Good Morning Vietnam

After Chiang Mai, we flew via Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City (i.e. Saigon). What a crazy city!!! I have never seen so many motorcycles and scooters in the same place. It makes leaving the hotel an adventure. To cross the street... you basically just walk out into traffic and assume they will try to avoid hitting you. Forget trying to cross at crosswalks - they are ignored. And at traffic lights, it seems that a red light is merely a suggestion rather than an obligation. Some people don't seem to mind driving against the flow of traffic. And since there are so many motorcycles around, quite a few drivers decide to get up on the sidewalk with you to pass some of the others.

Taking a cyclo cab wasn't much better, as they seem willing enough to cut across traffic, regardless of whether bigger vehicles and coming along behind.

Anyhow... total chaos... so when we left town for a homestay in the Mekong Delta, I was pretty exausted!!!

The Mekong Delta was nothing special - just a very uncomfortable night on an army cot - but on the way back we went to visit the CuChi tunnels, not far from Saigon and where the VietCong had 250+ kilometres of tunnels to evade the Americans. No surprise why the tunnels were so difficult to find... besides the booby traps everywhere, the entrance was so small you wonder how anybody could fit inside, but I managed it!!!

So, after Saigon, it's off to a place called Dalat, which is up in the mountains and should be a nice relief from the heat and humidity of Saigon!!!