Blogs from Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 210

Pulling into Vietnam was an experience in itself. We were to port in Ho Chi Minh city, formerly known as Saigon, which was further inland and required us to sail through the narrow rivers of the Mekong Delta. For an hour that morning our massive ship cruised along the waters, taking up the majority of the space except for a few fishing boats. Since the port was in a gated harbor, we could walk the twenty minutes to the downtown area or take the shuttle provided by SAS which left about every half hour. For those brave enough there was also the option of a motorbike, whose riders would take you into the city for a $1. Motorbikes and motorcycles were absolutely the popular mode of transportation in this city, outnumbering cars maybe 10 to ... read more

I natt skiltes vaare veier. Skilte? Hmm... Petteeeeeer?! Ja, ja. Dennis og Thomas dro oppover langs kysten av Vietnam. Jeg dro tilbake til Ho Chi Minh City. Bare fordi jeg drar til Thailand i dag. Fra, ja, nettopp; HCMC. Uka med Dennis og Thomas var, uten aa overdrive; fantASTISK. Caps lock er fine greier. Thomas er en liten utgave av Adolf Hitler. Og jeg maatte le saa mange ganger. Aa maatte le er en sjelden ting jeg gjoer. Men jeg maatte le med og av Thomas. Han ble forresten rosa av sola. Han hatet sola. Og han satt bare i skyggen. Men rosa? Det ble han for det om. Jeg har lyst til aa skravle saa masse. Om Vietnam. Men jeg faar det ikke til. Det er saa masse aa si. Men neiggu om det kommer ... read more

In a city of 4.3 million motor cycles it will be no surprise to you that the roads are overflowing with chaotic activity! With traffic lights regulating only the very biggest on the big roads and the red light not strictly adhered to, crossing the roads can't be anything other than perilous... or so it would seem. On a tour to the Mekong delta yesterday out tour guide told us that there was in fact an art to road crossing. "Close your eys and pray to Budda," were his words of wisdom! To go by the advice would of course be to sign one's own death warrant. However perhaps there is a modicum of sense in the first part of the advice. Although not literally closing one's eyes, the answer seems to be to step ... read more

Minst. Du skulle bare sett. Aldri foer i mitt ganske lange liv, har jeg sett saaaaa mange mopeder paa ett sted. Et paradoks: I Norge fyker vi rundt i bilene vaare. Jeg kjoerer for det meste alene. Her? Faa biler. Mange mopeder. Og alt kan fraktes paa en moped. Familietur til Hanoi? - Last opp,unger! I dag drar vi paa en 30-timers tur til Hanoi. Foerst Ole, saa pappa, til slutt mamma med minsten paa fanget. Ikke glem lille Grethe paa to, som attpaatil maa sorge for at koffertene er paa plass. Klampen i baann! 6 er det meste jeg har sett paa e'n moped. Og er det ikke familien,er det kjaeresten. Og er det ikke kjaeresten,er det 1000 kg mel. Bokser, klaer, ved, oljekanner, stiger, kommoder. You name it. Hva har jeg med meg i ... read more

Hello All Well here we are in Saigon. It is soooo hot! We really noticed it when we got off the plane on Tusday night. We had a beaut trip over with Jetstar - managed to score seats near the exit door! Stretched the legs out and enjoyed! We thought it very Aussie when they served us meat pies with tomato sauce just before landing in Saigon - not your usual airline type meal! We were late arriving and caught up for ages waiting to go through immigration. It seems lots of aircraft arrive around the same time in the evening so there was a huge backlog. Anyway once through grabbed a taxi and whizzed into town and there were Adele and Craig sitting outisde the bar with a beer (not Craig) waiting for us! ... read more