Saigon and Mekong Delta - First Taste of Vietnam

Good Day Everyone!! :)

I want to start this post by mentioning that Lonely Planet, while extremely useful for tips on getting around, and maps, is extremely inaccurate for pricing. Everything here is still relatively inexpensive, but if we had planned this trip solely on Lonely Planet's prices, we would have been very sorely mistaken. Anyway, the Lonely planet books are a very good guide for getting around and maps and things to do, so I still recommend using them for any trip anyone out there is planning. Now let's talk about Ho-Chi-Minh City, or Saigon as everyone still calls it and as most people know it as....

Saigon was our arrival point for Vietnam, and Saigon is a great way to start out any Vietnam trip. The backpacker area of Pham Lam Ngao has everything imaginable for travelers regarding accommodation, food, clothing and anything else imaginable (Massa, T-Shirt, Motorbike, Boom Boom, Cigarette, etc, etc). We decided on a place to stay where our room was just a tiny bit bigger than the bed inside of it. This room was only 8 USD and it included a washroom (hot/cold), TV w/ Satellite (about 5 English channels), and wifi internet...Not too shabby eh?

One of the first things we did upon arrival to Saigon was enjoy some Vietnamese Coffee. Vietnamese iced coffees run you about 6000 Dong or 8000 w/ milk, thats like 60 cents. Compare that with the $3 or $4 most western Vietnamese restaurants charge you and it is that much more enjoyable.

Anyway, we really enjoyed our time in Saigon, the most memorable experience, besides the sheer excitement of being in Vietnam and crossing the crowded streets and enjoying $4 massages, was the war remnants museum. The War Remnants Museum is full of pictures, planes, tanks, weapons, and everything else related to the Vietnam war. It was a real eye opener with regards to the ugliness of war and the devastating effects it can have on a civilization and the environments. It was very good to see though and I think anyone who makes the trip to Vietnam has to make both this museum and an excursion to the Cu-Chi tunnels part of their itinerary. The Cu-Chi tunnels is a network of underground tunnels the Viet-Cong soldiers constructed and lived in during the Vietnam war. As a tourist you can explore certain parts of the tunnels and the tourist park facilitates imagining what it must have been like for soldiers fighting in the guerrilla warfare. There is a live ammunition shooting range in the park as well as many bomb and land mine craters. Let's just say being a US soldier sent to fight in this jungle would have been nothing less than a nightmare come true. The tunnels are a real testament to the Vietnamese ability to work and make due under extreme circumstances. At one point the tunnels spanned an area of 240 KM reaching all the way from Saigon to the Cambodian border.

That is the touristy stuff for Saigon, there was also a few walking trips Katie and I took to explore the city and see various parks and statues, etc. I've gotta say, anyone who enjoys Vietnamese food back home, this is heaven with regards to food and drink. You can find western favorites in lots of places, but the local food is where its at. Bowls of Pho soup run you about 25000 Dong, 1 CAD = 15000 Dong. My favorite, number 46 at Saigon Y2k (popular Calgary chain) cost me anywhere from 30K to 45K depending where I went and the six\ze of portion. For those who aren't familiar my favorite is Rice Vermicelli with Spring Rolls and Lemongrass Chicken. Oh ya, there's also the bubble teas for 11000 fo those with a sweet tooth. Ya, its amazing here....

After Saigon we took a trip to the Mekong Delta. I recommend making this trip part of your itinerary, however don't go all out, Katie and I did a 3 day trip and we felt a 2 day trip would have been just fine (we also later to spoke to someone else who said the exact same thing). While on the Mekong trip we experienced a more cultured look at the real Vietnamese life (not the bustling, tourist harrasing life of Saigon) and had lots of mini adventures with floating through boat markets, exciting bus trips and city walks through flodded streets (Katie especially disliked this last event)....

After Saigon we made our way North to Mui-Ne and Dalat, however I will tell all of you about that at another date....very, very soon. Happy Belated Birthdays to Andrew and Warren and I hope everyone took a moment of silence to remember our fallen soldiers on the 11th. Katie and I were at the top of a mountain this day and it was at the top where I took a moment to think about our fallen soldiers over the many years. Talk to everyone later where you all can read about this mountain adventure and derths of others. I hope everyone is enjoying the reads....just think about how great the pictures will be if you are still reading our (my) blog on a regular basis (I say my because Katie hasn't written anything since Ontario back in Sept...). Love you all, thanks for reading, and take care. :)