It's been over a week and feels a lot longer.Started off in Saigon,and spent a pleasant evening watching the boat traffic run up and down the Saigon river,whilst sitting on the roof of the Majestic Hotel.The Rex also afforded great views and a typically stunning Asian sunset,whilst staring at the strange objects around me such as huge,plaster elephants.
The following day was spent walking the streets,museum hopping(my favourite was the Museum of Ho Chi Minh as there was no bugger there,and the building was amazing).Many people make a beeline for the War Remnants Museum,and although interesting and illuminating,is packed with gawping tourists(including me!)and the dreaded tour groups.I actually followed a lonely planet suggestion,which is unlike me,and followed a walking route.It was manageable and I saw some great stuff.However,things like helping two aging old ladies,bent over double with their faces covered by their conical hats,across the maniacal streets and being thanked profusely with cries of "Merci,merci" don't appear in any books and are what make your day.
The next day was a trip to the Cao Dai temple and the Cu Chi tunnels with the wonderful Mr.Minh(not Ho Chi as he kept telling me)who is 64 and was a translator for the 101st Airborne Division during the war.Lots of incredible sights,and too much to describe here.
I also visited Cholon,which is Chinatown,and spent a good while relaxing in pagodas and taking in the sights and smells in particular of the traditional Chinese herb shops.A couple of the pagodas were targeted by the hordes and the flashlights were in overdrive,so I managed to find a really quiet pagoda where I sat for 30 minutes,with the smell of incense filling my nostrils and not a soul came by.Blimey,I was almost meditating by the end.
This is only the Saigon/Ho Chi Minh part(south Vietnamese still call it Saigon,North Vietnamese the opposite)and I haven't even mentioned the Reunification Palace or the Jade Emperor Temple,with their amazing turtles and coi carp.I've just realised that a blog is rather an insufficient tool for describing all that you have seen and done.Their just isn't enough time.Next time will be tales of resorty Mui Ne,with its fantastic white sand dunes and Dalat(where I am writing this from)with its cool climate,views to make you drawl and coffee plantations, silk farms and waterfalls.