Hi All.
We arrived safely in Vietnam and are having a great time. Vietnam is unbelievable! At the airport our first attempt to get into the country was rejected by the stone-faced communist customs officer, because we had not filled out the section about where we were staying … we didn’t even know that ourselves! It was easier than we thought to get a cab and find a relatively nice hotel to stay in. First impressions? Well, you know that smell of a bin with the lid off – that is Saigon.
The food has been great, we are eating all the time. No sign of any bad reactions as yet. Yesterday it rained most of the day, just like a typical wet season day in Darwin. We took a day tour to the Chu Chi Tunnels, where the Viet Cong used to hide out during the American War (as the Vietnamese call it). It was pretty spooky – we had to crawl through about 150m of a hot, dark and damp tunnel on our hands and knees (fortunately they have been enlarged for us westerners!). We didn’t take advantage of the chance to fire off a few bullets from an M-16 or AK-47, but did see some pretty gruesome looking booby-traps.
Today we spent checking out more of Saigon. The traffic is chaotic yet it runs surprisingly smoothly – there are 70 million people to avoid on the road (mostly motorbikes) and apparently less than 30% have their licence. From here we will be heading south to enjoy the floating markets of the Mekong Delta region for a couple of days. There are so many sights to see, and shopping to do. After that, we will head up the coast to relax on some of their famous beaches.
It feels like we have been away for ages, though it has only been just over 24 hours. After a month we will feel like locals! Phone calls are very expensive, and very hard to organise, so these letters will be the best means of communication. Feel free to drop us a short message.
We are now off to have another nice cold beer. We hope everyone is well, as we certainly are.
Stay tuned for more … soon.
Love and safety,
Clare and Rob.
Other letters from Vietnam:
