Tan Hoang Ngoc Hotel Ho Chi Minh City

... oil drums, and a very drunk middle aged Canadian tourist insisting on singing Celine Dion for us all!

Last stop was the huge Saigon- like Hanoi on overdrive, a mesmerizing city, which reminded me a little of Hong Kong and Bangkok for sheer size. Highlights included the reunification palace- the palace used by the American supported Southern forces, which was 'liberated' by the northern troops with tanks crashing though the gates in 1975- the ...

... that what worried him was the fact that there wasn't any room to even turn around in the tunnels.
We were also shown many different forms of defense the Viet Cons had developed. Given that the American armies had more advanced arms in was amazing to see how the Viet Cons had coped with what they had available, They would use the unexploded bombs to made there own explosives, as well as a whole manner of ...

Today we got up early to find outwhat timesthe buses left for Hoi-An, we arrived at the travel agency at 8:10am and discovered we had missed the morning bus by a measly 10 minutes, the next bus was 12 hours away! ****! We had to kill a whole day so we grabbed a bite to eat,dumped our bags and then laboured our way through the humidity of Ho Chi Minh City(HCMC) to the cathedral, a really nice beautiful building, with beautiful statues surrounding it. Unfortunately it seems lady-luck is ...

... traffic. The restaurant and lounge are old colonial style, lots of dark wood furniture, very sumptuous, I'm definitely going to seek the place out again and take respite from the heat (and cyclo drivers) ;-) The food was delicious, a wee bit pricier than my pho at Ben Thanh market, but a girl needs treats, even when she's on a budget!

Sarah showed me some interesting little shops that I'll go back to before I leave ...

... dip into fish sauce to eat – yum! We stayed there for a
good hour: like good Maryland style crabs it takes a while to eat
them! And to mix it up (which is what HCMC is all about) for dessert
we had a crepe at a French restaurant near the Notre Dame Cathedral.
Walking back to our room at 11pm the city is still buzzing –
showing no signs of slowing down – the NYC syndrome is alive and
well here!

... involved!

First day we checked out the Reunification palace which was famous for the tanks coming crashing through the front gate signaling the end of the Vietnam war. As our tour went through the different rooms of the palace it seemed that there have been a few different Vietnamese governments that have been overthrown through the years. Also there seems to be a lot of war in their recent history. The French, Americans, North v South and Cambodia. This part of our ...

... orientated population, but not when they are inappropriately forward. Anyway, hairdresser was very professional. I was wearing a Tintin shirt, and he gave me a Tintin haircut! ****ing awesome! I'm stoked. Off to buy a yellow overcoat and a small white dog tomorrow. The dog may come in a take away container but I will still take it for walks, until I get hungry. Off to work with the John Merricks tomorrow, so will probly be a few days between updates. Take it easy fo-sheezy.

... We weren't terribly familiar with the taxi companies in Saigon, but had taken a few the night before with Louise, who knew her stuff, so I grabbed one from the same company... or so I thought. A big problem in Vietnam are poser taxis: cars with a magnet on the door to make it look like a taxi from a well known company. These taxis do not have radios to communicate with their dispatchers, and they also have whack meters that charge exorbitant rates. We are ...

... khach san Hue, khách sạn Huế, khách sạn Hạ Noi, khach san Hà Nội, đặt pḥng khách sạn, dat phong khach san, đặt pḥng khách sạn, dat khach san, khách sạn Vũng Tàu, khach san Vung Tau, đặt pḥng Vũ ...

So, my first entry said something about my trip being a reality check, slap in the face, be thankful for what I have, adventurous and exotic trip. The past 17 days have far exceeded all of these. Besides seeing other cultures and parts of the world, I also go on these trips as a kind of refresher. The thoughts I have as I come back are nothing new to me as I have had them from other trips to 3rd world countries. It is a good reminder for me though that ...