Miss Saigon

Ahhh
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Rich writes:

Petrus, Claridges, Maze, step aside, Quan An Ngon proceed to the front of the queue! We were told that Ho Chi Minh City had some amazing restaurants, but this was something else. For the grand total of $12 we had easily the best food of our trip so far, and that includes the Fish Amok Coconut Curry wrapped in Banana leaves in Shinoukville. Thanks to Quang at Tre Viet restaurant on Mare street in Hackney for the recommendation.

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Saigon, was renamed Ho Chi Minh City on 1 May 1975 shortly after its capture which officially ended the war. Ho Chi Minh was a Communist, Marxist-LeninistVietnameserevolutionary who became the president (1946–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam(North Vietnam). Just so you do not need to hop on to Wikipedia to brush up on your Indo-Chinese history.

Aha
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There are a number of very interesting facts which we have learnt about this country in such a short period of time.

1. 18 is the legal age to ride a motorbike, however the only thing over 18 on a bike is the number of people onboard.

2. That the Vietnamese called the war "The Resistance War Against America" which I think is more appropriate.

3. That during the war, the Vietnamese were far more tactical, more intelligent, (not difficult considering the opposition) and more resourceful, (they simply collected up all the unused bombs and weapons, tinkered with them a bit and then used them on the enemy in a more strategic way).

Ho Chi Minh
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4. They have the most brightly coloured desserts

5. That Vietnam has the most complicated wet season/dry season climate known to man, we are still not sure what is happening.

6. That the Tet holiday, Vietnamese New Year does mean that every form of transport is completely booked.

7. That  Ho Chi Minh bears a striking resemblance to Colonel "finger licking" Saunders.

Colonel Saunders
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No trip to Saigon was going to be complete without reading "the quiet american" by Graeme Green. And it did not disappoint, although I went in search of all the names of the cafes and roads but they had all lost their colonial French names and converted into a slew of accents and rising tones.

We headed out of HCMC in true style, on the "Golden Train sleeper" service to Nha Trang, we later found out that the "Blue sleeper" was way more exotic and had deeper mattresses. We patiently waited to see who we would be sharing our 4-Berth carriage with, but I think by the time we had unpacked our rucksacks, washbags, Dior sunglasses, Stuffed animals, dressing gowns and slippers there didn't appear to be any more room.

Both Graham and I feel that we are both fairly good mathmaticians and came up with a new and interesting formula:

Mid-price hotel with no windows + Night on thin train Mattresses = 5* Sunrise Hotel and Spa on the beach in Nha Trang for 3 nights.

Ahhhh......zzzzzz

PS. we are desperately trying to upload our photos from our camera to a PC but are failing miserably at the moment. I know from when i read the paper that all we are interested in are the pictures, so watch this space!!!!