Saigon

Saigon and... back to Saigon

Couch surfing served us very well indeed again for our first visit to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC for short!), stayed with a lovely 78 year old gentleman named Dao, from Vietnam but spent 20 years in France and many more working all over the world - amazing life! He welcomed us into his beautiful home where we were totally spoilt with our own room and home comforts.

Number one job was gettin a new passport so straight to the embassy and started the process - lots of forms etc but after a bit of running round we got them in, told it would take up to 2 weeks so had to rethink the rest of our stay in Vietnam...

Cycling around HCMC is, well, intense!! There are millions of motorbikes all rushing around roads with seemingly no rules, its just find a gap and go for it. The giant round-abouts are the craziest, a big swirling mass of bikes that surge forth aiming for the other side and once there are enough numbers you're off!! It was a real adrenalin rush but I couldn't do it every day (but I think Tabs was in her element!). Checked out the 'back packer area' which was OK for lots of people but nice to have the bikes to get us further afield - hunted down vegetarian restaurants to varying success.

We also cleaned our incredibly mucky bicycles, took all the layers of dirt and grime off and made them all pretty again.

The one other thing we did was visit the War Remnants Museum. It was my second visit but none the less harrowing. There are many photos vividly depicting the atrocities of war, lives lost through combat, people made homeless and the lasting effects of chemical warfare. It was a grave place and made us both question if any lessons at all have been learnt from it. Will there be a similar museum in Iraq in 30 years time?

After a few days in the big smoke (the pollution is terrible) we headed back up the coast to Mui Ne. Went by bus as that section of State Highway One isn't the nicest - and hey - there was a beach to lie on! It turned out to be a very pleasant up-side to the passport tragedy, a few days turned into six as we enjoyed some time off cycling and had a proper 'holiday'.

Had a sweet spot to stay, a nice place let us pitch our tent on their grounds for super cheap, and really close to everything we could need - the beach, the cheapo restaurant with sea views, and the bar... a hedonistic lifestyle ensued and a few days were spent nursing hangovers in the hot hot sun but we did venture out of our little universe eventually!!

10km up the road was a fishing village with some great local eats - mini pancake things, fresh spring rolls and fruit smoothies, so good! Bit further on where the famous giant red sand dunes. Some kids took us up and showed us how to slide all the way down. Also amazing views of the bay from the top.

Made some friends with other folks passing though and some who live there; its a big kite surfing spot and a bunch of expats teach at the many schools that line the beach. We didn't try it but made for some impressive viewing as we supped our beverages..!

Eventually we had to drag ourselves away and decided to cycle down the coast back to HCMC. The first 2 days were great riding, quiet road through some beautiful villages and cool little markets. On the second day a lady drove up to us on her motorbike, she knew a little English and invited us back to her home for a cold drink. This turned into lunch and she wanted us to stay longer - we were her babies (same same!) and she was our 'Vietnam mum' - amazingly kind and generous, like so many people we have met here.

Stayed in Long Hai, where the Vietnamese go to the seaside - no foreigners here! Only lots of really great food stalls - we love eating on the street - so much to see and taste!

The next 2 days less pretty, just a big road back to the city - hectic HCMC here we come!!