We woke up early, due to a combination of city noise, light, and less than comfortable mattresses. However by the time we had eaten our complimentary breakfast (bread butter and jam for me, omelette for Andy) and headed out, it was nearly 11.
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| Traffic is utterly chaotic, but seems to work! Crossing this road was a challenge. |
We left with the intention of walking to the art museum, but got sidetracked by a park on the way. As we sat soaking up the scenery, I spotted two girls, presumably local, pointing a camera towards us. After a couple of sideways glances it became clear we were being papped, so I gave them a jaunty wave and took a picture back at them.
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| If you zoom in you can see them papping us |
It was at this point a man came over offering to be our moto driver for the duration of our stay in Saigon. After we got ripped off by Song in Siam Reap we were wary of him, but heard him out. Mistake number one. Then he ran off to get his reviews book and photo albums and enthusiastically showed them to us. All the reviews were extremely complimentary of Nghia, stating he showed them places no other tourist sees and is 100% trustworthy. The reviews stop at 2010, I assumed because the book ran out of space. We also took his word for it that he was in fact Nghia. Mistake number two!
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| Andy on Nghia's bike |
Mistake number three was electing to go with Nghia and his friend despite my foreboding. They took us to Notre Dame cathedral and we had a little look around, and I explained my concerns to Andy, but I wasn't sure I was right so we decided to go to the tunnels with them at what we now know is a princely cost of 1 million Vietnamese Dong each (equivalent to about £30) -mistake 4. Mistake 5 was paying for the iced coffee they ordered on the way.
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| Notre Dame cathedral |
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| There were three of these photos on my camera, and this was the best one. |
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| Interestingly (to me anyway), some of the traffic lights here and in Thailand have timers instead of amber lights. |
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| Rearview |
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| Café Funny |
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| Karaoke is big here in Asia |
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| Just a guy carrying a bass on a motorbike, no biggie |
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| We paid over the odds, but we still really enjoyed our moto rides |
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| Had to get a shot of someone pushing a food stall wearing a traditional Vietnamese hat |
We stopped on the way for rice paper (little crispy things that taste a bit like skips) and some honey wine, which was extremely difficult to drink! Not as nice as it sounds. However there was a very cute kitten, which looks a bit like a female Nidoran to me. Unfortunately I also cooked my right calf medium rare by accidentally resting it on the motorbike muffler - Nghia helpfully smothered it in what I think was toothpaste to avoid infection. I was very grateful as the terrain we crossed to get to the tunnels was incredibly dusty.
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| He did a neater job than this, but I smudged it |
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| The next day it looked pretty grim, but it could've been a lot worse. |
The tunnels themselves were very cool, and we had our own guide to take us round and show us the different tunnels and traps the Viet Cong used during the war with the US. The traps were brutal (one had long iron spikes to impale the victim through the armpits!) and the tunnels very narrow and low - we had to crouch down and waddle along. Top experience though, just maybe not for a claustrophobic person!
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| AK47s and M16s |
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| Video room |
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| Ouch |
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| Andy and I in a hidden tunnel entrance |
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| The tunnels were not big |
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| Andy asking the big questions - tour guides just love him |
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| Cleverly, the Viet Cong concealed the air ventilation holes for the tunnels within trees |
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| This was pretty cool |
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| Rolling trap - usually covered by a fragile canopy of leaves. Very painful |
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| Folding chair trap - literally a folding chair with spikes attached. I would not dare to get that close. |
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| Watch your step |
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| Rice paper making |
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| Mixing it up |
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| With flash - this was taken at my eye level - the tunnels are very cramped |
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| Without flash - that light wasn't there when the Viet Cong were using this tunnel. Scary stuff |
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| I was grateful to get out of there |
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| Tea, peanuts and sugar cane - a lovely lady at the end of the tour serves them |
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| Us with the Viet Cong |
We had local food for lunch at a place near to the tunnels and headed back towards town. On the way we stopped at a really good local market, there were no other tourists at all. Unfortunately I couldn't buy anything as I had no local currency on me. Next up was our sixth and final mistake, which was each of us paying a 500,000 Dong deposit for using the moto drivers the next day. Especially as we decided not to use them once we confirmed how much we were getting ripped off. On the way back to the hotel we hit the art museum and were culture vultures for an hour or so.
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| Big market |
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| Art museum |
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| Not a pose. 100% natural Ramsey |
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| Impressive sculpture |
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| Volleyball in the courtyard |
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| Outside the art museum |
For dinner, I had tagliatelle as Italian food seems very popular in Saigon, perhaps for its versatility and appeal to tourists. Andy was better; he had a local dish he can't remember the name of. Then we went to a bar down the road and enjoyed some apple and mint shisha before hitting the hay early, as we needed to be awake early the next day for our trip to Mekong Delta, which this time we had sensibly arranged through the hostel.
