Blogs from Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 6

We arrived in Ho Chi Min city after an uncomfortable and long 13 hour journey across the border, only to be bombarded with hotel touts and motorbike taxi's, all wanting our business. We decided to grab some lunch before heading to a guest house called “My Home.” It was really nice, despite being up 6 flights of stairs with no lift, but at least they carried our heavy backpacks for us. We didn't do much the first night as we were tired from our long journey and it started to rain so we ordered a takeaway pizza and watched a film. The next morning we were woken at 7 o'clock by the sound of drilling, which was so loud it felt like they were in the room with us, and that was even with ear plugs! ... read more

We stayed in a very welcoming and helpful family run hostel in HCMC who advised us to eat in a nearby seafood night market (which was super tasty), explained all the sights and arranged our trip to the Chu Chi Tunnels for us. We lucked out on our trip to The Cu Chi Tunnels by having a guide from south Vietnam who served in the Vietnam War fighting with the Americans. He had many interesting stories about the War and the Viet Cong, showed us booby-traps, how they made weapons and explained how they lived and fought in the tunnels. Half way round we were offered the chance to fire guns at the shooting range, why not eh!?! We were equally nervous and excited about the prospect and signed up to fire an M16. You pick ... read more

The last couple days of our Vietnam trip have been spent checking out the sites in Ho Chi Minh City. We took a day bus here from Nha Trang arriving fairly late, after finding our hotel and grabbing a bite to eat in the touristy district, we headed back for an early night. I woke up next morning with several mosquito bite marks on my foot. It was probably pissed off at me trying and failing to kill it the night before. The following day was spent trying to cram every tourist activity possible into one day. We managed to check out the Mariamman Hindu Temple, the War Remnants Museum, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Reunification (Independence) Palace. The temple wasn’t all too exciting, which was probably why there were no admission fees. The War ... read more

While in Chau Doc, our first city in Vietnam we also took a 'moto' ride into the hills. Located about 15mins from the our hotel we headed to a bar on top of a mountain, overlooking the river. The motorbikes ride, the first of the trip for everyone was great fun, if slightly nerve racking in places. Traffic rules and rights of way seem none existant in Vietnam much like Cambodia, a blast on the horn suggests 'get out of my way im coming through'. Once at the top of the mountain, all without injury, we got a drink and watched the sunset before riding back down in the dark. The sunset was pretty poor as the nightly clouds set in but we both had to admit to really enjoying the ride! (laura sends her apologies ... read more

While my room was cheap it was a prison as well. Staying in Saigon without air con or at the very least, a large window to open is hell. I couldn’t sleep for the sweat dripping from every pore of my body. When 6 am came I was already away a good long while and had a cold shower, not by choice, there just wasn’t any hot water and to be honest it did feel good. Breakfast was a nice change; I had 2 fried eggs and a baguette with some Chin Su sauce, chilli garlic and tomato sauce. It was a nice change from Pho! The ride to the tunnels took around 2 hours stopping at a craft workshop. Arriving at the tunnels you are ushered to a hut (cinema) where you are educated on ... read more