Saigon part II: it's so much easier than writing Ho Chi Minh City everytime.....

Disclaimer: this is unfinished work. The photos aren't up and it hasn't been proof read properly, so beware of spelling mistakes and typos! The Internet has been consistently bad over the past month or so, meaning we can't upload photos. We just wanted to get something readable up in the meantime!

Friday

Today we decided to head for the War Remnants museum. During the night, we had been rudely awakened by a group of people who arrived at about 1am. Rather than try and keep the noise down, it seemed as though they were intentionally trying to make as much noise as they could. All 3 decided to have showers and make no effort to whisper. Our other roommate, Charlotte and I were unimpressed and gave them dirty looks whenever we saw them. We gave ourselves a bit of a lie in after our unwanted alarm call and we were surprised to see the late arrivals up and out already. We went down for breakfast and then prepared ourselves for the heat onslaught. It just seemed to be getting hotter and hotter as the days went by and we still weren't quite used to the opressive humidity. The war remnants museum was a fair stroll away, so by the time we arrived we were dripping with sweat. We bought our ticket and entered, admiring the tanks and helicopters that were placed around the front entrance. The first room we entered was seemed to be the Ho Chi Minh propaganda room. It contained staged photos of him working with a fisherman and spoke very highly of the former leader. From the first descriptions it was clear that this museum was only going to describe one side of the story, which is fair enough considering where we were but it didn't really paint the full picture. We left this first room and moved on to photos of all the rallies held around the world that supported the end of the Vietnam War. Next, we wandered up some stairs and ventured round a few rooms that had personalised stories of horror, such as US soldiers entering villages and murdering everyone in sight. These rooms contained photos and physical exhibits from the towns that were effected, as well as accounts of survivors. The final room we got to see was the weapons room, a selection of guns, ammunition and mines used during the war. There was more to see but an announcement came over a tanoy that they were closing between 12 and 1.30. We didn't fancy hanging around in the heat for the place to reopen, so we had a quick nose around the souvenir stalls to see if there was a better pinbadge on offer but there wasn't so we made our way out. We guessed they were closing for lunch and couldn't really understand why they couldn't have lunch at different times to keep the place open but there was nothing we could do about it. Saigon didn't have a great deal to offer and we still had 3 days left before we moved on. After stopping at a bakers and having some interesting pastries for our lunch we went back to the hostel and relaxed. With time on our hands, we thought we should spread out our activities for the week and try and avoid the constant sunshine. That evening we found a restaurant tucked down a road that was highly rated on Tripadvisor. I had a pasta dish but we can't remember what Charlotte had.  We weren't really impressed by it, which may explain why we can't recall it.

Saturday

Our weekend was empty but we wanted to escape the confines of the hostel for atleast a few hours. So we decided to wander in the direction of the Saigon River. It took us a little while to get there and didn't really have a path following the side of it. Eventually we managed to cross a very busy road and one seemed to appear out of nowhere. There were a few tourists in the area aswell but there wasn't a great deal to see. As with every other river we had seen in Vietnam, it was a muddy brown colour and filled with rubbish and waste. After a couple of hours spent by the river and making use of the many benches we were accosted by a man wanting us to take a boat ride. We rejected him though for the same reason we did the man in Hué, his boat looked ready to give out any moment. We found ourselves in the posh area again and were desperate for a cold drink and some food. This time we didn't even bother checking out the nearby cafés as we knew they were out of our price range. We knew where we wanted to go and marched off in the direction of home. On the way, we stumbled across Ho Chi Minh square and took a few snaps. Our destination was the Hungry Pig, where we'd had dinner a couple of nights before. This time, we made our own sandwich by ticking what we wanted on a laminated piece of paper. Once again, it didn't disappoint and was nice and cheap compared to the expensive end of town.  As ever for Saigon, we retired to our air conditioned room to avoid the hottest part of the day. We were productive though and sorted out our transport for Australia, which meant we had everything booked up tor arrival in New Zealand. We had our heart set on a Saturday night curry for dinner but when we turned up to the restaurant it was full. We could have waited but decided to head somewhere else instead. Another restaurant we had been to before but not quite as good as the curry house.

