Hi!

Had a great few days in Ho Chi Minh City since our last post. The morning of our second day in the city, we went back to the market for another look round, and did some more souvenire shopping. We stayed for lunch at one of the many stalls there which was very nice.

In the afternoon, we completed the walking tour that we had started the day before. We did a circular walk of parts of the city, and walked past the main post office, in a grand old French building and the Notre Dame Cathedral. The highlights was the Jade Pagoda, which was not what we were expecting, as it is a Chinese temple and was much smaller than other Wats and Pagodas we have seen, but was very interestingly decorated. There were big coils of incense that hung down from the ceiling of the Pagoda that you could light. And lots and lots of insence burning everywhere, giving an amzing smell and smoky atmosphere.

After the temple we went to the highly recommended botanical gardens, complete with zoo. To say it was a disappointment would be an understatement! The park itself was quite pleasant, but the condition of the animals was very poor. The reptile house had lizards, snakes and turtles in small rooms made of concrete with little water, and no matter what animel it was, they all had bananas to eat. Then we saw the elephant enclosure, which was one sad elephant chained to a tree stump with no food available at all and nothing to do.

We didnt stay long, and went back to the hostel via a crazy moto driver for an early dinner. In the evening we went out to the bowling alley which is in a big fancy skyscraper, and very futuristic design, with lots of local teenagers. The final score was 153 to 96 to Tom, which Kate insists is a fluke, as Tom normally averages about 50!

On the way back, we went to a French cafe for Ice Cream and Crepes Suzettes. Yum!

The next day we had booked onto a tour to see the Cu-Chi Tunnels, which the Viet Cong had dug to protect themselves, and launch attacks from during the Vietnam war. It was our first tour of the trip, with a tour guide and everything! But he was a bit odd and called us his family, and we had to call him Number One :-)

The tour was actually very interesting and we both managed to squeeze into the tiny tunnel entrance! We learnt about the booby traps the Viet Cong lay to kill the enemy and at the end we crawled trhough a 100m section of tunnel. As an optional extra, we were invited to fire AK47's and other guns on their shooting range. At over $1 a bullet Tom only fired 5 shots, but it was very fun. And incredibly loud!

In the evening we went to a night market, and ate some weird multicolour rice, before getting an early night, as we had an early bus to Mui Ne.

Thanks for reading,

Kate and Tom