Do you remember in my last entry Ben asked us why the Viet Cong could sit for hours in the tunnels squatted down and the Americans could not stay squatted for 10 minutes? He said the reason was, the Asian people have used squat toilets all their lives.

I will have one last hurrah in Saigon today before leaving later tonight . I want to walk around and see some things I have marked on my map, but it is not an easy thing to do. I can follow the map, and eventually get across the streets. What makes walking so difficult is the constant motorbike taxi drivers calling out "Sir, Sir, Moto?". 

They are every few feet and way too persistent. As annoying as it is to be constantly interrupted while you are trying to follow a map and look at things while you walk, the worse thing is the way they won't take 'No Thanks' for an answer. 

I have had them ride their bikes up on the sidewalk and follow me for 3 blocks, constantly asking me where I am going and telling me it is too far to walk. If I don't need their ride why do they need to know where I am going? I have learned they will tell you it is a long way off when it may only be around the corner. I check with the guesthouse or hotel before I leave and they tell me if it is in walking distance or not, so I don't have to get taken by the motodops . 

Vietnam has been the most annoying of any place I have traveled to so far. Also, the Vietnamese will scam and cheat you every chance they get, it seems. You have to watch your change. Knowing you are unfamiliar with the dong, they will try to short-change you. 

After awhile I just quit answering the moto drivers. I tried to be polite but that doesn't work with them. When they call out "Sir, where are you going?" I just think to myself, "it's none of your business" and keep walking.

Anyway, now that my tirade over motodops is over, I will fill you in on the rest of my day. I wanted to see the Catholic Cathedral in Saigon. It's the Notre Dame Catholic Cathedral built in the 1800's by the French. The Cathedral is in the middle of the city. I get a few pictures form the outside, but cannot find an open entry to go inside.

I pass the Reunification Palace . You can get free tours of the state rooms. The palace is a shrine to things of the 1960's. It has been left untouched since the fall of Saigon to the communist north on April 30, 1975. The gates of this palace are well known because the pictures of it were broadcast over the world when the tank 843 broke through the gates, ending the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, I have arrived at lunch time and the thing closes for two hours for lunch each day. I can't wait around for it to reopen.   

There is a nice park right across the street, though, and I decide to sit a while and enjoy the park. I find a nice, shady bench to sit on to relax. As soon as I sit down a boy shows up with a shoe shine kit and wants to shine my shoes. I have on sandals. I bought these while in Siem Reap, Cambodia. So many places in Asia require you to remove your shoes before entering. The tie-up shoes and socks I wore here were way to much trouble to take off and put back on so often. The sandals just require one velcro strap loosened and off they come . But ... they don't need polishing. The boy is probably early 20's. Even though I say no, these shoes don't need polishing, he proceeds to take his polish and polish them. I move my foot and he follows with his polish. Boy, these Vietnamese are persistent. I get up and leave the park to get away from him.

There are no tuk tuks in Saigon. They have been everywhere else I have been in Asia, but not here. There are motorbike taxis, car taxis and cyclos. The cyclos are three wheeled rickshaws powered by someone on a bicycle. A cyclo pulls along side and asks if I need a ride. I have been wanting to ride one of these ever since I first saw one in Chiang Mai, Thailand. So, we make a deal for him to take me to the pink Wat.

The cyclo pedaler fought with the Americans against the Viet Cong. After the war, he was arrested by North Vietnam and imprisoned for two years. He lost everything he owned to the communists. His story of the communist treatment is similar to Ben's, my guide to the Cu Chi tunnels . He shows me pictures of himself in military uniform. 

He pedals me through the crazy Saigon traffic to my destination. It's strange sitting in this thing with him pedaling behind me. At least I won't see it coming if we get hit from behind. The traffic flows around us and we ride in the midst of it all, often in the middle of the street. Saigon is a clean city and Vietnam in general is clean, from what I have seen so far.

He points out large buildings that were built by the U.S. during the war. They are now the property of the communists government. There is a large building that is now the communist run radio station. Some are communist military complexes.

I visit a Wat that is pink in color. I have been to bigger Wat's but this thing is very old and I like roaming through it, while my cyclo waits outside.

