Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

We had a mission getting into Vietnam.  Everything was going well, and ahead of time, until we arrived at the Vietnamese boarder.  The computer system in Hanoi had crashed and as a result they were not able to process people entering into Vietnam.  What this meant for us was a 2.5hr wait in a packed, hot room, sitting on a hard floor.  Once the system was fixed we got through no problem.

From here on in I will refer to HCMC as Saigon, as HCMC is a name enforced from the North, and Southerners still refer to the city as Saigon.  

For a city the size of Saigon there is surprisingly little to do. Nth is is nice as it leaves time to wander the narrow alley ways and experience lots of different street food.  On our first day we did the obligatory War Remnants Museum and Reunification Palace.  The Museum was so propagandist - it made out the Americans were fighting a war with civilians, and not a single mention of the Viet Con who were carrying out the same atrocities as the Americans.  Of course there can be no mention of the Viet Cong as the Communists are still in power.  The museum closed for lunch so we had to leave ...... And we didn't go back after lunch, I was getting brain washed. The coolest thing about the museum was the war toys on display out front - tanks, helicopters and aeroplanes.  My aeroplane is much better than Nathan's! 

Reunification Palace was the President of the South's residence and office.  It was 'liberated' by the South in 1975 and has been left exactly as it was on that momentus day.  It is stuck in a timewarp! 

Our second day in Saigon we ventured out of the city on an organised day tour to the Cu Chi war tunnels and the Cao Dai Great Temple.  Coa Dai is a whacky indigenous religion of Vietnam and we saw the beginning of one of their ceremonies which takes place at midday everyday.  

Onto the war tunnels.  The Cu Chi villagers built a tunnel network of over 200km, to facilitate the advance of the Viet Cong.  The Americans heavily bombed the area and it now looks like a moonscape! The tunnels are very narrow and hot.  When inside you have to walk crouched over and several times I knocked my head on the roof as I tried to look up to see how far we had to go. My hamstrings were dying also! 

Last night we had BBQ street food for dinner.  It's was so yum, and so cheap at only 10,000d per kebab (30p) & beers for 12,000d.  

Today we had a nice sleep in and then casually wandered around Saigon. We went to the Ben Thanh market to look at all the fake rip offs but I got sick of people touching me on the arm to "look here lady" that we left. We found a cool French inspired cafe for lunch.  We walked to the river front but but it was not set up nice for people to walk along.  Our big 'win' of the day was at the Bitexco Tower.  In our lonely planet book it recommends going up to the Skytower on the 48th floor for views of the city costing 200,000d. Yesterday our tour guide said there is a Heli Bar that we could go up for free and just pay the price of a drink.  So we did that instead.  We got to the 52nd floor, and bought a beer each. It also happened to be happy hour so we got a free beer.  In total it cost 311,000d much cheaper than the Skytower and we were three beers better off.  Score.

Tomorrow we are off to Mui Ne.  Again we have an early bus at 7:15am (we have to be at the bus depot at 6:45am!,) as we want to arrive in time to watch the All Blacks game.  It is a big one against the Springboks.