Saigon, Saigon...

Greetings from Saigon- or Ho Chi Minh City as it is called these days. I still can't stop calling it Saigon though...

Will quickly run through what has happened since my last post. Unfortunately the rain held in in Nha Trang, It is SUCH a shame, as that place would have been paradise in nice weather. We didn't get to go to the beach at all, and in the rain it turned this murky colour like sand... not nice! On the way to the chemist to get some cold and flu medicine one day we almost drowned. We had to wring out our clothes when we got back. It was pretty brutal. So basically, there was not a lot left to do in Nha Trang but sit at a beach-side bar (Louisiane, our absolute fave in Vietnam so far) and drink. On our last day there we sat for three hours and consumed 5 beers (Craig), 2 cocktails (me), prawns and sushi, and dessert for only $25! Nice way to spend a rainy day. We then headed back up to the hotel where nothing was left to do but watch movies on 'Star Movies' the lame American movie channel that seems to house the only English speaking shows in Vietnam.

That night we went for dinner at a restaurant called Lanterns which is famous through Lonely Planet etc for giving some of their money to orphanages. Great cause, but the food was not amazing compared to what we have been used to so far.
We flew out early AGAIN the next morning heading for Saigon. This time we actually got to have breakfast though. And who should be sharing our plane with us but two long legged beauties from the Miss Earth pageant... this pageant has been following us EVERYWHERE! We even saw Miss Botswana (sash and all) at the Ben Thanh market the other day. These women in particular on our plane were stunning, and I felt very self conscious wearing no make up and having not washed my hair for a week. It should be illegal to have legs that long.

We then arrived here in Saigon, staying at a hotel called Elios which is centrally located right near the Ben Thanh market district. Our hotel is quite nice but this time we've been given two single beds. I swear they are against unmarried couples. The room is very clean and cosy though, and I think we will be quite content here for four nights. After settling in we headed out to the Ben Thanh market, which is probably one of the biggest attractions here. Immediately we experienced the touts we have not experienced since Hanoi "you ride to market with me?" "where you go? I take you!" "you want to buy book?" "you want to buy cigarette?" It is SO frustrating. The cyclo's are the worst, they literally have these books here that they show you where people from every country have written reviews of them. The annoying thing is that we literally just want to walk (it is all part of the Vietnam diet!) It is not even about the money- we just like to walk around town! So after avoiding about 20 of them, we made it to the Ben Thanh market which was an insanely awesome experience.

Think Queen Vic Market but a lot more crowded with a lot less English speaking. They sell EVERYTHING there. Chopsticks. Perfume. Bags. Sunglasses. DVD's. Artwork. Jewellery. Cosmetics. Food. Drink. Everything your heart could desire. We tried our hardest to limit what we bought there and after some expert haggling we did quite well. A couple of pairs of sunnies. 6 DVD's, the Mad Men series 1-4 and Gossip Girl series 1-3 (all for $22) and some really cute handmade puppets for Lucas. We will go back there again whilst we are here, but it was so insane we could only really handle an hour.

It is also VERY hot here, which is both a relief from the rain in Nha Trang and an annoyance. However, because there is still ozone left over Vietnam, it isn't so easy to get burnt. Think about it- Craig has been here for TEN days and has not yet been burnt. I know, a miracle.

Last night we had dinner at yet another charitable organization (the Lonely Planet loves to recommend them!) which was a restaurant that trains and gives jobs to street kids and orphans. It was an excellent dining experience. The food was fab and the staff were just a joy- you could tell they genuinely loved their job. It was really lovely to see.

Today we had a bit of a boring morning as I had a job interview over the phone at 11.30 so there was not much to do before that. The view from our breakfast on the rooftop is amazing, so we admired that for a while and then I nervously paced our hotel room until I got the interview over and done with (which went quite well, I hope!). We then ventured out again, hid from the cyclo's and have ourselves our own little walking tour of Saigon. We first went to the Reunification Palace which is the palace that ended the war between the North and the South. It was really beautiful to see, but not as 'palace-ey' as I expected- more of a government house. We had this lovely guide who took us around for free and made the cutest jokes like, "Where are you from?" "Australia" "I am from Vietnam, are you surprised?" and "I was going to sing you a song, but I have a bad voice, so lets just see the bomb shelter instead." She was such a dear!
We then trekked off to the War Remnants Museum which was a very harrowing experience. Craig & I didn't even talk for about twenty minutes afterwards, and I had to stop myself from crying several times. The museum contains photo after photo for the massacres that the Americans committed against the Vietnamese villages, as well as a huge section on the after effects of Agent Orange. It is just so sad. There were even specimans of disformed babies born from Agent Orange exposure. After seeing the pain that it has caused Vietnam now, even generations later, I just don't think I will be able to call it the 'Vietnam War' again. Here it is only referred to as the 'American War' and part of me thinks that is about right. I was even ashamed at one point that Australia had any involvement in what went on...

On a lighter note, on our way home we went to a traditional water puppet theatre show. This was such a funny and corny experience. It is literally what the name suggests- puppets, in water- along with a lot of Vietnamese traditional music. It was really fun. We did however, become exposed to (as we have several times over this trip) just how disgusting the behaviour of some other tourists can be. We have seen some terrible behaviour from the French on this trip. They treat the Vietnamese people so indignantly, push their way through every queue, demand they have the best seats at every restaurant/bus/show and pretty much think they are still colonizing the place. At this particular puppet show, a French tour group had been seated up the back of the theatre because that seemed to be where they sat the big groups (about 20-30 of them). A few of them just REFUSED to sit there. It was horrible to see. They were yelling at the Vietnamese boys (about 16) who were acting as ushers, refusing to sit up the back, blatantly stealing the seats of others, moving back to the front whenever they could and in the end to of them proceeded to sit in the aisle just so they could film the whole show. It was good, but not worth filming the whole bloody thing! Craig and I were so disgusted with the way they acted... Nothing against the French people, but from what we have seen so far, they are not setting the greatest example for their country!

Tomorrow we are off on a boat tour to the Mekong Delta which we are really looking forward to.
I hope everything is well in Melbourne- I miss you all! Do email me with any new updates =) xxxx