Scenic Saigon

In a long boat going through canals in the Mekong Delta.
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Arrived at Customs on the border of Vietnam/Cambodia where dodgy men dressed like officials tried to make us pay for the arrival forms.  Sat on the floor for 3 hours waiting to go through.  Played cards, read our books, we didn't know what the hold up was.  Vietnamese love red tape.  The make everything really complicated.  Once the line started actually moving we had 5 different officials check our passports, one lady accepting money for a quarantine bill.  We must have been in quarantine for the 3 hours we sat in the line, wish someone told us, I would've taken a shower before hand!  Our guide on the next bus sang a few Vietnamese traditional songs, let us stop off at the monkey park to watch to monkeys fight and squeal at each other.  Met 2 couples on the bus and bonded in Customs so after we found some accomodation (Yellow House - pretty casual - they don't ask for your passport, name or anything, they just give you a key!)we went and had dinner with them.

One of the musicians on Dragon Island. His singing sounded like air being let out of a balloon.
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Next day did a day tour of the Meking Delta.  Firstly, as this was Chinese New Years Eve, 70% of residents had left Saigon and no one was working.  So the fishing boat scenes we were looking forward to in the Delta weren't there.  Secondly, our tour guide was so annoying!  He had a microphone and was so loud you couldn't block him out.  We met 2 nice Chinese girls from Beijing on this trip, Yu Mei and Shuang.  We got the bus to Mekong City, got on a dodgy motorised long boat to Turtle Island, had lunch, boat to Unicorn Island, watched coconut candy being made, little tiny 4 seater boat to Dragon Island to drink tea and listen to the most awful singers I've ever heard (sounded like cats fighting) and then the boat past Phoenix Island back to Mekong City, back on that bus with the microphone!  There was a really, really obese German on the trip and whenever we went on the boats the driver would make people move to the other side to balance it out.  I think the bus was on an angle too.  The tour guide made jokes about his weight, which he ended up laughing at after a few beers and some rice wine.

They gave us luck money while we played charades and mimed going to the toilet.

Traffic, New Years Eve, in Saigon.
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That night, joined the American and Canadian couples in going to the bridge to watch the fireworks.  On the way, walking there, we needed to use the toilet, so we stopped at what looked like a public hall.  We found it was actually a temple, they didn't speak Vietnamese or English, and thought we wanted to pray at their shrines.  So they gave us luck money (presents given at New Year) while we played charades and mimed going to the toilet. 

The fireworks went for half an hour.  30 minutes of fireworks. It was massive.  The bridge was full of Vietnamese people, staring at us white freaks.  Then when they were over it was a mad rush of mopeds!  The rule when crossing the road is to walk at a steady pace, just step in front of the traffic.  They go around you, they don't slow down, they just go around.  There were so many bikes on the road this night, I had to close my eyes while crossing the road, it was scary!

The next day we did a walking tour of Saigon, trying to find places where The Quiet American was filmed.  Didn't find any but found a gorgeous french cafe where we had bruschetta!  Went to the War Museum which was gruesome to say the least.  It had names of all the people that died, were wounded in the Vietnam War.  It also showed the after effects of land mines and poison being used.  People today are still losing limbs from the land mines, and families that drink water near places that have been poisoned are having deformed babies.  It was really, really sad, and well presented but like I always do in museums, I got bored.  Went and looked at some beautiful art on a street full of galleries.  Finished the day at Good Morning Vietnam, which is actually a pizza/pasta franchise in the country.  OK pasta, crap pizza. 

Next day, took off for the beach.