11th March 2009

We were being collected from our hotel at 8am, so we had a quick bite to eat and once again gathered our bags up to wait outside for our bus. We were both feeling a little nervous about going to Vietnam, we always seem to feel this way when we change countries, and also we were not really in the mood for yet another long bus ride. After all, we had already clocked up over 81 hours on buses by now and our enthusiasm for them had started to fade.

Our minivan arrived in time, and before we knew it, after they had squashed 15 people into 12 seats, we arrived at what they called a bus station! We were not very impressed with the look of our bus as it was the oldest and most run down looking one there. But we quickly loaded our bags on board, found our seats and finally began our journey into Vietnam.

Unlike our border crossing into Cambodia, this time we had someone to guide us through the whole procedure and we could even stay on the same bus for the entire journey. This did make it much less confusing, as our guide explained every step in detail, but by no means did it make it less disorganized!

Our exit out of Cambodia was pretty straightforward, our guide took all our passports, got them stamped for us and all we had to do was queue up outside the bus and wait for our names to be called. It was pretty quick and easy really. Then came the Vietnamese immigration. We had to take all our luggage into the passport control building, which looked like a very imposing communist structure. We all had to wait in here while they stamped our passports. You'd think it would be quite a quick and easy procedure as we all held visas for the country, but it took ages, as they let all the Vietnamese push past us and jump the queue! This painful process took over an hour and it was not the friendliest greeting we have ever had into a new country. Before we could leave with our stamped passports, we had to get all our luggage scanned, just to ensure we were not entering Vietnam with any drugs or weapons!

Finally we arrived in Saigon and it was pretty obvious that we were in a very big and very busy city. We had read that the traffic here was heavily congested and that the roads are hellish to cross. But this didn't prepare us for the reality of what we saw! It was crazy, masses of mopeds all over the place, scooting in and out of buses, up on the pavements, taking not a blind bit of notice of the traffic lights, never mind two bewildered and weary westerners trying to cross the road!

As we stood by the bus, trying to work out where we were on the map, we approached by a gentlemen showing us a business card for his hotel. As it looked pretty nice and was cheaper than the hotel we had booked, we followed him to see what it was like. At this point we were very grateful for his company as he was able to guide us across the road. There appeared to be no real skill involved in this, just a leap of faith and to walk blindly into the oncoming traffic, while raising your hand!

The first hotel he showed us was not really what we wanted as the room was very small, so he showed us to another of his hotels a few doors down the road. Adam went to look at this room and quickly returned with a positive note. We quickly checked in and took our bags up to our room, it had a balcony, so we both stepped outside to view our surroundings. We were feeling pretty nervous about this hotel as it was down a very dark and claustrophobic alley and we were feeling quite concerned about our safety down there. It didn't help that we had read in our guide book that Saigon was the most crime ridden city in Vietnam. But as the room was very nice, we thought it would do for one night for us at the very least. As we stood on the balcony we noticed a man calling to us from the next building. He told us that he lived there and proceeded to warn us that we must lock our door and never leave it open as people will jump across the balconies and get into our room. Nervously we asked him if the alley was a safe place and he replied saying that he'd seen a few bag snatches but only heard a couple of gun shots! We thanked him for his advice, retreated to our room, picked up our back packs and got the hell out of there! The man that showed us to the previous two hotels re-appeard and this time offered to show us another hotel on the main road where we would feel safer. It was Clares turn to look at the room, but this one was very dark and dingy. When she asked to see a room with a window, the man swished back the curtains to show her that there was indeed a window there. Wow! What a view! The next building was less than a foot away and all you could see was brick! After politely declining the room and after the owner was quite rude to us, we set out in the sweltering humidity to find the hotel that we had originally booked.

Eventually we got there, both a sweaty mess, but both glad that neither of his had been run over. We were welcomed with a lovely ice cold drink, which all seemed very positive until they told us that they had emailed us the previous evening informing us that they were now full! The hotel were kind enough to show us to a hotel that they recommend, but unfortunately this one again was down a dark alley and quite a depressing room. We thanked them for their help, but declined their offer.

