When we originally left home all those many months ago Vietnam had not been on our list of intended places to visit however having chatted to many travellers along the way the one place that kept coming up in conversation was Vietnam and so here we are! We caught a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Ho Chi Minh aka Saigon and our intention is to travel by bus north ending our journey in Hanoi. The first job on getting off the plane was to collect our visas from immigration and being a communist country run on rules and laws this wasn't something we were looking forward to. Surprisingly the whole process was pretty painless and as long as we had the correct amount of US dollars they were happy to grant our visas all be it very slowly. Once we had our visa we could pass through to baggage collection however it had taken so long for us to pass through customs all the belts were off and the hall was empty. The panic associated with the missing backpacks lasted about 2 minutes until we spotted our bags in the middle of the floor along with a couple of others unattended and open to anyone who wanted to put anything in or out! Fortunately there was nothing missing and more importantly nothing had been added so we were ready to pass through customs and then join the melee of taxi drivers all fighting to take you to your hotel for ridiculously inflated prices. We opted for the safer option of a taxi coupon which for a few dollars allowed us to skip the hoards and get a taxi for a set price rather than an unknown variable. The ride through Saigon to our hotel was crazy and nothing could have prepared us for the number of motorbikes buzzing around everywhere constantly weaving in an out of traffic peeping their horns as a warning to all the other bikers and cars. The hotel we had booked was in the centre of all the action in district 1 and it was the first instance where a room with no window was the favorable choice given the noise coming from the street below. We checked in about 9pm and having not eaten anything since lunchtime we were raring to get out and explore this mad and manic place. The pavements are covered with motorbikes and roadside stalls so you have no choice but to walk on the already congested road hoping that all the bikes and cars will see you. There are no pedestrian crossings in Saigon and even if there were the motorbikes wouldn't stop so the result is a constant flow of bikes in both directions. The advice given in the guidebooks tell you to take a leap of faith and just walk out onto the road and keep walking no matter what and trust that the motorbikes will go around you? It sounds completely insane to just walk out onto a busy road and I was less than happy at the prospect however short of spending our entire stay on the one side of the road we were going to have to try. Holding hands we stepped onto the road to melody of honking horns, not looking right or left we just kept walking and amazingly we reached the other side unharmed and unable to believe the crazy plan of just walk out had actually worked! We had a walk around before finding a tiny and cozy café to have some dinner. The first thing we noticed was how much cheaper it was for food and drink here compared to Malaysia and our entire dinner bill including 3 beers amounted to a little over a fiver. After dinner we had a walk around the area and were in awe of the buzz and atmosphere around, it was absolutely fantastic. It was about midnight and there were kids as young as five and six out selling chewing gum and paper tissues it was just so sad to see the parents wait at the door as they send in their kids to charm the tourists into buying from them and the even sadder thing is that it seemed to work with tourists taking photos of them and giving them money forgetting that they are children who should be long in their beds and not out on the streets. There were cyclos everywhere selling all manor of strange looking foods that if they tasted as bad as they smelled I cant imagine why anyone would buy them! We found another bustling bar to have a couple of drinks and watch the world go by before our long day was catching up with us and it was time to go home.

The next days plan was to visit the war museum a touching account of the Vietnam war presented from the Vietnamese perspective. With map in hand we left our hotel to a sea of motorbike taxis and cyclos all desperate to give you a tour of the city. We had decided to walk to the museum so we declined their offers and hit the road. After about 10 minutes of walking we had to admit we were lost and none of the streets around us seemed to be on the map so we had no idea where we were. Our lost expressions soon attracted the attention of a cyclo driver who was more than happy to take us to the war museum for 50,000 dong (2 pounds) and that seemed like a fair price to us so we hopped into his little basket and he started to pedal our big heavy asses across town. We got a running commentary as we went with him pointing out local landmarks as we passed them. We soon realised that the only thing scarier than trying to cross the road with all the motorbikes was to be in a tiny basket cycling straight into a wall of bikes all honking their horns at you because you are getting in the way but with the reassurance from our little driver that he was a very safe driver I was able to muffle most of my screams and enjoy our first ever ride in a cyclo. We arrived at the museum about 15 minutes later and whether or not we had overpaid for our cyclo seemed irrelevant because this poor man had cycled our ton weight across the town for a measly 2 quid and I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if we had given him any less for what must have been an exhausting job. The museum was really interesting, split into 6 sections it gave information including the history and politics of the war, the weapons, the victims, the Americans conduct during the war as well as how Vietnam recovered after the war was over. The most upsetting and harrowing parts of the museum were the journalist photos showing the bodies of entire families including young children all wiped out as they ran from the american soldiers. There were also pictures showing the horrendous deformities caused by America spraying the country with a terrible chemical called agent orange. We were also able to see a reconstructed cell similar to the ones used to detain Vietnamese men and women and that was pretty horrible to see too! The tour around the museum had taken us to lunch time so we set off in search of somewhere to get something to eat. We settled on a restaurant filled entirely with Vietnamese people and whilst we had no clue what we were eating or drinking with lots of smiles and encouraging looks from everyone sitting around us we gave it a go and for the most part it was delicious and a very Vietnamese experience! After lunch we spent the afternoon taking in the gardens at Cong Vien Van Hoa Park as well as the old post office, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Reunification Palace which was South Vietnams presidential palace. The whole town was really busy with the usual motor bikes everywhere and every couple of minutes someone was stopping us to ask if we wanted water, pineapple, souvenir, cyclo ride or whatever else they happened to be peddling that day. For the most part all you have to do is say no and keep walking and that tends to send them on their way with the occasional seller being a little more persistent to no greater success! By the time we had walked what felt like the entire tourist trail of Saigon we headed back to the hotel for an hours rest before going out for more craziness on the streets of district 1.