Sunday

This was a complete and utter rest day, in fact apart from some food, I'm not sure we even took a photo to post up here. After enjoying a Banh Mi (sandwich) up north in Hanoi, we decided to try one from the South but we couldn't really tell the difference between the 2. It was enjoyable though and lunch for 60p is not to be sniffed at. Something else of note that occurred was that we started taking our Malaria tablets, which would see us through our entire visit to Cambodia. The side effects list was as long as my arm and included diarrhoea, vomiting, hallucinations, mouth ulcers, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, itching and dizziness. We were hoping to avoid the majority of these but would have to wait and see. They managed to squeeze us in to the curry house that evening but we didn't have as good a time as we did the first evening we went there. For starters, Charlotte was laughed at when she ordered her dinner. She ordered Butter Chicken, which at home is quite a mild dish and even said as much on the menu. The waiter asked if she would like it spicy or medium, to which Charlotte replied that "it is mild anyway, it says so on the menu". The waiter was baffled by this and said that if she wanted it mild it would be bland. We were pretty sure you can have a very tasty curry without it being spicy and insisted that it should be mild. After that was sorted we preceded to be stared at constantly by a lady who was sat on a table next to us. It was very annoying, to the point where we would be talking about it quite loudly while she was doing it. We also took turns to stare at her while she was staring at us but she never really got the point. We ate our feast (we ordered quite a bit) and asked for the bill. After filling out a quick questionnaire (we had down the same in the previous visit) we waited and waited but the bill wouldn't come, we even handed the questionnaires in,  and hoping that that would speed up the process, but it didn't. We asked for the bill again and had another questionnaire brought to us. We turned him away though and asked for the bill, again. After a while it was still nowhere to be seen and we gave up and went downstairs to pay at the counter. The waiter insisted that he was just coming with it but we didn't really believe him. We paid and despite receiving a Christmas card from them, we were a little disappointed.

Monday

Our final day in Ho Chi Minh City and our final day in Vietnam. We had enjoyed the country but had probably overestimated the time we would need in Saigon. The last thing on our list was the Independance Palace. We had passed it when we walked to the cathedral but hadn't noticed it. It was only when we got back that we realised we had been so close. Anyway, we took on the Saigon traffic for one final time. A tourist ticket cost a significant amount more than one for a local. We didn't really have a problem with how much the locals pay but we couldn't see why the tourist price shouldn't be the same. We paid anyway and entered into the grounds. With the coach load of Chinese tourists hot on our tail, we took some snaps of the front and entered the palace. Over the few hours we were there, we took in 3 floors, which contained various rooms, such as a cabinet room, the presidential offices and even one where the presidents wife held her functions. The highlight though was the basement, which contained the war room with maps showing progress and Viet Cong supply lines and various communication rooms with telephones still gathering dust on the tables. After a quick peak in the kitchen, which still had most of its original equipment we left through the gardens. Having come out a different way that we had entered, it took a short while for us to get back on track. After we had found our way we headed for a cafe we'd spotted on the way that morning and treated ourselves to a very tasty sandwich and a nice cold fresh orange juice for our lunch. We stopped off at the supermarket on the way home and picked up some supplies for our coach journey to Cambodia the next day. We cooled off in the room during the afternoon and ventured out one final time to the Hungry Pig for our dinner.

That was that for Vietnam. As ever we had enjoyed small town Hué, more than we'd enjoyed the chaos of Saigon or Hanoi. However, we had both loved Vietnam, the food was good and cheap, the people were friendly and, although we were constantly sweating, we couldn't fault the weather.

James and Charlotte

Ho Chi Minh City part I: So that's what chaos sounds like!

