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Published: January 23rd 2008
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Hello Chubb
Bloody everywhere In the words of Robin Williams - nanoo nanoo!
Hoh Mi Chin - Saigon
We arrive at Saigon once again without having the foresight to book a hotel, which means lots of walking around aimlessly looking for the accommodation we both like and can afford. After about an hour or so the heat finally got to us so we ended up buying the lonely planet book seeking a bar and browsing their choices. Armed with a couple of hotels in mind we once again head off, however we are asked by a couple of older gentleman if we would like to ride on a rickshaw, they assure us they know the hotels we are looking for and it will only take around 20 minutes. Well the poor guy trying to pedal me around had to get off and push (and yes I let him) every time we were held up in traffic, and when I say traffic, this place makes the M1 on a Monday morning seem tame, its completely manic. Anyway after about an hour sightseeing (see the Chubb sign, sold 60 key holdings Scott - please pay commission) we arrive at numerous hotels, non of which are
Luxury Taxi
Fully Air Con and everything the ones we asked for, nevertheless we decide this is the place to stay and finally end up in a nice hotel Lac Vien for $30 a night. Saigon is a huge place and one can easily get lost, there is certainly a mixture of both old and new buildings but they are still someway behind the likes of Bangkok in terms of being westernised.
We head off to the War Museum on our first full day, however the affects of being a dirty stop out until 4.30 in the morning, I had to ruin the day and head off back to the room. Next day fairs a lot better after we visit the Cu Chi tunnels, this is the area the Vietnamese caused the US the most problems with their gorilla type warfare attacks, utilizing the tunnels to move around anomalously planting their traps and grenades. Even though they have enlarged the tunnels to allow us bigger people to view them from the inside, the heat and darkness in there was almost unbearable, so they say no way were we going in….lol Unfortunately someone forgot to charge the camera so we have no pictures of the event. After
War Museum
One of the tanks the septics left behind the tour, you are able to fire 10 rounds for $15 from an AK47, someone must have bought a $100 worth and the noise it generated was superb, best part of the trip really so shows how much we enjoyed it.
On our last night we head off the Restaurant 31, this turns out to be the highlight of Saigon, you are able to cook your own food on a little barbecue. The beef is superb. Next door is an Australian bar which had at least 4 excellent pool players, I was in my element and certainly enjoyed the tough competition.
Mui Ne
We now head off to yet another seaside resort which is about 5 hours drive from Saigon. Not learning from our previous lessons, we yet again fail to book a hotel as the Lonely Planet guide said accommodation was plentiful and cheap. When we arrive once again we end up trawling up and down the street trying to find a room and end up paying twice as much as we could have paid if we had booked directly in Saigon, for some reason half of Russia had decided to visit the same place and
had taken all the rooms. We stay at the Palmira Resort which is situated only a few metres from the beach, has a huge swimming pool and the rooms are very spacious. The main reason people come to Mui Ne is to kite surf, the sight of over a hundred of these things in the air with fit, muscle bound, blond haired young men was enough to pee me right off….although Karen always seemed to have a constant smile on her face.
The traffic is virtually non existent out here so we once again venture on the road with a trusty moped, we head off to the sand dunes which to be honest after Dubai look no better than a few sandcastles on Skeggy beach. Mui Ne town is a little place but judging by the amount of boats everyone who lives their must be a fisherman. The best place to visit we thought was the golf course, it looked superb. I would have played but they insisted on every player having a caddy, part of the fun plying is driving the buggies so if they take that away there would be nothing for Karen to do. Anyway, the
Restaurant 31
Well worth a visit, very nice tea and toasted sarnies were fabulous and anyone coming here to visit (if you can afford to), stay at the Novotel which is right on the course and the beach.
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