The essential thing here is for the women -to keep clear white skin-they wear elbow high gloves and bandanas to keep the sun at bay.Dark skin is for farm workers-light is MATCH BETTA. Unoffically the city is still called Saigon- but thanks to Uncle Ho it is respectful to call it Ho Chi Min City when talking with officials. The city fumes,ferments,bubbles and churns-yet withing this 300 year old metropolis remain timeless traditions. There is much kindness to old and young- and because there is no pension plan or such the family nucleus is close and true. There are the essential activities to perform throughout the day- primary to eat 5 times per day.From 5 am people sit on their haunches and slurp the Pho noodles.The market scenes are a delight to the senses.More colour,activity and shear industry I hav never experienced. Their smiles radiate and their laughter is infectious. The average meal is betwee $2-4-6 - for the street stalls where the locals eat as little as 50 cents.The food is sublime. Early this morning as I trotted around the market I came upon a dish of jumping frogs being singled out by a porcelain faced women.She promptly bashed it on the head and skinned it in one. Needless to add my face had a look of horror at which she howled with laughter. At that point I switched to photographing less mobile items like veggies and UMBLLELLAS! The Cu Chi Tunnels were fascinating-.At first glance there is little evidence here to indicate the bombing and destruction.You have to dig underground to see. The tunnels became legendry during the 1960's as a role in fascilitating Viet Cong control of large rural areas.They are only 40km form HCMC They stretched 250km.The network,some several storeys(SAWEES)deep included hidden trapdoors,living,sleeping,kitchen,hospitals and storage.Babies were even born here.The tunnels allowed communication and co ordination between VC controlled enclaves isolated from each other by the S Vietnames and American Operations. We had the opportunity to go into the tunnels-I declined as within 3 metres my claustrophobia kicked in and my hamburger thighs kicked out. There is no word for obesity -it simply does not exist. They are all as thin as toothpicks. I cannot begin to fathom what the soldiers -both sides had to endure-the heat/humidity is intense-although bearable at this time of year,backpacks weighing 25 kilos (not as mine filled with lipstick,water and bug spray)leeches,scorpions,snakes,AK47 etc. You get an opportunity to shoot an AK47- I did not but others did.The noise of one bullet is deafening.