After evaluating our situation, we decided the best course of action was for Clare to stay with the bags and for Adam to head off with the lonely planet in hand, to find us a decent hotel. In this heat and humidity it is very hard work walking around aimlessly with your back packs on, so off Adam went, a man with a mission! After a long half an hour and just as it was starting to get dark, Adam returned looking very relieved, saying that he had found us a room. We had to move quick though, as they would only hold it for half an hour.

It was a very hot fifteen minute walk, but we arrived at the hotel just in time! We obviously looked very hot and sweaty because the reception staff told us to take a shower before we checked in! This made us laugh, we've never been so bluntly told that we needed a shower! We couldn't help but agree with them, so up we went to our room at the 'An An 2 Hotel', it was more upmarket than what we were used to, it even had a lift!

We were still feeling pretty tired from all our sight seeing in Cambodia, and as Saigon is a pretty crazy place, we used the next day to rest, get our bearings in the city and work out where we might like to visit in the country. It was becoming quite clear that travelling around vietnam was quite difficult, it is a very long country and the only way to travel is by several overnight buses. Something we were keen to avoid.

The following day we ventured out on a day trip to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. These were an underground system of tunnels with numerous levels that were used by the Vietcong during the Vietnam war. There are over 200km of tunnels stretching across the surrounding farmland and were used as living quarters, meeting rooms, weapon making, hospitals and defending the villages against the American army. People used to live in these tunnels for months at a time! It was truly an amazing sight to see. The tunnels have been made slightly larger in size to allow western tourists to enter them. Clare did not really want to venture in any of the tunnels, but Adam gave them a good try. Even though they had increased the size of them, it still meant that Adam had to crawl through these tiny tunnels on his hands and knees. After a good effort, he decided that being down the deep, dark and confined Cu Chi tunnels was not for him and made a swift exit.

After the tunnels, we were shown all the original traps that the Vietcong used in the jungle. They were all pretty barbaric, but very cleverly designed and the most ironic thing was that they were made from the shrapnel of the bombs dropped by the Americans!

Finally we followed our tour guide who explained we were going to take a break, we could use this time to use the bathroom, have a coffee, buy an ice cream or shoot some bullets! This is where Adams eyes lit up. You had to go to a cabinet where you choose your gun and then over to a till where you buy your bullets! Adam chose an M16 machine gun, Rambo eat your heart out! He was aiming for the targets, but in all truth he didn't really care if he hit them, he was firing an M16 in Vietnam and that's what mattered!

After all the men had proved themselves, we were taken to the kitchen area of the tunnels. These would have been underground, but for tourism they had recreated it at ground level. We were given a taste of what the Vietcong soldiers would have survived on, Vietnamese tea and boiled tapioca. Neither of them were bursting with flavour or taste, but the tea was very refreshing.

On our way back to town, we were taken to a factory where crafts were made by disabled war victims and the profits go to those affected by the war. It did seem like a typical tourist trap as we didn't see many disabled people and we couldn't help see it in a cynical light.

The following day we took a taxi to see the Reunification Palace in Saigon. This was quite an interesting place to visit as it was the old central government that ruled Vietnam prior to the war. It is unique in the fact that it is preserved in almost the same state it was in when the Vietcong liberated Saigon from the Americans in 1979. It felt like you were almost in a bad guys lair from an old James Bond film, they even had an old US helicopter still on the helipad and tanks in the front grounds!

Our opinion on Vietnam at this early point was far from a positive one. Eating out was not easy at all, the food was very bland and lacking in flavour and the people were quite unfriendly as a rule. Saigon was also far too hectic to stay for any length of time. We were feeling quite disappointed as we had high hopes for this country. So, we booked a bus for the following day to take us to a beachside town called Mui Ne where hopefully we can relax for a few days and work our out where we are going next.