Sexy time in Saigon

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We checked in to our Bangkok airport hotel for our 3 night stay whilst waiting for my Mum and Peter to arrive.

We took a taxi to Khao San Road, where we had visited 2 years before. It hadnt changed much apart from there seemed to be alot more street sellers and stalls set up along the road. We bought a few bits, nice and cheap compared to Malaysian prices, and then took another taxi to the massive MBK shopping mall. The mall had been closed for the past few weeks due to all the protests and had just recently opened up again so there were lots and lots of sales on.

The mall is about 6 floors, 5 with shops and markets and then the top one with a cinema. The place was absolutely massive, definitely the biggest shopping mall we have ever been in.

We made good use of the markets inside selling all the usual printed t-shirts and bags etc and then found a Nikon shop were Phil bought an accessory for his camera.

Feeling very satisfied with our cheap shopping spree we headed back to the hotel excited about meeting my Mum and Peter the next day.

I (Victoria) jumped in a shuttle bus from the hotel to the airport and waited for around an hour for them to arrive. We called the hotel and they arranged for someone to come and collect us. We all had quick showers and then headed back to MBK mall to show them the many things they had on offer, from fake Iphones to amazingly cheap Benefit and MAC makeup.

Our flight to Vietnam was booked for the next day, we were originally meant to be staying in Thailand for the 3 weeks but because of all the trouble and the talk of civil war and the Thai people over throwing the King we thought it would be a good idea to stay away.

We took a short flight to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and arrived on time, made our way to the visa desk and handed in our letters of approval that we'd got online really easily. You just need the letter, one photograph and $25.

We are all in agreement that Saigon is absolutely insane. There are over 4 million motorbikes in the city, all whizzing around, cutting lights and driving wherever they want. You dont wait for people to stop when crossing the road, you just go and the bikes just make their way around you. It takes at least a few trys to get even remotely used to it!

We stayed in Duc Vuong Hotel which was in District 1, the main part of the city. The hotel was lovely, only a 2 star but the best we have stayed in so far. The room was big and we were upgraded for free, you got a free buffet breakfast and a yummy free dinner 3 nights a week. The staff were all lovely and really helpful which made the stay really good.

There was a tour booking place there as well so we decided to waste no time at all and book on to the city tour, which lasted a full day and we visited the Reunification Palace, War Remnants Museum, Old Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral, Laquer Workshop, Wholesale Market, China Town and a Chinese Pagoda.

The day was really good and at $5 per person was definitely worth the money! The only downside is there were quite a few of us on the tour (about 15) so it made it quite annoying having to wait for people all the time, but it was so cheap you cant really complain.

We found a really nice place to eat, an Italian restaurant which did amazing food the best we have had in 3 months since traveling, stuffed ourselves silly and then went back to the hotel for a much needed rest.

The next day we decided to go on another tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels, 50km from Saigon. The tunnels were built over 25 years starting in 1940, when Vietnam was at war with the French. The tunnels were repaired and more excavated in the 1060's when the Viet Cong were at war with America. There were over 250km of tunnels in Cu Chi tunnels, many of which are now too damaged to go in to.

The Viet Cong actually lived in these tunnels, cooking underground and even women giving birth. We walked to the most visited tunnel, Ben Dinh, and saw alongside the traps they made to trap the Americans. The traps were savage, covered up holes in the ground with huge spikes in, trap doors with metal spikes and many many more.....all featuring spikes. No way they would of been getting out if they had fallen in.

I crept through one of the tunnels, about 20m, it was extremely hot and claustrophobic. Obviously the tunnels have been made bigger for Westerners to crawl through but they only measure about 1.2m high and 80cm across, you are on your hands and knees the whole way along. You can stay inside the tunnels up until about 50m but I didnt fancy that as the heat and the enclosed space were getting to me a bit.

There is also a shooting range at the tunnels where you can go and pick your gun to fire and go to a shooting range, lots of dried mud just next to the shop and shoot your heart out. There is also the option of throwing a grenade as well, but we didnt see anyone doing that. When you hear real gunfire it goes right through your head, its a terrible noise and we were all glad to get out of there.

At the end of the tunnels was a room dug in to the ground with a small TV and some benches to sit down on. We thought we would be watching a video about life in the tunnels etc, but unfortunately it was just propaganda. We walked out after about 10 minutes, as it wasnt interesting it was just going on about the American Killer Devils shooting everything and everyone in sight. I dont want to get in to politics to do with war, but the video was just ridiculous. The War Remnants Museum in Saigon got the point across alot better about the terrible things that happened.

We went back the hotel feeling slightly dissapointed by the tunnels as they were swarmed with tourist, clambering on the tanks which had been blown up with people killed inside, doing the famous V sign....why?

Trying to get a good nights sleep in our room the next two nights was not easy with some randy Australian bloke who was about 40 and very interested in one particular prostitute. He bought her back to his room (which had a locked adjoining door to ours) at about 3am, turned up the TV and they were talking to each other for ages, but more like shouting. Then the sexy time started, once Im awake I cant get back to sleep so had to listen to that, luckily it was only for half an hour - he couldnt of had alot of money! Then more loud talking, money being exchanged and she left at around 5am with the promise of having sweet dreams of him...yuk.

Our last day in Saigon was spent shopping in the local market and shopping malls. It was good, not as good as Thailand but we still managed to get a few bargains.

We headed back to the Italian for another slap up meal, costing around 30 pounds for the 4 of us including wine and beer, then back to the hotel for another night of the stupid man.

This time she didnt seem to visit, but he was on the phone to her for a couple of hours sounding like some sad teenager in love telling her how much he liked her and he was sorry for something blablabla. Can these people not get girlfriends at home?!

Next day we were up early for the bus to Dalat, it was only meant to take 6 hours but ended up being about 8. We arrived in Dalat, in the Highlands, late evening and found our beautiful hotel without hassle and tucked ourselves in to our lovely beds with duvets for a very well deserved rest. We have been very busy since arriving 2 nights ago, but I will talk about that in our next blog!

Our Route So Far

Kuala Lumpur - Ipoh - Tanah Rata (Cameron Highlands) - Perhentian Kecil - Kota Bharu - Kuala Lumpur - Kuching (Malaysian Borneo) - Kota Kinabalu (Malaysian Borneo) - Kuching (Malaysian Borneo) - Kuala Lumpur - Melaka - Bangkok - Hi Chi Minh City (Saigon) - Dalat -

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