We took a short bus ride from Phnom Penh to Saigon, well it was only 8 hours, so not that long. As we had our visa sorted already (you have to get it before you come to Vietnam) the border crossing was easy. We had to take all our bags off the bus in the rain and into the control area to be scanned. We got soaked in the process, but the guy from the bus just handed them our passports and they validated them. Then we left to get back on the bus and continue on to Ho Chi Minh city.

As we were approaching the city, I could see millions of bikes and mopeds. This city is suppose to be notoriously bad for having so many people using mopeds and crossing the road can be a nightmare! We arrived late in the evening. As we got off the bus, an old woman approached us asking if we needed accommodation. We said we already had it booked, so didn't need it. As we were leaving, she said keep your bag hidden away as bike thieves could snatch it. I said thanks for the advice and left. We walked to our hotel as it was really close. We dumped our stuff off at the hotel and went to grab a bite to eat. We found the main backpacker area so just had a wander around there that evening.

Motorbike thief alert!

The next day, we didn't really fancy doing too much, so just said we'd have a wander around the city to have a look around the tourist sites ourself. The main attractions are close enough to walk to them. Although I had been warned about my bag, I took it out with me anyway. I needed my camera and phone. It was a small black handbag, the strap was across my body, but I was careful and held the bottom of the bag. I guess I was a bit paranoid about it being snatched.

So we left our hotel to start walking to the sites. We were only about 2 streets from our hotel when we started to cross the road. The method to cross is just go very slowly, the bikes will keep an eye on you, and will be able to dodge you if needs be. I was just in this process going very slow, when this bike was coming towards me, not trying to avoid me. I though that was a bit strange, but then he tried to snatch my bag from me. I struggled for a bit, he broke the strap, but I managed to keep hold of the bag. Probably because I was holding the bottom of the bag as well as it being across my body.

It all happened too quickly and John didn't see it as he was ahead of me and had already crossed the road. He said why didn't you shout to me so I could have caught him. I said I just wanted to make sure he didn't get my bag, so was concentrating on that really. By the time John tried to chase him down the road, he'd long gone on his moped! So a lesson has been learned and we took my bag back to the hotel, and just took the camera out with us. I don't think i'll be taking the bag out with me anywhere while in Vietnam. I had heard of this as a common problem here, but you never think it will happen to you but it did.

So after our little fiasco, we continued to walk to the sites and I actually saw a girl, who just had her bag casually on her shoulder. I went straight up to her and warned her. I told her what just happened to me and said to keep a tight hold of it, or leave it in the hotel if possible. She was really grateful and heeded by advice.

Vietnam war history

Vietnam was the longest war in American history, lasting for 17 years. It was also the most unpopular American war of the 20th century. Up to 60,000 American soldiers, and an estimated 3 million Vietnamese people died. Even today, many Americans still ask whether the American effort in Vietnam was a sin, a necessary war, or whether it was a noble cause, or an idealistic, if failed, effort to protect the South Vietnamese from totalitarian government.

Between 1945 and 1954, the Vietnamese waged an anti-colonial war against France, which received $2.6 billion in financial support from the United States. The French defeat at the Dien Bien Phu was followed by a peace conference in Geneva. As a result of the conference, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam received their independence, and Vietnam was temporarily divided between an anti-Communist South and a Communist North. In 1956, South Vietnam, with American backing, refused to hold unification elections. By 1958, Communist-led guerrillas, known as the Viet Cong, had begun to battle the South Vietnamese government.

To support the South's government, the United States sent in 2,000 military advisors, which grew to 16,300 in 1963. The military condition deteriorated, and by 1963, South Vietnam had lost the Mekong Delta to the Viet Cong. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson escalated the war, commencing air strikes on North Vietnam and committing ground forces.

The next president, Richard Nixon, advocated Vietnamization, withdrawing American troops and giving South Vietnam greater responsibility for fighting the war. In 1970, Nixon attempted to slow the flow of North Vietnamese soldiers and supplies into South Vietnam by sending American forces to destroy Communist supply bases in Cambodia. This act violated Cambodian neutrality and provoked antiwar protests on the nation's college campuses.

From 1968 to 1973, efforts were made to end the conflict through diplomacy. In January 1973, an agreement was reached; U.S. forces were withdrawn from Vietnam, and U.S. prisoners of war were released. In April 1975, South Vietnam surrendered to the North, and Vietnam was reunited.

War remnants museum

So we walked through the museum learning about the Vietnam war. I just couldn't believe it was a war that lasted for 17 years. We saw some of the prison cells used to keep and torture prisoners during the war. Tiger cages kept 5-6 people in one single barbed wire cage. They had to take it in turns to sit, lay or crouch down. There wasn't enough room to stand up. We also saw bomb devices, grenades, planes and tanks, clothing, cameras, medals, anything that had been found from the war. There were lots of harrowing photographic evidence of the war too. I walked around the building pretty upset after seeing all those graphic pictures. So many innocent people died for nothing during the war, it's awful to think about it.

Agent orange

Towards the end, we learned about the agent orange. It was a mixture of chemical compounds used by the US troops during the Vietnam war to destroy forest cover and also crops that would be used to feed the local people. It contained a harmful dioxin, of which a herbicide which was used, was later found to be harmful to people. It caused serious health problems including; tumours, rashes, birth defects, psychological effects and cancer among the retuning US troops.

We walked around the museum and saw photos of people with all these kind of defects. We even saw babies foetuses which were displayed in a jar because they had been still born with some kind of defect. They were all really horrific, but some stood out; a little girl with half a face, the other half was non existent and dropping down, also a man with a tumour which took over his whole face, he was probably unrecognisable. Lots of other cases are that people are born with short, deformed legs, in which they do not function properly. We saw a man in Siem Reap walking on his knees, the lower half of his legs were literally bent right up backwards to his knees. That shocked me at the time, I guess I realise now that he was born with effects of agent orange. It was so disheartening to know how many people this still affects, it can be passed down to children 4 generations after the original sufferer, so it will still be an issue in years to come, sadly.

After the museum, we just walked to the Notre Damn cathedral. It wasn't as impressive as the one in Paris. We carried on, walked around the local markets, got hassled, so left. We'd done enough sightseeing for the day. So we went to get some dinner, then headed back for an early night. We've to be up early tomorrow to visit the Chu Chi tunnels.