Goooood Morrrrnniiing Vietnammmmm as the film goes and for us it really was good morning Vietnam. It was an early start for what was going to be a fairly long day. Saigon is a few hours from the port so there was a fair journey ahead of us to get into the centre but then it was great fun watching all the sights from the coach and seeing the chaotic traffic. The journey wasn’t as long as it was meant to be as the port we went to was further up the river, in fact we were the first passenger ship to ever dock there, they had a full ceremony on our arrival and flags and balloons up, but I have no idea what it was called, but it did feel like going up the Nile to get to it.

The journey was eventful, we hit something at a highway toll booth and then someone gave us a nudge. It was all quite amusing to be honest and did make us chuckle; I see why they have a maximum speed that’s so low for large coaches now but it often gets dicey and a horn isn’t use as a warning all the time to smaller vehicles.

In the city we went to a few different locations saw a temple and museum and the water puppets show and then had a great lunch in a 5* hotel, now that was very fancy. Now what were the roads like in the centre then?… manic and oh so funny, its bikes, bikes and then more bikes even crossing the road is interesting its more like playing frogger but a little less fun but they don’t hit you (they get very close) you just have to keep walking slow and steady.

I managed to get a few pictures of some bikes carrying some really big loads and or even entire families. Oh and they don’t actually call them bikes they are known as Honda’s regardless of model in the same way we call a vacuum a Hoover I guess.

We went to the reunification hall an interesting palace famous for the pictures of the tank crashing through the front gates to end the American ‘involvement’ in Vietnam, the building still had the rooms where the war was being controlled by the Americans in the basement.

Saigon looked like a city that is slowly rebuilding itself after the wars, certainly not as well developed as Bangkok and with roads that aren’t a patch on it either. It doesn’t quite have the same charm either but its still a very interesting place to visit and tour around, I think I will get some Vietnam films out when I get back to see if I can recognise anything and understand a bit more about the country.