Blogs from Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 10

Day nine and we enter the chaos that is Ho Chi Minh city. Our hotel is lovely, not fancy but family owned - the family live downstairs with their little dog 'Minho' and are very friendly and kind. We wandered out to find some breakfast and ended up in the 'No stress' cafe, noodles with an egg and vegetables started off the day along with possibly the strongest coffee I've had since I've been here. We were back at the hotel and ready to jump on a bus to go to the Cu Chi tunnels by midday, slightly stunned by the scale of things in the city - it will definitely take some more exploring! The bus journey was long and bumpy, but provided good views as we moved out of the city into the outskirts. ... read more

Ho Chi Minh Cityand Cu Chi Tunnels Flight from Vientiane was with Vietnam Airlines. From what I have seen it is an excellent airline. Unlike the budget airlines here there is a bit more legroom, very comfortable seats and you even get something to eat and drink without paying for it as an add on. There was a stop over in Phnom Penh with peculiar procedures. Even though the stopover was only for 30 minutes we were not allowed to stay on the aircraft, were asked to go to the terminal with all our belongings. The problem with that was we had to go through another security screen, take out all computers, wallets, belts etc..There is no reason they could not allow us to stay in the aircraft or at least leave our belongings on the ... read more

Geo: 10.7592, 106.662Swarms of locust decimating a field of crops, or throngs of army ants overrunning their prey - those are visuals that come to mind when visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's most populous centre. What exactly could swarms of insects have to do with HCMC? Because that's what Vietnam's Xe Oms, or motorbike taxis, remind me of! The roads of HCMC are complete chaos, with hordes of motorbikes and scooters owning every square centimetre of pavement. We'd heard harrowing stories of crossing the street in Vietnam, but we simply weren't prepared for the motorbike madness!The first time crossing the road in HCMC quite literally takes your breath away, as you gasp in shock at the site of so many scooters. Viewing traffic from a helicopter would be an incredible experience, as the mass of ... read more

I can still recall quite vividly being at Teachers College in assembly and wondering what on earth those exec guys were going on about - invading Vietnam - who cares about some Asian place nobody's ever heard of? To my shame I was super ignorant and and scoffing of their calls to protest the war. Well, what can I say apart from that I was young and stupid and ignorant of how the world really worked. Fast forward a few years when the actual reality and horror and futility and lies about America's involvement were becoming common knowledge and I felt rather small. That's a way of introducing my visit to the Cu Chi tunnels, the preserved remains of an underground network of tunnels that were used by the Vietnamese to attack, survive and exist within ... read more

Anticipation is building as we try to organise ourselves for the impending Tuesday departure - Wellington - Auckland - Ho Chi Minh City. I haven't visited Vietnam before, something I've wanted to do for years, while Lyn has been several times for work and pleasure (sometimes they're not exclusive). We are spending time in Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi, Ha Long Bay, Hoi An and in Cambodia for a few days via Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. We finish with 5 days in Tokyo. While Lyn is working I'll be touring up a storm and trying to soak up as much of the sights, sounds, smells, atmosphere as I can. Woo hoo!!... read more