Ho Chi Minh

Next we crossed the border into Vietnam, our first stop was Ho Chi Minh or Saigon. With more people in this city than the whole of Cambodia it was a bit of a shock going back to the urban life style and placing your life in danger every time you tried to cross a road! Apparently it's best to close you eyes and just walk, at least that way you don't see the near misses.
We went on 2 day trips from here. One to the Mekong delta which is meant to be amazing... we were both underwhelmed. Maybe we should have gone for a 2 day tour which a lot of people were doing. We felt it was more aimed at selling us things rather than showing us the delta. The best part was getting a boat ride through the small canals of the delta which had some nice scenery.
We also went to the Cu Chi tunnels which were used in the French/American Vietnamese war. We both found these amazing. Three floors of underground tunnels 3, 7 and 12-15 meters underground. With places for people to live and in total all the tunnels combined were over 200km in length. We got to go down into the first floor. It was hot sweaty and small, not something I would want to live in for years at a time.
On the last day we wandered around the city itself looking at cathedrals etc, we also went to the museum dedicated to the Vietnamese war. Again apparently we are uneducated on the topic but I'm fairly sure this was a one sided view if things. However there was a lot we hadn't really appreciated before. In particular that the wars within Vietnam had lasted about 30 years non stop which included the French colonial war and the American wars which had been back to back. There is a particular anti American feel about the place. On the bright side, there are baguettes and crepes on every street corner to eat!! Susie was happy!Read more