Back to the 'Nam

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Our first encounter upon arriving in Vietnam was Hans being chased around the pavement by a little old lady shouting "You need! You need!" She held in her hand an item she had carefully selected just for him from her basket of random crap...a razor.

We'd just stepped off the coach after the longest and most uncomfortable overnight journey which had brought us from Sihanoukville, over the border and into Saigon. Even in my irritable, aching, sleep deprived state I could see the woman had a point - his facial hair had got slightly out of control.

Saigon has certainly built up over the last 3 years but I felt fully prepared for it after the shock of Sihanoukville. We revisited some of the places we had previously been such as the war museum which was as shocking and horrifying as the first time. We also decided to take a trip down the Mekong Delta as neither of us had done this the last time. It was a lovely day-trip which took us by bus to the river and then by boat to a few different islands. We were given tea which was sweetened with local honey and some local fruit while they sang Vietnamese songs. We were also shown how they made their chewy coconut candy before being rowed in little canoes down winding stretches of river donning our bamboo conical hats.

Back in Saigon we decided a night out was in order so over-indulged in the whisky buckets. Kids still wander about late into the night trying to sell cigaretts and postcards which is pretty tough to see, although one chubby little youngster did get her own back on Hans - after declining her offer to buy a rose she scowled pulled out a party horn and blew it right in his ear before stomping off. He has a way with the ladies.

Before we left we visited the Ho Chi Minh museum, however it was pretty tough to follow (being mainly written in Vietnamese), and we had no real time to look about as there was a school visit going on and the kids flocked around wanting photos with us funny-looking westerners. Step aside Ho Chi Minh, we were the star attraction in that museum!!

After witnessing the drastic changes in Sihanoukville and Saigon we decided rather than follow the tourist trail up the coast, as we had both previously done, we would instead head inland, at least until Hoi An, and experience the Vietnamese Highlands. It certainly took us on an interesting journey...

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