Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Rooftop area of Lofi Hostel Saigon

There are very few cities that have completely blown me away. After having a long sleep I was ready to explore the place. I strolled through the streets and absorbed the bustling, vibrant atmosphere. One thing that really hit me was the different smells of the place, with food stalls all along the street cooking up local dishes. Another thing is the sheer amount of motorbikes; the population of Ho Chi Minh City is 10 million, and there are 6 million motorbikes, and it is CRAZY. And looking through my photos so far of the trip, I have pretty got a collection pictures of traffic. It is also so noisy, with the system being such that you beep to let other vehicles know where you are. This all ultimately makes crossing the road a massive challenge, involving saying your prayers, and simply taking a leap of faith and walking straight across. Funnily enough, it works perfectly as the vehicles meander round you as you keep a steady pace, in a straight line, and feeling like an absolute BOSS.

Time to cross.

I reached the War Remnants Museum, drenched in sweat from the humidity. This was a fascinating and moving insight of the Vietnamese war and the atrocities committed by the Americans (albeit a very biased viewpoint). I spent the rest of the day wandering around, where any street can lead you to something new.

War Remnants Museum: War Crimes Gallery

That evening I chilled on the hostel rooftop, sipping some 30p beers, and went out with a few other travelers also lodging at the hostel. What followed was an incredible meal experience that I could write pages about but is better left by saying "wow, I love this city and its people".

(this is so funny, as I'm writing up the blog the hotel porter keeps inconspicuously popping on the computer next to me to check his Age of Empires game he's got on the run)

The next day involved discovering the best cafe ever: Highland Coffee. The coffee, as I said before, is outrageously good- despite the fact the beans come from a weasel's arse (the weasel only eats the best coffee beans). This, together with a warm Vietnamese baguette, made my life. I also visited Co Chi Tunnels outside the city where the people escaped to during the war, basically living in a huge underground network of tunnels for months on end, and I crawled through one for 30 seconds before claustrophobia kicked in and I had to get out. The evening was spent eating more cheap, phenomenally tasty food and going to a bar where they had swings for seats, dart boards and lots of a beer- a lethal combination. I also met the funniest man in Vietnam, Don, who was a tour guide for these two old Aussie blokes who kept calling me a Pom. I stood my ground, and asked them how Australia were doing in the cricket lately.

It's only been 3 days and I already have enough stories to write a novel. Today I meet my tour group and begin the 22 day tour of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.

Happy old lady with her portable food stall.

Good Morning Vietnam

Welcome to the hilariously named (?) Nelson's Column, which is mainly something to look back on as I have a terrible memory, but also share with you my adventures and potentially learn from my mistakes. The journey could not have started worse, as I arrived at Heathrow Terminal 4 to discover there was no McDonald's to get my MaccyDs breakfast. Boots chicken and mayo sandwich didn't quite hit the spot. Mistake numero uno: don't fly from Terminal 4!

So as you can tell from the first paragraph, this may not be the thrilling read you were looking for. I arrived at Mumbai Airport slightly nervous to go through security after watching Argo on the plane (mistake numero...two: don't watch Argo on plane, regardless of how good it is). My first experience of India wasn't too good: the security were incredibly rude, there was a man laying down in the toilet cubicle motionless (looking back, I maybe should have helped him?) and finally the airport was was playing a piano version of the Watership Down soundtrack for the whole 8 hours I spent there. I then caught the flight to Bangkok and then to Ho Chi Minh, stepping out the plane at 6pm to a wall of humidity, even now I'm sweating buckets as I type this. Sure for Men- it will let you down.

I arrived at the Lofi Inn Hostel- where the staff are really nice, comfortable dorm rooms and free Vietnamese coffee which is to die for- will bring some back for a few certain coffee lovers I know. Had an amazing sleep after not sleeping at all for 36 hours then I was ready to hit up the mad city that is Ho Chi Minh (Saigon).