On the return trip it starts to sprinkle some . I ride the cyclo for awhile, then ask to be let out at an intersection. I can tell from my map there are things I want to see around here, but I want to do it by walking.

A few minutes after I get out of the cyclo, it starts to pour rain. I dash inside a large building. It turns out to be a Post Office. It is the largest Post Office I have ever seen. It has world maps on the walls. There are two gift shops and souvenir counters down the center. The rain continues in downpours for over an hour. I use the time to browse this Post Office.

At the street market, I try a new fruit. It has a purple shell that is hard, but you can peel it with your fingers to reveal several fruit pods inside. It's about the size of a large plum. It's delicious with a sweetness along with a touch of tangy taste. Another wonderful discovery in the world of Asian fruit for me. It is called Mangosteen.

There is a water puppet show I decide to see before leaving Saigon tonight . I will go on a sleeper bus and travel, and hopefully, sleep through the night.

The water puppet show is quiet a performance. Unfortanely, it is also all in Vietnamese. Who would have thought it! On second thought, this IS Vietnam. So, I watch the show. Live people play the instruments on the side of the water stage while the puppets perform. They give the dialogue in Vietnamese, so I have no idea what the play is about. 

There are dragons and dragon fighting men. There are ladies (damsels in distress?) and boats. I take photos, mostly of other people taking photos, because they are all leaning forward in their seats holding their cameras in the air, making it impossible to see the stage. 

It's an elaborate performance by the puppets and, at the end, the people working the puppets come up out of the water to take a bow. They are soaked from the head down. They have been under water all this time? Maybe they were breathing through bamboo sticks?

This will be the first 'Sleeper Bus' I have taken . You get these when you travel all night somewhere. I will be on the bus for 10 hours. The bus has two decks of beds. The beds raise up a llttle bit, but not much. They are made for sleeping, not sitting. You have to take your shoes off before you get on the bus. You lay in these beds and try to sleep and wake up at your destination. At least, that's the idea.

I am on my way to Nha Trang, Vietnam. I tried to place the Nha Trang photos after the Saigon ones, but this application I use for the blog just puts them wherever it wants to. I am using an iPad app. If I was on my laptop, I could control where the photos were placed. Anyway, you can just remember the Nha Trang photos should be AFTER the Saigon ones.

Nha Trang is called the beach capitol of Vietnam. Looming up behind the city are towering mountains that provide a stunning setting for the long, sweeping beach. The turquoise water and small islands complete this memorable view . I have so many memorable views by now, I wonder where my little brain is storing them.

Nha Trang is popular for it's water sports. Scuba diving here is just great, I hear. Located on the South China Sea, the town has 5 miles of gorgeous beaches. 

I traveled on the sleeper bus all night, so I missed the sights along the way. Sleeper busses are nice in that they allow you to travel all night while you sleep and arrive at your destination in time to enjoy daytime sightseeing. The downside is you miss the scenery on the trip. I returned from Nha Trang on a day bus and was able to see the beautiful sea we drove down all night. I took some photos of the sea on my return trip and will post them in the next entry for you to see.

I will just spend the day here and board another sleeper bus to my next destination before dark. I leave my backpack at a secure area at the bus station and begin roaming around the town to see what it is like . I stumble upon a church sitting upon a hill. It turns out to be a Catholic Church and the building is a charmer

Then, walking around, I think I see water and begin to walk toward it. Sure enough, it is the ocean. Before I got here I was not aware Nha Trang was on the coast. I was just going to explore the town for the day to break up the 20 hour trip from Saigon to my next destination.

I will make a point to come back and spend some time here another time. It's a beautiful place. I board my sleeper bus around 5 or 6 p.m. The busses in Vietnam keep to their schedule. They leave and arrive on time. Cambodian busses never seemed to leave or arrive on time. The busses in Thailand were good about keeping to a schedule, and they gave you snacks and even meals on long trips. In Vietnam they pass out a bottle of water, but no other snacks or meals.

Around 5:30 a.m. I am awake and, as I look out the bus window, I see kids on bikes heading to school. I don't know what time school starts but I guess it is very early, maybe 6 a.m.

By 7 a.m. I have arrived at ................. (to be continued)