Blogs from Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 13

It’s only 4 weeks since we were freezing our wotsit’s off in Outer Mongolia, today in Saigon we are sweltering in the mid 90’s F, even got our shorts on! Boy, did we make a mistake getting here? As we'd had a good experience getting the night bus to Hoi An, we thought we would give it another go. Armed with a couple of books and a downloaded film, we took the 22-hour bus ride from Hoi An to Saigon. First thing was that the bus wasn’t up to the previous standard with broken and ripped seats. We worried also there was no emergency exit and all the emergency hammers for breaking windows for evacuation were missing. We were delayed while 5 motorcycles were dismantled for carriage with luggage below. The more we neared Saigon the ... read more

This was my second trip to the tunnels in 3 weeks, same company, TNK Travel. I've used them on every visit to Vietnam. This time I have so not been impressed! It would seem that a very good question to ask is how many people will there be. In the past I went on a minibus, small group, good fun. This time it was a huge coach, about 30 of us and it was far too many. Also, we made an unnecessary rest stop after 1 1/2 hours, nobody wanted it, and the sole purpose was to herd us through a workshop where disabled people were making lacquerware and stuff out of eggshells, huge sales room, nobody bought anything except for fruit shakes, a total waste of half an hour. So we got to the tunnels ... read more

Today the plan was: War Remnants Museum, try to buy Water Puppet tickets, lunch with Harry, Eden Spa for nails and leg massage, XO night tour of the city. We got motorbikes over to the museum, 30,000 each. Gills driver's head attire consisted of a baseball cap with a cycle helmet on top. 15,000 for us to go in and 2000/5000 for Vietnamese (I forget which) - I should think so too, it should be free for them. It was my 3rd visit but it doesn't get any easier, all those harrowing photos. I must read about the history more, so it is more meaningful and put into context. Must say, I sort of admire the Americans who certainly come away with a negative opinion of them, although of course there were very many opposed to ... read more

Waiting at the airport for Gill was an experience in itself. Outside arrivals it was deceptively quiet to start, then as some flights from China, Gill's included, were due to arrive, the crowds started to gather. There were rows of orange plastic chairs with space for passengers between, but the people waiting kept filling all this space. The security guard was going nuts with his whistle but King Canute stood a better chance - as soon as his back was turned they all swarmed in again. I knew the flight was there but no sign of Gill. 1 1/2 hours after landing there she was, being swept along by the tide. Her case, however, was absent. My second family member with missing case in 4 months. I must have bad luggage karma. The first flight had ... read more

It was another flipflop-melting experience on the streets, still enjoy walking here despite the traffic and general cruddy nature of the pavements. I headers off to buy tickets for the water puppets and the place was marked incorrectly on my map, asked some security guards (waved the map at them) and they flapped me in the right direction, a bit further along. The parks here are so beautiful, ginormous trees, well kept flower beds, swept paths, lots of benches. Still v v hot in the shade though. Bad ticket karma- it had just closed for lunch. Continued to the Reunification/unification/independence palace, now open again for business, 30,000 (less than £1) to go in. Have never bothered before but thought why not? In fact I really enjoyed it. It is basically a collection of 1970s furniture. Every ... read more