We had one more day left before we moved north so we decided to try out one of Saigon's more exciting modes of transport, a motorbike taxi. It sounds insane and to be honest it is a little insane but with everyone dotting about the town on the back of a bike we were desperate for a shot and with all the mad traffic everywhere you looked here was definitely the place to try out the motorbikes. As with absolutely everything in Vietnam we had to haggle over the cost of two bikes and after a little coming and going we settled on a fee equivalent to about 75p each driver to take us to the riverside area home to all the fancy hotels and department stores. To sum up the whole journey in three words fast, scary and so much fun! Perched on the back of the motorbike hanging onto the handle behind you, zipping in between dozens of bikes and cars through red lights and busy intersections without letting up on the gas! About ten minutes later we arrived at the waterfront in one piece and had thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it was something we would be doing again. The waterfront wasn't pretty as so often the case in Asia nobody respects their country the result being litter everywhere including in the rivers and streams completely ruining what could be a beautiful waterfront. We had a walk around the shopping centres as well as taking in some of the pretty architecture in this part of town including the grand town hall and surrounding gardens. After lunch we were at a bit of a loose end as to what to do next and having read the guidebook that morning I had read about the Vietnamese traditional medicine institute where you could get and I quote "muscle melting massages from blind masseurs"! That was something I was keen to check out and whilst Michael was somewhat reluctant to say the least I managed to persuade him with another motorbike taxi to the institute. The ride was just as fun as the first one and when we arrived at the institute it wasn't quite how I imagined. The courtyard was filled with loads of congenitally blind Vietnamese men and women all relaxing in the shade obviously oblivious to our arrival. Still in 2 minds about whether to stay Michael looked absolutely terrified and completely out of his comfort zone. Once inside the blind receptionist offered us 2 choices with our without air conditioning and as it wasn't too hot we opted for a fan room massage a snip at the equivalent of one pound fifty. We were each handed laminated tickets with nothing but brail on them which didn't exactly put Michael at ease not knowing what his ticket was signing him up for!! We were directed into separate rooms and so from this point on I can only talk about my experience which starts in a large room curtained off to 4 small booths and behind the curtains I can see people being massaged and all the masseurs are gibbering away to each other in Vietnamese as they work. I was ushered into the free cubicle and instructed rather bluntly to take off my clothes so I promptly undress and am left standing in the room on my own wearing nothing but a very un conservative red thong (thank goodness they are blind was all I could think) I must have stood for a very uncomfortable 2 minutes before I went in search of something to cover myself with because this was just to weird. My salvation came in the form of a small hand towel but beggars cant be choosers. After maybe another 2 minutes a tiny blind lady comes through the curtain and because she is unable to tell me what she wants me to do she starts to manhandle me onto the table and with hands everywhere I am glad I found the hand towel!! Once on the table I was able to relax as for the next hour I had a full body massage which for the most part was quite nice and not nearly as strange as it all sounds! After my hour was up her little talking watch told me it was time to go so I got dressed and went in search on Michael to make sure he had survived not only his first ever massage but his first ever blind massage. We both met again in the hallway and we were both smiling so we knew it had been fun and what an experience. On the way back out the courtyard I noticed that Michaels forearms were all red and on questioning him it turned out his masseur had spent 20 minutes giving him Chinese burns on his arms pulling out hairs and causing him to have to bite on the pillow to help with the pain!!! I couldn't stop laughing as he went on to describe how this tiny Vietnamese man with no eyes had opened a can of whoop ass on his arms and calves leaving him limping and bruised, such a laugh and you just cant buy entertainment like that for a quid back home. After our massage we had a quick look around the gigantic central market which was just too big and with everyone trying to get you to look at their stall we soon tired of it and went in search of a little bia hoi shop for some rest and relaxation. Bia Hoi means draught beer and is a beer brewed on a daily basis that is delivered to small bars in the morning to be consumed over the course of that day. It cannot be kept beyond one day due to its lack of preservatives so the next day a whole fresh batch is delivered to be sold in litre jugs for 11,000 dong the equivalent of 44p! The beer varies from place to place however the price is always cheap, cheap, cheap. We found a small shop set up with children's plastic tables and chairs absolutely rammed with locals and tourists the wee lady running the shop somehow found us a couple of chairs and we rather clumsily tried to squeeze our giant bodies into these tiny chairs. The beer was good, all the better given the price and just sitting watching the world go by at lightning pace was far more entertaining than any film.

So that was our introduction to Vietnam and what an introduction it had been. It had told us in the guidebook that we would be charmed by Ho Chi Minh and we can definitely both confirm that that is indeed the case. The whole place is amazing and around every corner there is something to make you smile or laugh. If the rest of our tour is as addictive as our first few days we are going to love it and cant wait for our next destination.