The road to Nam...

We boarded our 6.30am bus in P .P. for the 6 hr trip across the border into Vietnam, been the flamboyant people we are we'd forked out the extra for aircon and a direct bus straight to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). A nice easy straight forward border crossing its the last overland crossing we will do for the rest of our trip. The usual rigmoral followed trapsing round with our bags searching for the elusive 5* hotel at a budget price that never appears, so it was an interesting room down a dingy alleyway in somone's house that became our base for the next few days... We did get cable TV for our $6 so once the heavens opened about 5 mins after stepping outside we quickly retreated waiting for a dry patch to come, this is Nam and in monsoon season it just dosen't happen so with brollys drawn we went out searching for Pho Bo! (we'd been told this is the national budget dish of noodle soup with beef and its super cheap) Could we find it ? could we bollocks! tramping around the streets in the rain and not a soup seller in site! Eventually we gave in and opted to take cover in non English speaking restaurant hoping with our food gestures they'd feed us, luck was on our side a mixed meat noodle soup miraculessly appeared for more money than we wanted to pay but we were revelling too much in our sign language skills to care!!

The following morning we set out to explore the City stopping firstly at the local market for food and a look at the wares on offer but we were in for a rude awakening as it was very much a Bangkok style market place with people grabbing and jostling us to buy there overpriced shit. After an hour we couldn't take any more and left empty handed which is very unlike us these days! As it was nearing lunchtime it was time for another storm and sure enough once out of the confines of any form of cover the downpour happenend, lashing sheet rain and wind engulfed the City, we made a run to local war mueseum only to find it was closed for lunch many expleatives followed! ! It looked like we would have to grin and bear it when the guard on duty allowed us to shelter in a garage within the confines of the mueseum, we were oh so grateful...
Lunch finished eventually not to sure why they needed an hour and a half to eat a tiny bit of rice and minute amount of meat!!
Inside the museum there was a vast collection of photographs and stories that took us 2 and a bit hours to wade through (also had small collection of brand new looking American military armoured vehicles, helicopters,planes and old bombs) by the time we left it felt like we'd been on the frontline itself...a real insight into a war we knew very little about..
That evening we found the cheap food we'd searched for yesterday filled baguettes for 15p and 30p Pho Bo..but the best was still to come as we saw the sign we'd longed for "Bia Hoi" which translates to draught beer and cost a whopping 11p a litre yehaa!!! It is a homebrew style idea that tastes slightly ciderish but very drinkable and so cheap its obscene! After a couple of litres we returned home for a bit of shut eye ready for tomorrows excursion to the Cu Chi tunnels home of the Viet Cong..

The Green Cross Code 'Nam Style': wait for loads of traffic, step out boldly, stare the drivers down and pray!!!

It never rains it only pours - you weren't there man, you can't know what it was like!