we walked and discovered after walking up a street twice Paula was not so sure where the hostel was!! So we decided a cold drink would solve the problem! It did involve one of the bar staff taking her on his moped to show her but luckily we were only 2 mins away.
We dumped my bags and headed into the City for my first proper experience of Ho Chi Minh, Moped madness is the best way to describe it!!! You have to be confident and just walk dont hesitate else you confuse them!! there are up to 4 on one moped!! thats when 2 adults and 2 kids but 3 adults have been seen along with, a rocking chair/crates of beer and soft drinks seriously you name it we saw it, there only way to transport things and they are very clever with it!! As for the beeping geez they like to get you out the way even if it should be your right of way, pedestrians what are they!? In the way all the time!
On my first full day we intended on heading to the Museum but due to the slow departure we made it there in time for them to be losed for lunch, so we thought it was a good time to experience the markets instead. Walking in from the entrace we used we hit the fresh meat, fish in made up mini paddling pools with pumps, that keeps them pretty fresh I would say!! then there is the usual fruit but everything else too from clothes/watches/coffee/haberdashery a bit of everything. We had lunch at one of the stalls an interesting spring roll, but they are never what you think here, this time I got a deep fried batter mix with something inside!! and plenty of leafage on a spare plate but for approx £1.20 who can complain! We decided it was closer to head to the Remunification Palace for a bit of history on Vietnam, this is the place where 30 April 1975 the first communist tanks rumbled towards the building then known as the Presidential Palace and crashing through the gates to gain access a soldier ran into the building and up the stairs to unveil the VC flag from the balcony. The then President was waiting to transfer power over to the VC. Pretty amazing building has a Theatre/Cinema, Casino, Heli Pad and Bomb shelter and control rooms in the basement. We left just in rush hour and got to experience that! If you can't get where you want on the road no problem! That's what pavements are for apparently, not just parking them on, you even get beeped to move out the way! We headed out for dinner with friends that Paula and Jon had made on earlier locations.
6th December
Early start to head out on a tour to see the Tunnels. As you can only drive a certain speed and there are thousands of mopeds journeys do take some time. On route we stopped at one of the tourist locations where they had set up a place creating some amazing art pieces by those affected by Agent Orange, very talented considering some of there disabilities. We then headed onto the tunnels to see where the Vietnamese Guerrilla Army lived, the tunnels travelled for miles and took them over 25 years to complete. We got to go in some of the tunnels but these are ones that have been slightly enlarged for us westerners!! still very cramped you definately get the idea of the conditions and its not easy walking through well crouching. The traps that the Guerrilla's created were not nice each one is specifically made to damage in a certain way, that is in most cases fatal. You don't really here about the affects of the war here, they do like to in the film advise of awards that the Guerrillas got for killing there ememies and in most cases Americans, there were some in our group must be odd to hear that and to visit such a place.
We asked to be dropped off near a recommended hotel from the Lonely Planet, after looking around and the map being slighly inacurate we found the location, it was recommended as a local soup place, we arrived and were offered beef noodle, ok for poss me but the other 2 are veggie, so we headed on. 3 more stops and the chioce of food was not good the 5th place we had to eat, it was interesting my prawn rolls were fresh wrapped leafage including too much coriander as usual whole leafs of it and a pickled prawm on top. To finish off our day we headed to the War museum, this is a memorial set up for all to some and see why war should not happen, there was lots to see and read about the ins and outs the death and suffering. There is a whole room dedicated to the protests around the world to stop the US, there is an article from the UK I hunted it out! Another room dedicated to the journalists/photographers that lost there lives telling the stories to the world. There is an awful lot of sickening pictures of foetus's affected by Agent orange, not only that but ones that were born and soon after died. Agent Orange being a herbicide that the US tested and deployed over Vietnam, not only affecting there enemies, but unsuspecting children, families and even there own troops in error. The affects are still in births through those families today. US have succesfully sued the chemical companies but the Vietnamese remain with there battle and so many more affected.
We headed out for dinner and had a few cocktails too, be rude not too when there about £1.20 each!!
7th December
A late start after a few drinks the night before!! We headed off to look for China town, it was very hot and thought we would try and walk along the river, hmm we went off the track to try and entered a street that headed to a boat yard, after walking for some time we gave up and headed for a drink and food before deciding hitting the markets for a bit on the last afternoon would be better.
We went out to dinner with a group that P & J had met on previous travels, after dinner we went to a huge bar on the corner, 3 for 2 on cocktails total £4.50 ish beer approx £1, we had an early start the next day but got a taste for margarita's!!! well we are on holiday!!
The things that will stick in my head here are the mopeds for sure, how grown men can sleep curled up on them I will never know! And very impressed the amount of english some Vietnamese know, I am learning slowly!