Saigon, Vietnam

Helloooo everyone!!

So we had another safe (!!!!) And successful journey on the night bus. Were getting quite good at this! We arrived in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) on Thursday morning around 7am. The bus was only 10 hours this time although was pretty hard to sleep as the driver felt the need to race around some hair pin bends and made it feel like we were actually going to die. Think he was preparing for a grand Prix or something. So we were pretty tired. We saw Ben and Emma again, a couple from new Zealand who have been on every bus we have so far seems we have very similar itineraries! On reaching Saigon a meanie taxi driver saw we looked sleepy and offered to take us to the hotel although his price was ridiculous so I said we were ok. We didn't fancy walking ages but luckily a kind man saw the meanie taxi driver trying to screw us over and showed us on the map we were only 2 mins away. So off we set. 7am in Saigon was already extremely chaotic! There were tons of people playing badminton in the park and another game where they have a few people and they sort of kick a shuttle cock over a net. Finding our hostel proved difficult this time as it was called 'thanh' which seemed to be on almost every hotel! We eventually got there and settled in. Although we were shattered we only have three days here and didn't want to waste one lounging around so we headed out to get some breakfast and revive ourselves.

After brekky we headed off. The roads here proved to be even more ridiculous than Hanoi. So so hectic. Definitely the most chaotic city I've visited. Our map proved to be a bit wrong and not to scale so we got a bit lost but we call it 'exploring'. I got some cool photos getting better at street photography by the day. The Vietnamese are proving to be good subjects. After a bit of a trek we found the remuneration palace which we visited. This was where the president lived and worked and it has been left as it was on the day that Saigon was captured by north Vietnam in the war. I had also read about some traditional water puppet show so we searched for ages for that but with no luck. Whilst we were at dinner we met an Aussie who showed us a giant scar he got last time he was here from being run over by a scooter so that scared us a bit! He was also the fourth person in less than 12 hours to tell us to be extra careful in Saigon so we were cautious on the streets. The place we are staying feels like real Vietnam. Its down a small alley and there are only locals living around here. They all open their doors in the evening and sit in the alleys eating and talking and the children playing. Seems a much more sociable society in that way.

Today was an interesting but poignant day as we visited the war museum. I had never really realised just how tragic the Vietnam war was. There was a harrowing photography exhibition featuring photos from photographers who were killed and their photos recovered. The emotion they managed to capture was unbelievable. There was an exhibition about agent orange, so devastating that there are still profound effects here in the south. Its a wonder how we live in such sophisticated societies yet we still feel the need to resort to such barbaric methods of sorting problems. I wish all governments would destroy every weapon the own and just discuss problems instead. Learning more about the tragic history let's me forgive the public when they are giving us suspicious looks on the streets you can't really blame them when mostly foreigners have caused trouble here in such a beautiful country. Speaking of the staring and suspicious looks we have been getting here I decided to do an experiment in Saigon. I thought every time someone stares at us I will give them the biggest smile I can and see what happens. We have been getting quite confused and a little offended when this happened before. But the smiling worked! A few just continued to stare but most looked slightly shocked but then smiled back and looked so happy. I am now wondering if the 'stare' is just their relaxed look and perhaps they are not as grumpy as they first seemed. Whats more is the vietnamese have so much character when they smile i sometimes wish that my eyes were cameras and could save images of things like that.It was so lovely and felt as though we were spreading happiness through the streets of Saigon . Tomorrow we head to the financial towers where you can see the best views of Saigon before we head to Cambodia on Sunday.

So it seems just as we start to learn more about the culture and half understand the people we are about to leave. I feel like we have only uncovered a tiny fraction of Vietnam but what we have seen has been immensely exciting and interesting. It is such a wonderful country with some beautiful places and I wouldn't hesitate to come back. But the next leg of the journey along with fried tarantulas awaits. (Today we saw a stall selling intestines and tongues eww) . The thought of Cambodia brings mixed emotions of excitement but apprehension. The few times I have seen children selling things here I have really struggled. In Cambodia there are apparently a lot of children doing this which could be hard. But hopefully there will be just as many wonderful things to see as we have experienced here.

I hope everyone at home is doing well. Missing you all lots and lots of love xxxx