Blogs from Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 261

Hello, we are now in vietnam and i have to say it is a very nice after the humbling experience of cambodia. Saigon is so lovely, it is just like paris and even has the notre dame cathedral. I definitly could live here. The border crossing was much more official than into cambodia and a little scary. On Monday we went to the war crimes museum which was a harsh experience. Quite anti american and lots of photography from the war. We then spent 5 hrs walking around and enjoying the fact there are pavements here!! We even found the hotel de ville! Which again, is very french. That night we met up with 2 NZ guys from our bus and ended up getting extremely drunk, not drunk enough to try the snake wine though, which ... read more

Today I started my tourism in ernest. I signed up for a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels just outside of Ho Chi Minh. It was my first time with a group like that, but very interesting. The tunnels are where the people of the village of Cu Chi hid when Americans were in the area or when the area was being bombed. The tunnels include rooms for sleeping, cooking, meetings, medical clinic, etc. Some of the rooms are as deep as 20 meters, and the tunnels themselves are very narrow. You almost have to crawl through them. The tour was accompanied by the typical government propaganda, but in all it was a very positive experience. The guide had fought for the South and when his side lost he had to do eight years in a ... read more

Yes, here I am in Ho Chi Min City, where coned hats, french pastries and mystery meat on the street prevail. I like it better than PP already! Staying in a $2.50 USD guest house. I'm sharing with my new friend Helen from England, who is in her 8th month of travel. She's going for a whole year. At our hotel, we get free breakfast too -- your choice of tea or coffee and "baked." Took me awhile to figure out that meant 'baguette.' (You gotta love the English translations and spelling here!) Ate it in a little kitchen that doubles as a hair salon. Hair cuts are also included in the daily rate. :) Took the first bus out of Cambodia a few days ago. PP was certainly not a place for one... my gut ... read more

Today, our last day in HCMC, we took a 1/2 day trip to the famous Cu Chi tunnels. An undergound network of tunnels used by the VC during the Vietnam war. The tunnels are about an hour and a half away from the city, but fortunatly we had a hilarious tour guide to keep us entertained for the majority of the drive there. Only a small portion of the tunnels is open to tourists, as the entire network of tunnels covers approximatly 250 square kilometers. The first thing I noticed about the tunnels is how ridiculously small they are. The are only 3 of 4 feet high by about 3 feet wide. Except when they open up into underground rooms or chambers. Thankfully, most of our short trips into the tunnels were only 10 or so ... read more

This morning we caught a bus out of Phomn Penh to the largest city in Vietnam, the former Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City. The bus ride and border crossing were relativly uneventful and we soon found ourselves in the backpacker area of Saigon. The first thing I noticed about Vietnam was the quality of their roads, they are much nicer then even the nice roads of Cambodia. And all in all Vietnam seems much more developed. Remnants from the countries french rule are evident everywhere, and chic cafes line the streets. We haven't done too much today, we ate at a cafe called Go2, it was very stylish, but a bit expensive. Tomorrow we have a tour of the city planned, and we've also purchased open bus tickets. Saigon-Da Lat, Da Lat-Nha Trang, Nha Trang-Hoi An, ... read more