Blogs from Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 17

Guten Morgen meine lieben. Ich bin heut zu wunderbaren Sonnenschein wach geworden. Es ist mir immer noch nicht ganz klar, dass ich mittlerweile 11000km weit weg bin. Aber ich hab mich gefreut wie ein kleines Kind, als ich das Fenster aufgemacht und festgestellt habe, dass ich heute sicher keine Jacke benötigen werde ;) also ich ziehe mir jetzt meine kurze Hose über den Bikini und gehe nach einem Kaffee, frischen Litschies und einer Banane, diese Wahnsinns-Stadt erkunden. Bis bald eure Lisa... read more

29th/30th We landed in Saigon yesterday afternoon after a small flight delay. My three words first impression: friendly 'organised' chaos. Unlike Thailand, 'the land of smiles', here they seem more genuine and people smile at each other, which I didn't realise was missing in Bangkok until now. 'Organised' because there seems to be an unspoken agreement: on roads, motorcycles have priority; on zebra crossings, motorcycles have priority; on the pavement, motorcycles have priority. Chaos speaks for itself. First, we decided to take the bus. After confirming it went to the right road, the driver asked where we were from - and cheekily asked for some English money in exchange for Vietnamese Dong! The bus was a rickety tin can that had definitely seen better days, and very quickly filled with locals making the snail-pace commute into ... read more

Day 19 - Củ Chi Tunnels and War Remnants museum A good start to the day, up and around at about 7am. I always stay good first thing, and am usually in pain by lunch, and in agony by bedtime, but am noticing that good spells are getting longer every day! I make my own life difficult as I refuse to miss anything! After breakfast today, we are being picked up to go on a group tour to Củ Chi tunnels. The tunnels of Củ Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Củ Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. We were shown in, and through some of the tunnel network. Unbelievable! Throughout the ... read more

Day 18 - Saigon Zoo and botanical gardens What a lovely, restful nights sleep! Soft bed, fluffy pillows, oh how I take the comforts oft own home for granted. I am reminded how much I love my marshmallow like bed! We both woke up feeling totally refreshed, and ready to start again. We had breakfast in the hotel; it was a refreshing change to not have an omelette, but i did still have an egg! I had it with toast, then croissants with jam, some fresh fruits and a cup of tea. Perfect! Our main task for today is to book the Mekong tour. We have researched before coming, it seemed expensive, but we agree that it is something that we definitely want to do. Last night we found some tour agent places do we are ... read more

Tuesday 7 July - We flew from Danang, leaving at 09.05 And arriving in HCMC at 10.29. We transferred to the Ruby River Hotel. Tom went out in search of nibbles from the market While I unpacked and caught up on some washing. Wednesday 8 July - Up early for Mekong Delta Cruise. It was a 07.30 pick up but usual slow start picking up different people. Our guide was from the Mekong and was from the Mekong Delta and was quite informative. We started by looking at honey bees and tasting Royal jelly in tea with kumquat juice. We heard some of the local people singing and playing instruments and ate local fruits: small bananas, dragon fruit, Jack fruit, pineapple and papaya. Then we took a canoe along the river ably paddled by a lady ... read more