Ho Chi Minh

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We have now spent 2 full days in Vietnam after a relatively stress free flight from Heathrow to Ho Chi Minh via Bombay and Bangkok!

Arriving Monday afternoon we were jetlagged and tired so opted for a 2 hour power nap before walking into town for food, still wearyfrom our journey. The streets of Ho Chi Minh are crazy with so many moptorcycles and mopeds to dodge every time you cross a road! We eventually stumbed across a restaurant for our first full meal. Yasmin had chicken curry and I went for beef (buffalo) noodles...after making our way back to the hotel we had a massive 14 hour sleep to overcome the jetlag!

The following morning we started with a coffee before exploring more of the city. First we went to one of the main markets in town which was very hot and busy but had everything you can imagine on sale as well as food! It was after this experience that we wrongly opted for a bicylse ridew with a vietnam man costing "just one dollar"....8 dollars later and dropped off at a museum which had closed for lunch we had been taken advantage of for the first time on our trip! However, better for the experience we then went on for lunch and witnessed our first monsoon whilst eating the customary noodles of the nation! We then went back to the War Museum which was mainly about war crimes on the Vietnamese ppl during the war and was quite horrific in parts!

Later in the evening we met with our group who we will be spending the next 2 weeks with and went for food together and some drinks! Everyone is young and nice with 6 aussies, an austrian, 4 welsh and ourselves! After another good nights sleep we got up early for our first group trip out to the vietnamese tunnels (where vietnamese civilians hid underground from the Americans and French during the last 100 years) which was an amazing experience actually going into the tunnels! Whilst there i fired a couple of guns, an AK47 and an M16, again, a very good experience with some great pictures!

Back at the hotel Yasmin and I then went to the river to see the poverty in which some of the local ppl live. In contrast there are huge megabuildings being built just yards from slums...possibly a sign of the work still to be done in this country! We are now back in the hotel before a short journey to the train station where we will be heading on the night train to Nha Trang tonight which will be on the beach!

Hope you're all well at home and will keep you updated!

Jamie and Yasmin

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