After the sedate morning boat ride around the markets the afternoon meant for another form of transport an express speedboat to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The four hour journey was like being on a rolleroaster we were thrown about all over the place. The ever changing scenery flew by our window, barges painted with huge eyes on the front carrying cargo ranging from water melons to gravel dredged up by massive floating platforms...not to mention the floating petrol station!


 

Soon we arrived in the second city of Vietnam it was at this point we were properly ripped off for the first time this trip, our jovial taxi driver managed to somehow charge us around $15 for a 2km journey - it had to happen at somepoint. After much searching for a room for the night we settled into our first nite in Saigon. The city has over 8 million people followed by 6 million mopeds so you can imagine how hectic it was on arrival!!! We loved the charm and the atmosphere of it though and the typical 'student feel' of the budget back packer area!

 

The next morning saw somewhat of a change in routine for the intrepid duo. We split up Nik heading for the seedy world of the internet cafe and Me to the infamous tunnels of Cu Chi. Not sure why Nic didn't fancy the tunnels?!! After the obligatory stop at the Disabled lacquer workshop where I got chatting to a fellow passenger Danny from Bruges the tour arrived at the historic site. Danny is a good guy (he didnt care for Lacquer much either) and was good company for the day the whole day is presented really well, all the while building up to your short journey underground in the only surviving part of the tunnel network. Having only spent a few minutes crawling in the gloom along about 100m of tunnel I can asure everyone I will not be signing up for any colliery work soon. It was unpleasant to say the least! There were many facts and figures thrown at you during the day but the two that stick in my mind is that of the 16000 Vietnamese involved in the building of the tunnels only 6000 survived. Secondly the local cemetary had over 43000 graves with over 10000 marked unknown soldier (US and VC). A sobering day followed by many beers with Danny that night.

 

The following day we had arranged to take in the city with one of the many city tours advertised in the travel cafes when you are running out of time its a good quick way to see the highlites of a place. The most striking part of the day was the War Remnants Museum with many horrific pictures and stories from the time of the Vietnam war.....

 




A real highlight after this was one of the local markets full of colour and real characters. From the ladies selling their goods on the street to the shacks behind the market and the amazing colours of the sugar cane!



Then again...onto another lacquer factory!!!! It is pretty amazing though to see the disabled people at work and the fantastic craftmanship they have in creating beautiful pictures out of EGG SHELLS! Finally we ended (after the turning up to the palace which was closed...sound familiar?!!) a pretty tiring day at two chinese pagoda's, The Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral, then weaved our way through the beeping and bustle to a well earned beer or two and our final eve with Danny.









 

Day three in Saigon - nik and I had not been on a coach for a few days so the decision was made to get back on board and move on up the coast to Mui Ne..what will happen on this transport I wonder?!!!