Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon, Vietnam

We arrived in Saigon at 04:30 on the overnight train. We reached the city by 05:00. The hotels were still shut at this time... so we had to sit in a cafe (with all the drunks who'd decided to stay out all night) and have an early breakfast. The guesthouses opened at about 07:00. We finally found a room after looking in about 20 hotels. We've got so fussy recently!

We had a nap for a couple of hours and decided to check out the city. Our first stop was an indoor market. We were pounced on from all corners "Hello lady! You wan t-shirt?!". From here we walked to the Museum of Fine Arts. I was more fascinated by the actual building than the art work it contained. Again, it was in a gorgeous French style, although in need of a little loving care. Large airy rooms, window shutters, balconies, large staircases, etc.

Museum of Fine Arts.

Stained glass in the French doors opening onto the front balcony.

I loved the floors in this place. Each room had a different design and pattern - always symmetrical. Lovely! This photo just doesn't do it justice I'm afraid.

We also stopped at the War Remnants museum. It basically showed the Vietnamese version of events during the war, along with lots of disturbing photos. Yep, the Americans did some bad things too. But all war is bad, whoever is fighting and wherever. Innocent people always get hurt. I think women should run the world. I'm sure there would be less suffering!

Reena's a vegetarian so finding food for us to eat can sometimes take a little longer than normal. In every main city I always try to suggest going to a purely vegetarian restaurant. These places normally offer meals with lots of imitation meat, e.g. sweet and sour underside and cumin mutton (these two we had in Beijing). More often than not it feels like you're chewing on stewed fat! We stopped into a little restaurant in Saigon and opted for the sweet and sour shrimp. When the plate turned up it looked just like a load of bright pink cat turd and didn't taste much better. They even added in the black peppercorns for the protruding eyes! I only wish I took a photo.

While sitting down at an outdoor cafe, I was chatted up for the first time by a 10 year old kid... That's their way of charming you into buying their ware - chewing gum, cigarettes, books, etc. Its very sad. Kids as young as two are taught to bring chewing gum to your table and look innocently up at you. This continues to go on until the early hours of the morning. When do they get a chance to sleep at a normal hour, let alone play?!

Reena, me and (a cheesy looking)Dave.

Three years ago I met an American guy called Dave in Mainz, Germany. I heard he was teaching English in HCMC so decided to try and catch up. It was great to see a friendly face after all our struggles in Vietnam. He took us out for the two nights that we were there, and had a great time! Thanks Dave!

The rest of the English teaching lot... Grant, Dave, (little) Reena, Me and Paras (a Harrow boy... small world!). I later learnt that the guy sleeping in front of us was called Peter, from Nigeria.

South Vietnam was a complete turn around for my opinion on Vietnam. The south really is more palatable!