Monday

Today was checking out day in Hué. Our train wasn't leaving until 7 in the evening so we had plenty of time to kill. It was still pouring with rain outside too, which meant we were pretty much limited to entertaining ourselves inside the hotel. Fortunately, the very pleasant receptionist told us that we could keep the room until 2pm, rather than 11, so this helped us out massively. It gave us time to get to the supermarket before we had to check out. We needed to stock up on food supplies for our long overnight journey south to Ho Chi Minh City. We picked up 2 big French sticks and other assorted goodies like crisps and chocolate. We returned to our room drenched and feeling horrible but managed to dry off before we left the room for good. To pass the time until the evening, we sat in the lobby and caught up on the blog and photos. The time flew by and before we knew it, the receptionist was calling our taxi for us. We'd been warned to watch out for taxis overcharging, although we so rarely take them it doesn't really apply to us. This one used his meter and it only cost us about 50p for the 5 minute drive. We still had a little wait at the station for our train to arrive. When it did, we clambered up the steep steps and joined our local roommates, who were already settled in. The first stretch was just a repeat of what we'd done a couple of days before, along the coast to Da Nang, however, we couldn't see anything out of our window as the sun had long since set. By the time we reached Da Nang, we were all tucked up in bed with the light off. We were disturbed though, by an unnecessarily loud American man shouting through the door that this was his cabin and he'd booked it for 4 people. We'd locked the door before we went to sleep but he somehow managed to wrench it open and break it. Despite seeing us all tucked up he was still adamant that this was his cabin. When we got on the train, we'd all had our tickets checked and we knew we were in the correct place. He shouted  and shouted that he was right, that was, until the conductor came along to check his ticket. He was politely informed that he was on the wrong train and that he wanted the one heading North and not South. Boy, how we laughed him out of the carriage. His family/friends had already made a hasty retreat, clearly embarrassed by his idiocy. We didn't even get a sorry as he strolled off, aghast as to how it was he who could be wrong. After all that excitement, we all settled down to a bumpy night sleep.

Tuesday

It was a long journey south and rather uneventful too. For miles and miles we chugged past Dragon Fruit plantations, muddy rivers and small shanty towns. Eventually, at about 4pm we started to meander through the suburbs of Saigon. We pulled into the central station about half past 4 and we saddled up and headed off into the almost unbearable humidity of the Ho Chi Minh. It was a fair old trot from the station to our hostel. We ignored the pleading taxi drivers and made our way through the alleyways and busy streets to our destination. As you can imagine, by the time we arrived we were pretty sweaty but the air con in the room was a welcome relief. Rather than get washed up, we just went straight out for dinner, not really caring about the pleasant odours we may be giving off. After a quick look on Tripadvisor, we found a very highly rated curry house and decided that was for us. We wandered along our road (pavements just haven't made it to Vietnam yet, or atleast, not for their intended use) and found Baba's Kitchen in amongst the t-shirt shops and massage parlours. It was a great meal, cheap and sizeable. The complimentary sides of spicy mango pickle and sweet pickled onions also went down a treat for me. We left pretty content, with the intention to go back later in the week. We retired to our small but comfortable 6 bed dorm, ready for a bright and early start the next morning.

Wednesday

We were up before 7 to freshen up and get some breakfast before we had to leave by 8 o'clock. Since Xi'an in China, my left ear had been completely blocked up and I'd been struggling to hear anything out of it. My right ear would also be blocked when I woke up every morning and then come back when I stood up. So after over a month of irritation, I'd finally thought enough was enough and I made an appointment at an international hospital in Saigon to get them sorted out once and for all. It was hot outside (I'm not sure it ever isn't in this part of the world!), and by the time we'd walked to the clinic, the sweat was dripping from us. It was all nice and clean, fresh and modern inside the building. I gave them my details and was then taken up to a different floor. They did the basics height, blood pressure, weight (I've lost over a stone since travelling!) and then we sat and waited to see the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. We were called in and I sat in her chair, she had a quick peek in both ears and all she could do was laugh at the wax build up inside them. She informed us that it was an easy job though and can be sorted out by an endoscopy and what's known as an aural toilet. A thin instrument with a small hoop at one end was stuck in my ear to scrape out the wax and because it was done using an endoscope, we all got to watch it on tv. The results were unbelievable. We sat out in the waiting room after I'd had it done and my hearing was so good I felt like superman with supersonic hearing. I couldn't keep the smile of my face, it was such a relief, until we left the clinic. We paid for the treatment and even received the disgusting photos of my inner ears before and after as a memento. We stepped back out into the heat of the day and I was hit by the overwhelming dinh of traffic, roadworks and just Asia in general, all at once. Charlotte had a laugh to herself and welcomed me to what she had been hearing for the past 2 months. It was a job done though.

