Tan Hai Long Hotel Ho Chi Minh City

... finished, Billy leapt to his feet officiously, brandishing a pointing stick, and began shouting information that I simply cannot remember, mainly because I quickly learnt to switch off as soon as he opened his mouth. There was a map of Vietnam on the left of the projector screen, and a cross-section model of the average layout of the tunnels. Billy began jabbing the stick at the map and the model, flapping his arms and jabbering various details like a maniac. Interestingly, what ...

... finished my breakfast and asked me the usual stuff about my family, school and life. She even got me to teach her English!<br><br>A rickshaw driver asked me if I wanted a tour of the city for 3 hours and I thought 'why not?' and sat down in his rickshaw. He took me to the Vietnam war museum and told me that he'd be waiting for me in one hour. I reluctantly strolled in for $1 and immediately became captivated by the exhibitions.<br><br>The more time ...

... allowed to duck-walk thru a short section of tunnel (about 40 m), which has been enlarged for the westerners. At the end, as if to remind us it is now a tourist trap, there is a shooting range where you can fire real guns, including a US heavy machine gun, if you are willing to pay more than a dollar per bullet, minimum purchase is 10 bullets. <br><br>I also went to the Cholon area to visit the Chinese temples there, and tried to engage some Chinese who worked there for a little bit of ...

... Cruise Company and number of stops. You will find that many itineraries are similar (the names Saigon and Ho Chi Minh City are used interchangeably, as are Siem Reap and Angkor Wat) and there are really only a handful of shipping companies that cover the Mekong ...

... a bit hot and sweaty (you can imagine how much higher the heat and humidity is in Vietnam), so we went to the Caravelle Hotel to have a few lunchtime drinks at the rooftop bar.<br><br>The view was great, the breeze was fantastic, and we had the place to ourselves; it was delightful. We had a few drinks, and, as we were paying the bill, I realized I didn't have my wallet. I was sure that I had dropped it somewhere and would never see it again, but everyone ...

... boat (all included in the price of the ticket from Ho Chi Minh). The young lad rowing looked happy in his work so we figured we&#8217;d be safe enough. After this we got on the boat that would bring us to the border. On the boat we met an Irish guy, Leon and his Australian wife, Natalie, we&#8217;d met them several times around Vietnam, and a couple from New Zealand, who it turns out we&#8217;d seen a few weeks before but hadn&#8217;t been talking to them. The six of us spent the ...

... and we went about half a kilometre inside the rock, in the dry season you can get even further. Everyone got a huge battery pack and a head torch which definitely weren't designed to go in water and worryingly had water pouring from them when you tipped them up. I was the only person in the group not to get a head torch, and it was really eerie at times when no-one was shining there lights in my directions - pitched black. All along the river were bars you could stop your tube at ...

... that specialised in noodle soup) and discovered delicious Vietnamese beef stew. It was proper rich, delicious, comfort food and we're definitely going to try to recreate it for you all back home. (For anyone keeping tabs, I'm pretty much 100% carnivore now).<br><br>10th July<br>Having found a branch of HSBC who were much more obliging when it came to cashing our travelers cheques, we set out for some sightseeing. First stop was Ho Chi Minh's own Notre Dame cathedral ...

... bizarrely, Victor Hugo!). They cover all the bases from most of the world religions. The cathedral was a very colourful, indeed gawdy, building - representations of the all-seeing-eye symbol were everywhere. The Holy See was located inside a large walled community of followers (most of who apparently go to mass three times a day). The complex has several entrance gate - one still reserved for the religion's Pope who died a few decades ago so no one uses it anymore!<br><br ...

The border crossing into Vietnam from Cambodia went smoothly. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh city expecting to be harassed by tuc tuc drivers but were very relieved when all was quiet and we were in the area of the city we wanted to be in. Ho Chi Minh city, formerly known as Saigon, is Vietnam's biggest city with officially 7 million people and 3 million motorbikes. It makes ...