Crazy Town

We're in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). Safe and well.
And, it's my birthday!

Before leaving Sydney, we had to do a Kath & Kim style duty free shop. Check out our Coogis! (we didn't actually buy them - don't worry!)



Our first night here was a massive culture shock! We got off the plane, and were blasted by the Vietnamese heat and humidity.. haggled with a cab driver to get us to our hotel.. settled in, and decided to go for a walk before meeting our friend Darren...

We posted a video a little while ago about the traffic in Saigon. Watch that video and then imagine it being night-time, with some drunk moto drivers, and two terrified Aussie tourists! There are traffic lights, but no one pays attention to them. There are pedestrian crossings, but again - no one pays attention to them! We were left standing on the edge of the footpath of a major intersection before practicing crossing on a smaller road, and finally giving up!

Darren had to come and meet us at the hotel the next morning, to teach us how to cross roads. We checked out Ben Tham markets (which are amazing! They sell everything you could possibly want, for next to nothing), and then went on a Xe Om (motorbike) tour of Saigon. You don't wear helmets in Vietnam when you're on a moto, unless you're riding on a national highway... and it's pretty scary to be on the back of one of these things, zipping and dodging in and out of traffic. The only road rules seem to be:
- you give way to something that's bigger than you (motorbikes give way to cars, which give way to buses)
- when you get to an intersection, don't stop, just beep your horn to let people know that they have to get out of your way

My birthday today has been fantastic. We were taken out for breakfast by Darren to a French cafe "Au Parc". Gwil and I then walked around Saigon being tourists for a little while, before having Pho Bo from Pho Pasteur for lunch (raw beef in a hot soup with rice noodles), and then booking our onward travel and doing some more shopping (authentic Prada sunglasses - only $10)!

We have seen both the amazing poverty and opulence that Saigon has to offer. Tomorrow we are going to check out the Cu Chi Tunnels, and then on Tuesday we leave Saigon to get a bus to Mui Ne.

We'll post photos soon.