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We made it!! After buckets of rain in Dalat we was met by gorgeous weather in Saigon!
The journey from Dalat to Saigon was ok as we went a different route to the way we entered Dalat so we wasn't driving on the side of a cliff! Although we was in a mini-bus which was full for the 8 hour or so journey!
We had been given the name of the hotel which Petra was staying in so we made our way there when the bus dropped us off. First thoughts on Saigon were that it looked really nice and you could tell straight away that they had alot more wealth than in the North. After we finally managed to find the hotel which was down a little alley we were shown a room which was $14 a night - the room was on the 5th floor with no lift. The room was totally fine although the bed was just a bit bigger than a single which Jaan wasn't thrilled about but we decided to take it anyway as all our friends were here - Jaan would just have to go back to having 50% of the bed rather than his usual 75%!
The hotel was good and included breakfast which was really nice. The owner who was a lady was a bit crazy and seemed to argue with one guest at least once a day over really random stuff!
The weather in Saigon was really nice and we were glad to be out of all the rain in Dalat!
Me, Jaan and Petra went for a walk and went to a Dutch Market which Petra had spotted the day before. We decided to try all the dutch food and we had our very own dutch guide - Petra :) We tried these gorgeous mini pancakes with butter, Frikandel special which was gorgeous and kroket. Jaan and Petra also tried Herring but I'm not a fan of fish!
The next day we all went on a half day tour to the Cu Chi tunnels. If you want to read about the tunnels check this link out - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%E1%BB%A7_Chi_tunnels
We took the 2 hour bus to the tunnels and was given a tour by a guy whose name I cannot remember. There was 37 of us in the tour group so he just called all of his "My Family" which got slightly annoying after a while! The tunnels were really good and we were shown some tiny tiny holes in which the Vietnamese could access the tunnel from - they were sooo small! Only a few of the tourists in our group could fit down it. When came to one of the tunnels which had actually been made bigger for westerns and we all went down. I had only been down no longer than a minute when I knew I wouldn't be able to crawl through them! There were a few people behind me who I made back out (as you couldn't turn around) so I could get out! It was tiny down there and you were going down and apparantly at some points its pitch black and you have to go on your hands and knees. Jaan went the full 100 metres in the tunnel with a few others whilst I held everyone's bags :)
We then came to a shooting gallery where you could buy bullets for several different kinds of guns. It was really expensive so me, Jaan and Petra brought 10 (the minimum) between us which was 300,000 dong. We all shot a M16 which was really good and me and Petra kept a shell of the bullet - not sure if I dare enter oz with it!
When we arrived back in Saigon we were all starving so heading to Pho 24 to have some..well Pho! Pho is noodle soup and you can have either beef, pork, chicken etc with it. Really good and dirt cheap!
That night we went out for a few drinks. We went to one bar and when we got the bill they had charged us 10% extra per drink for bringing it over to us - even though you are just told to sit down. Jaan was not happy :)
The next day me and Jaan decided to go see the War Remnants Museum which was really interesting although really graphic about the war. It was mainly showing the Amercian phase of the Vietnam war.
Andres arrived that day and me, Jaan, Andres and Nick booked a 3 day / 2 night tour of the Mekong Delta. We also met a girl called Tiki from oz and 2 Irish lads, David and John, who also decided to come along. David and John were goin to head to Nha Trang but apparantly Nha Trang is totally flooded and also the road between Dalat and Nha Trang has been washed away. We have been very lucky with the weather!!
We've both really enjoyed Saigon. The people here are really friendly and you can tell there is alot more wealth here. We were once told that in Vietnam fat people are rich and skinny people are poor - it is so true here! I can't believe we have been in Vietnam nearly a month now and made it all the way from Hanoi - Saigon.
The next part of our trip is the Mekong Delta which Jaan will fill you in one :)
Amy
xx
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mum What a great trip that must have been.xx