Ho Chi Minh(ging) City

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Everything about Saigon (as most people still call it) is completely bonkers. Think about, 8 million vietnamese , all on motorscooters and all out for a drive at the same time and you are kinda there. Plus they all drive like my Dad to add to the chaos.

People do all kinds of crazy stuff including driving into oncoming traffic or mouting the pavement , amazingly we have yet to see a crash on the roads but there must be lots. The traffic also creates loads of pollution so it is no place to go if you have bad lungs.

The people seem mostly friendly although these is a ridiculous amout of people trying to flog you stuff , from dried fish with chilli source (ming) to a print out of your body mass index (random). They can get to be a bit of a pain but they are only trying to make a few dong as a vast number of locals seem pretty hard up.

It is so cheap here , having gone from extreme poverty in Australia we are now living like kings over here. A beer costs as low as 30 p and a sit down meal is between 1 and 2 quid. Tis a hard life. The only problem is you have to barter over absolutely everything you buy, evan a single orange and the price usually starts very high as you are a tourist. However, even if you get ripped off its only by a few pence anyway.

We didin't do that much in Siagon as we are coming back here in a few weeks, we just caught up on some much needed eating and drinking.

In addition, we had arranged to meet up with a friend from back home (Neil) and co (Az and Jules) whom we knew was also in town. Having checked into our hotel we discovered that they were coincidently staying in the same place.

Plans were made and we hit the town, with a friend of a friend called Ollie whom lives out here and is the Vietnamese National Tennis Coach. Things got a little messy resulting in us going to a very plush bar and a backpacker haunt. Recolection is patchy at best.

Claire was in bed for two days afterwards and I joined a very exclusive club of people whom have been sick in the back of taxi in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City after a day at the Water Park. Not many people can say that, or would want to.

So all is well in Saigon, a great city with loads to do.

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Photos

The City
Chaos on the roads

Ben Tham Markets
The Butchers Section

Drunken Night Out
Our night out in Siagon, Az, Ollie, Neil, Jules, Me, Floss