Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) was our next stop. We decided to fly from Hanoi in order to save precious days on our itinerary. On the flight we sat next to a middle aged Vietnamese lady who we assumed hadn't flown before. We assumed this mainly because she was very anxious to bless the flight by giving the air hostess money. The embarrassed air hostess refused the money so the Vietnamese lady threw it on the floor. She was then satisfied and was able to sit back and enjoy the inflight entertainment (by which I mean poking us and clearing her throat).

Our fleeting (and perhaps unjust) impression of Saigon was of a city slightly less friendly and characterful than Hanoi.

We tried our hand at haggling at the Ben Tranh market, which was fun. However, being hot, sweaty and paranoid about pickpockets made it quite a challenge.

We also visited the Cu Chi tunnels. These are a huge tunnel network (250km!) which the Viet Cong used to control the rural areas outside Saigon during the Vietnam War. The visit included seeing the grisly booby traps the Vietnamese deployed throughout the area as well as a short crawl inside the tunnels. The tunnel they let tourists enter had been doubled in size, but even then it was a hot and claustrophobic experience. During the war, the tunnel network was so extensive it had three levels and comprised hospitals and kitchens. It also ran all the way to the Cambodian border. The area had been flattened by bombing, including cluster bombs, and the forest cleared by the use of Agent Orange. We also saw those unfortunate people that have severe deformities due to their exposure to it in the womb. All in all it was a very sobering visit, but we were glad to have seen it to get some idea of what the Vietnamese lived through.

~Chris