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Published: December 6th 2008
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We took a quick one hour flight down from Hoi An to Ho Chi Minh City. As I stepped of the plane it felt like opening the oven door. The heat and humidity here are unbelievable. It soon dawned on me that I need to get used to it because in the next two months it’s only going to get hotter.
I had heard the there was quite a difference between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam's largest city) but I didn’t expect it to be so apparent. HCMC has a lot more of western feel to it, our guide Bien explained that the people in the north prefer to save money whilst in the more affluent south they have a more “live for the moment” philosophy and prefer to spend more. There are department stores and neon signs all over the place.
In the afternoon of our first day we had a cyclo (3 wheeled bikes with a seat in the front) tour of the city including the War Remnants Museum (interesting, but incredibly bias against the Americans), the cathedral (based on Notre Dame) and the Reunification Palace. I felt very awkward being on a cyclo, it
sort of feels like I’m being put on display.
The following day we headed for a boat trip along the Mekong Delta, stopping off at a workshop that makes coconut candy and a bee farm where we had lunch. We also had a little ride down one of the canals in a little rowing boat and the boat trip back to the bus turned into a bit of a Karaoke session, Good times.
Since that was the end of the first part of the tour and we would be losing a couple of people as well as changing guides, we all went out for a big meal (I had a pizza which is the first time I’d had western food since leaving the USA). The night ended up quite messy once we’d found a bar selling cheap gin & tonics and cocktails. People seem to find it hilarious when they see me drinking from a cocktail glass.
Unsurprisingly the next day started with a few bad heads. After we had said goodbye to Bien we headed out to have a bit more of an authentic Vietnamese day. We had lunch in a real Vietnamese cafe, which had only
The central market
Mostly tourist stuff and smelly dried fish one thing on the menu, pork noodle soup. I found the pork and the noodles, but I’ve got no idea and nor do I ever want to know what the other pieces of meat in the soup where. I slightly underestimated the strength of the chilli sauce which whilst turning my mouth into the surface of the sun, it did the trick curing my hangover. We also had a last Vietnamese coffee in the local cafe down the street. It took a few goes at ordering but was well worth the hassle. You are given a glass half full of condensed milk with what looks like a metal teacup on top, this parts the filter. It takes about 5 minutes to come through and once you mix it in wit milk it becomes really thick. I’ve bought a couple of filters to bring home with me.
I’ve now left Vietnam for Phnom Phen, Cambodia. Our new guide Dave told me that the rest of the tour form here to Bangkok is pretty much Temples, Torture and Genocide, so lots to look forward to.
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