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After the over night bus journey from Cambodia and successfully entering Vietnam we arrived in Saigon.
It was clear from our taxi journey to our selected hotel that this was a very different place to our last sleepy destination in Cambodia. Firstly Uncle Ho had himself a big old city, secondly a very busy one. Occasional buses, lorries and taxi's were heavily outnumbered by mopeds, moving round the city in mass swarms. From this point in we both knew it would be a lively few days.
We arranged to meet two friends (Nic & Chris) at the hotel, who in turn arranged to meet two other people (James & Martin). So with 6 of us and introductions made we decided to go and sample the local beer. The cheapest and most popular, by far, was Saigon (green) which could be bought from the the various bars, with a favourite being the Crazy Buffalo bar, like nearly all places in Vietnam, throws in free pool. Handsome!
When paying the bill in the snazzy bars we were socialising in, we soon discovered that despite ordering a beer at the bar (like in England) or if feeling fancy, via table service (this involved ordering a beer from a table next to the bar, which in turn took about 8 minutes to arrive at the table) we incurred a sneaky little 'service charge'. All 6 of us were baffled by what this covered - but we paid and went on our way. Once we had all got over this shocking extra charge, we worked out that it was in fact, a grand total of about 60 English pence (split between 6 of us), an outrage I tell you!
The best place to have a couple of beers though was outside hostels and cafes which lined the streets.....It was also the cheapest, a cool refreshing
bottle of beer set us back a whopping 10,000 Vietnamese dong - roughly a massive 29p (Oh yes!!). We enjoyed a few nights sat outside this particular hotel, all sat on comedy seating, children's garden furniture to be precise, which, for some didn't require too much folding of limbs (Belle) but for others a little more (all 6ft 2 of Matt).
We did also explore more of the city and partake in activities which were un-related to beer. The Cu Chi tunnels for example. Unfortunatly the cold Belle had bagged in Cambodia had got the better of her for this trip so the group of
six were one light.
The tunnels are about an hour out of Saigon. Here, thanks to a slightly mental tour guide and war veteran, Mr. Bean (mental by his own admission) we were shown round the amazing network of tunnels that the Vietcong used during the war. There were also boobytraps, an old tank, a shooting range, and the most one sided DVD (of the war against the Americans - "who were like crazed devils.....even shooting pots and pans") you will ever see. The main attraction though were the tunnels themselves. An astonishing network of tunnels bored out (with not much more than a spoon) by the Viet Cong, to live and to hide in from the Americans, at three different depths - 3m, 5m & 10m. At the end of tour, we were allowed to sample one of these amazing tunnels first hand. The previous nights drinking, sat folded up on childrens furniture, came in handy!! The tunnels were tight to say the very least. As we decended down a small ladder and got
into the tunnels, doubled over and crouched down we headed through. With minimal lighting and not a choc ices change in hell of turning round the only was was forward! (pictures to follow). After a cramped, hot, sweaty 10 minutes or so we emerged into daylight. Slightly scary experience but well worth it. Although my legs did ache for the next couple of days!!
After the tunnels, we headed to the war museum in Saigon, which again was very anti - American but well worth a visit. Old tanks, planes, artwork, photographs and more were all on display.
That day we also found out it was 'uniforcation day' in Vietnam and were told of fire works on the river bank to celebrate this. If we thought the traffic was crazy in the day, the evening traffic for the fireworks was a whole new gravy. Never before have we seen so many mopeds and so much pure chaos in our lives. This made crossing roads a slightly daunting but extremely fun experience. There is very very rarely a break in traffic, you just have to go for it, Niel Armstrong style, "one small step for man..." A steady, continuous pace is all that is needed as you walk across / through the quick moving traffic. Motorbikes simply drive round you and weave in and out where they can. Each pedestrian on foot was "king of the road" (as hedgehog once sung in a tv commercial).
The fireworks which then followed were just as entertaining as the walk - rocket after rocket lit up the sky, which was a very pleasant distraction from the smell of the sewage pipe we had to stand next to. This smell had no bearing on our enjoyment of the display, one any cub and scout groups up and down England would have been proud of, and probably Mr. Folks himself.
A couple trips to the night markets were also made. Lines of stalls make up the market, the majority of which all sold the same fakes as each other. Visiting the market was fun in itself but it was a whole lot more fun if you actually wanted to buy something....let the haggling commence. If the traders decided not to play ball and accept the price, the next step was to walk away. This promptly resulted in the trader shouting or in some cases following us down the street, agreeing to 'our price'. David Dickinson (and the other bargain hunt bloke!?!) would have been proud.
Another few hours of non beer time was taken up by our viait to the local waterpark. A day of wicked good waterslides, zip lines and a few more slides of the aquatic nature, made for a very fun day out. Not only this but to my (Matt) amazement the park had a special offer on.....a day of aquatic fun comes with free conjunctivitis, and when I thought it couldn't get any better it was for both eyes, not just one. If that's not a a billy bargain I don't know what is?! This and Belles cold however did not put a dampner on our time in Saigon. A lively, energetic city enjoyed with old and new friends made for a brilliant 4 days!!
- comments
lethal Move over Bill Bryson - you could write this stuff for a iving! Sounds like you had a brilliant time. XXX
MaGoose On balance I think the tunnels sound a better bet than trying to cross the road - I'd still be standing and waiting for the green man! XXXXXX
Matt Your blog is amazingly detailed - it's keeping us busy in the office with all that you are doing!! 60p for table service - certainly better value than the Saxon Inn...£2.50 for a burger and beer - rip off!!