Days 34, 35 and 36

At Green Suites our breakfast was included in the price, and it was nice because it was served on a 6 storey high roof terrace, so we got a good view of the city. We got a taxi to the train station to buy our onward tickets to Hoi An, and as the taxi drivers kept trying to scam us we decided to walk to the nearby city attractions. We got to appreciate the city more this way, both its good and bad points, as Jamie nearly got took out by a moped.....on the pavement!! We headed for the War museum first of all but it was closed for lunch so we grabbed to something to eat. I tried Pho (a vietnamese special beef soup), and Michelle had caramel pork, which unfortunatetly sounded better than it tasted. We then went to the Reunification Palace, which was possibly one of the dullest things we have seen in our lives, and we've both seen Stoke City play. To its credit the outside of the building was reasonably grand, but inside there were many empty rooms including one roped off room with blank walls, containing only one desk with a telephone on it, and a sign reading 'telephone room' We then headed back to the war museum hoping it would prove to be a more worthwhile trip. Thankfully it was more interesting, and we learnt alot about the Vietnamese war although we weren't sure how biased it was (very anti American). On our walk back towards the backpacker district we passed through Ben Thanh market, which stunk of rotting fish. We found a nice coffee place where we could try Vietnamese coffee, which is freshly filtered with condensed milk (yummy!). We then had dinner in a very traditional burger bar where we watched the latest football highlights and drank some very cheap beer (60p a pint).

We got up early again to go on a one day tour of the Mekong delta, which was a 2 hour bumpy bus ride out of the city. On the way we stopped at a handicraft workshop where those handicapped in the war were supplying the tourist trade with endless pieces of tat. Once at the river we got on a boat which took us to our first island stop in the delta. We had only made it halfway across the river when we were stopped by the police who were doing random safety checks on the boats, why this had to take place in the middle of the river we do not know! We then changed to a small longtail boat to head down one of the branches of the river. We felt like we were on a jungle cruise. This took us to a coconut candy workshop where we got to see them making the toffee and then got to try it. We then had lunch which was pretty poor but we didn't really have a choice but to eat it. Our next mode of transport was a rowing boat where the guide informed us to only step into the centre of the boat otherwise it could tip over, no biggie as he stated crocodiles were now extinct in the Mekong! We were then treated to honey tea and some local fruits. Entertainment was provided by a traditional vietnamese group followed by our guide, Tung, singing the itinerary of our trip. It was very amusing, and would definately have been a hit as one of the horrific X-factor performances.

For our last full day in Ho Chi Minh we booked a half day tour to the Cu Chi tunnels, a network of underground tunnels that the Vietcong used during the war. Our guide was a strange character, and looked like the love child of Jackie Chan and Rambo. He showed us the tiny tunnels that they used although I was skinny enough to just fit inside. It was amazing to think these people lived underground for years on end. Our tour guide also stopped at the artillary range to give the Americans in our group the chance to pay to shoot a big gun at a blank wall, as you can imagine they lapped it up We also got the opportunity to crawl through some 'expanded' tunnels for us westeners although these were still tiny (Peej you'd have no chance!).

Hopefully update you all soon although facebook is banned in Vietnam so it is a difficult time for us, I'm sure you will all understand.