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Published: January 3rd 2007
The Journey & border crossing from Cambodia to Vietnam was so much smoother than Thailand to Cambodia, I had heard lots of horror stories about the Vietnamese border & even witnessed one; luckily we had no problems. We did however have to pay to get a certificate to go through customs & as we didn't have any Vietnamese Dong, a foreign man offered to pay for us, Claire & I couldn't thank him enough. When we worked out how much he had paid it was about 12p each but I still thought it was really good of him.
We met an Ozzie called Adam from Melbourne who was on our bus & got some food with him when we got to HCMC at about 3pm. We found the Hotel we had booked & didn't really do a lot; watched some TV & then went out again for a bit in the evening before drinking in our room.
Saturday we walked to a military market where I had the urge to buy some Camouflage Military shorts, (I love them) & then went to the Phung Son Tu Pagoda. We carried on walking up to the Notre Dame Cathedral, which isn't
Me with the massive Python
(I am so brave, I think he could smell my fear!)as grand as The Notre Dame in Paris but was nice all the same. Also saw Reunification Hall, (the Presidential Palace), before heading to Cho Ben Thanh market where I continued to buy more stuff to send home, (two matching wine bottle holders & a statute of a Vietnamese lady in one of those hats that everyone wears here).
We had arranged to met Adam, Jon & Mike at 6pm at the bar on the corner of our road; as Claire was running late I went to meet them. I saw two guys sat there with big moustaches & big hair both looking like Borat from a distance, I carried on looking & then looked back to find Borat & Borat waving at me. Jon & Mike had decided to have a competition to see who could grow the longest moustache without trimming it, they looked hilarious. I found Adam & he said he thought it was New Years Eve today, that didn't stop us starting the celebrations a day early & we had a proper Saturday night curry before drinking the Remey Martin Champagne Cognac.
Jon & Mike had been looking for a film on DVD the
whole time they had been in Asia but hadn't managed to find it. They set Claire & I the task of finding it in five weeks & they wanted e-mail pictures as evidence if we had successfully found it. Within the hour I had found the DVD they were after & they were amazed that we had found it; I think you had to be there but the look on their faces was priceless.
Claire & I had booked a half day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels for Sunday, (New Years Eve), we had to be up just before 7am so I felt a bit tired & a bit hungover but thought I could fit an afternoon power nap in later to recharge my batteries for New Years Evening. The tunnels were great, I learnt a lot about the Vietnamese War & we got to go into the tunnels & walk/crawl around for 90 metres. The majority of the tunnels are about 120cm high so you have to bend down, in some parts they are a lot lower & you have to get down on your hands & knees to get through, it's also extremely hot down there so its amazing to think people used to live down there!
Our guide, Mr. Khanh, was so funny, he made the trip so much better, he knew everything when people asked him questions & he even shook everyone’s hand & wished them Happy New Year when we got off the bus at the War Remnants Museum. It was extremely busy but we spent about an hour walking around & seeing tanks, planes, weapons, photos, paintings & horror stories from the war. We walked back to the hotel & instead of the afternoon power nap we ended up watching a film. We again met at 6pm where our evening began.
Mike & Jon's friend Andreanne, (French Canadian girl), was not due to arrive until about 8pm so we went to a bar by the bus stop & had a few beers while we waited for her to arrive. She arrived about 9pm & then had to find somewhere to stay; obviously she hadn't planned this very well as almost everywhere was full. So again we went to another bar to wait for her; Claire, Adam, Mike & I sat singing along to some quality songs like Dire Straits & Bob Marley, I managed to get a hat from one of the barmen & an invite to met him later, I politely declined.
We lost Adam in the crowd before Andreanne rolled up at about 10.30pm; Claire & I were slightly annoyed that she had put the night on hold & we still hadn't eaten. We went to a Saloon bar, (with swinging doors & everything), where we eventually ate at about 11pm, I had to argue with numerous people about the bill, (for the second time in the evening people were trying to overcharge us). Got that sorted & got to a bar with a really good atmosphere where we saw New Year in & got soaked in cheap champagne.
The bars decided to increase there prices after midnight to some silly amount so we went to 999 Mart to get some drinks, we joined in the street party & sat in the park which was just as busy as the bars! We managed to find another cheaper bar later so had a drink there & got to bed just before 4am.
We had a bit of a lazy day on New Years Day, as I imagine most of you did, we played cards, drank vodka & watched a couple of films, then went for another curry. On Tuesday we went for lunch & had Pho which the Vietnamese have for breakfast, it’s like a noodle soup, I didn’t really fancy it first thing so had it for lunch.
We booked a day trip down the Mekong Delta for the following day & also booked a bus to Dalat for Thursday, I got myself organised & sent my parcel of goodies off home & copied all my photos onto CD's, (about 1000 of them so far!) We also went to STA to try & confirm some of the dates of our flights we had not been able to do yet & had already decided to change our plans slightly, spending less time in Tahiti & Bermuda, (where it is more expensive) & adding San Francisco, (to visit Jon & Mike) & spending an extra night in New York & Philadelphia.
On Tuesday evening we met & had some Mexican food before going bowling. I started off winning for the first couple of rounds & then managed to end up 3rd out of the five of us. We had another game & I came 4th but managed to bet my previous score. Claire was an absolute demon in the second game & keep getting strikes & spares almost everytime, ending up with a final score of 120.
On Wednesday we got up at 6.20am to get ready for our trip, I was so tired, I tried to sleep on the bus but the roads are bumpy & we were sat right at the back of the bus. We arrived in the Trung Luong district & got a boat to Turtoise Island where we walked through an orchard which was more like a jungle & had lunch.
From there we got the boat to Unicorn Island where we got to see how coconut candy is made, we also got to try some & also some banana chips. We sat & drank Honey Tea, (Green Tea, with honey & mandarin juice), while two ladies & three gentlemen sung traditional southern Vietnamese folk music to us. We also got to sample banana wine & honey wine, but most definitely the highlight of my day was that I sort of overcame my fear of snakes by holding a massive Python while it was wrapped round the back of my neck, I was really nervous but thought I had to do it.
We got onto a long boat where two Vietnamese ladies in the pointy hats rowed us to Dragon Island & Phoenix Island, down some smaller canals. We had a walk around & spotted Adam who we had lost on New Years Eve so managed to catch up with him before getting back onto the bigger boat to take us back to the mainland. On the way home we stopped off at a café where they had lots of monkeys & Claire & I got to feed them. One of them looked so sad to be locked up in the cage. One of them looked really cheeky & two others sounded like they were trying to talk to us.
We grabbed some food when we got back & said our goodbyes as Claire & I are heading off to Dalat. Ho Chi Minh City has been great; the Vietnamese people are so friendly & helpful, I’m really looking forward to seeing more of Vietnam.
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