We didn't have much planned for the rest of the day, the clinic was our priority and we didn't know how long we were going to be in there for. We wandered back to our hostel to drop off the photos and decide what to do for the afternoon. We had a few very boring, mundane things that needed sorting, so we decided to get them done, so they wouldn't be hanging over us for the whole week. First up, was hunt down an Internet cafe to get our passport photos on an email for ourselves. Once we'd got that sorted, we could apply for our Cambodian e-visa, something we'd been "forgetting" for quite a while. Despite the internets best efforts to stop us from doing it, we got it sorted and had another box ticked. That had taken a good couple of hours, so we headed out to buy ourselves some lunch. After a stop at 2 different supermarkets, we were pretty pleased to be back to our old favourite of cheese and meat sandwiches, which had been hard to come by since leaving Europe. After a quick call home to let my mother know how the ears had gone we had to get some washing done (it's not all glamour, this travelling malarkey!!). We wrote a list of what we sent off, so we could compare when we got it back and sent of the smelly bags to the laundrette. We'd had a productive day, she we spent our few hours until dinner relaxing in our lovely air conditioned room. We went for dinner just a few doors down from our hostel and had a couple of cold Bia Saigons to cool us down.

Thursday

Despite my new super hearing, I'd succumbed to the infamous 'Saigon Squirts' overnight and wasn't feeling great. We treated ourselves to a bit of a lie in as they serve breakfast until well gone 10. We eventually got up and had our egg and toast and headed out and about for our first proper foray into Ho Chi Minh City. We had aspirations of more than just a pin badge from here and decided to both add a new tshirt to our collections. Our hostel was along what's known as 'Backpacker street', so it had its fair share of the shops we were after. We didn't manage to pick up anything on our initial run but still had plent of time to find something we liked. We decided to see some sights finally and headed in the direction of Ben Thanh market, which is the main day market in town. After a quick look around the claustrophobic and sweaty stalls, nothing took our fancy and we moved out for some fresh air. Our goal for the day was to get to Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica, which is a large cathedral located in central Saigon. After a long sweaty walk, during which we took a long sit down in a park with a cold drink, we made it and couldn't help but admire the impressive building. I haven't got a lot of information to write about it, so I'll let Charlotte post some photos instead.

Located just across from the cathedral was Saigon Central Post Office, which despite its unimpressive name is rather impressive. It was built in the 19th century and was heavily influenced by European architecture.  It is a huge building and a rather popular tourist attraction but that may be due to its proximity to the cathedral. We wandered in anyway and had a look around. Nowadays, it seems to be half post office and half souvenir shop and was crammed with throngs of tourists. There were a number of phone booths situated either side of the entrance as we walked in each had a clock above displaying the time from a far flung location on Earth. There was Tokyo, Moscow and London, although, London's time was wrong. Evidently, someone missed the memo that the UK was back on Greenwich Mean Time now. We had a quick look around the adjoined souvenir shops and found a pin badge. It wasn't perfect but we knew it would have to do, as they would be hard to come by here. So we picked them up and could relax trying to find one. After our look around the post office, we were in need of some food but we were bang in the centre of the expensive district of Saigon. A quick look at the menus of the cafes told us that, £3 for a coffee is pretty expensive at home, let alone Vietnam, so we carried on wandering. We managed to find a department store that had a supermarket on the top floor, so we ventured in to try and find some snacks. It was slim pickings in the supermarket but we managed to get a pot of Pringles to tide us over. We left and ate them sat on the steps of the Ho Chi Minh opera house, whilst considering our next move. We came to the conclusion that we didn't want to spend mega bucks, when we could get anything pretty cheap near to our hostel. We finished our Pringles and headed in the direction of home. Along the way we passed a coffee shop and decided to try there. We had a nice coffee and some fried rice each, for pretty much the price of a coffee where we'd been earlier, so we were pretty happy with ourselves. The air con was much appreciated too. On our way back to the hostel we stopped by the tshirt shop we'd been in earlier and picked up one each that we liked, quite a bargain too considering they came to £7 for the two of them. We dropped our goods back to our room and after a short rest we were heading out for dinner. We'd picked out a burger place for the evening called "The Hungry Pig" and had a simple burger and chips for dinner. Reasonably priced and a good size, we left pretty content and headed back to our room to relax and blog as ever.

James and Charlotte