Vietnam - Saigon

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We arrived in Saigon at 8pm on Thursday after a 13 hour bus ride from Siem Reap. We were greeted off the bus by a local who carried my bags and led us through narrow alleyways to our hotel. After checking in, we walked around to find somewhere for dinner. You soon realise what a bustling city this is with narrow buildings, a population of 10 million and thousands of motorbikes filling the streets. We were up at 7am on Friday for a minibus tour of the city. We visited the Notre Dame Cathedral, Post Office, War Museum, Chinatown market, a Vietnamese Temple and a Chinese Temple before returning at 4pm. That evening, we checked out a few bars before going to a club. Saturday was spent walking around the local streets and included some DVD shopping, clothes shopping, an internet session and a 70 pence haircut. As Saturday was St Patrick’s Day, we took motorbike taxis to an Irish bar in a different part of town. A few drinks later and I stumbled home at 9am. After a lazy Sunday afternoon, I stayed in to watch football in the evening. On Monday, I was up at 7.30am to catch a 3 hour bus ride to the Cu Chi Tunnels. Our guide showed us various underground tunnels that the Vietnamese used in the war and we had the chance to crawl through these narrow tunnels. We were also shown various traps in the ground, tiny covered holes for hiding, bomb craters and different huts for dining, living and for making weapons and land mines. After returning at 4pm, the rest of the day was spent relaxing and going out for dinner. We woke up early on Tuesday to catch our bus to Mui Ne.

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