Ho Chi Minh City

We arrived in Saigon in the evening and spent the first night in the Saigon Spots Hotel which was alright, but the next two nights we splashed out and stayed in the Golden Central Hotel. We got a room on the top floor. The view was amazing, and an expensive but good way to look over the city. And the hotel had a rooftop pool.



We had breakfast at an amazing bakery and then walked to get rosies raincoat that had been posted from Phu Quoc. Along the way I got my bushy beard shaved off by an old guy with a blade. He left me with a few cuts and big sideburns! After that we had a good lunch, got the coat by communicating with my fantastic drawing, then went to the huge market. I spent ages there, dragging Rosie around, but managed to get a few things after making a Vietnamese woman angry from bartering too hard. Later on we got massages that made me happy and we watched black hawk down.

Next day we had good free hotel breakfast, and chilled out on the hotel roof by the pool. Nice. After lunch we went to American war museum. It was good and eye opening. We went to Le jardin for tea because Rosie wanted French cheeses, and the food was good but the kitchen closed before we ordered cheese. She wasn't happy.
Overall had a great time in Ho chi Minh. Really cool city!

Vinh Long

We got off the boat at Ha Tien and got on a public bus at about 11 to Vinh Long, a town in the heart of the Mekong Delta. We got there at about 4.30. Actually we were dropped at the side of the main road just outside the town where there were two guys with motorbikes. We paid $5 for a seriously scary and fast trip into the centre of the town. It was an expensive trip but it's hard to barter when they don't speak a word of English.

We got a room for $12 at the Van Tram guesthouse which was right on the river and next door to Mekong Travel. We booked a tour around the Mekong for the next day. We spent the rest of the evening having a wander around the town.

We got up at 6 the next day for the mekong delta trip. It was only me and Rosie on the tour and we got in a wooden long boat and went to the Cai Be floating market.

The market was made up of loads of boats all tied together in the middle of one of the canals, each boat selling a different fruit or veg. They have a big wooden stick in the air with an example of what they are selling hanging on the end of it.

We then stopped at a place where they make coconut toffee candy and pop rice, which is similar to rice crispies.



We got back on the boat and visited an orchard with a few ponds around it containing elephant ear fish. We then got on some cranky old bikes and went for a ride around the area. It was cool seeing all the canals and bridges. Some of the bridges looked proper dodgy and our guide was telling us that kids die every year when the bridges break, and drown in the river.



After the ride we ordered lunch back at the orchard - spring rolls and deep fried elephant ear fish; a delicacy in the Mekong. It was sooo good!



After lunch we went for a row down one of the canals in a sampan. It's hard to row, you stand up at the back, facing forward and row with crossed oars. Got no pictures on the phone so can't post any.

On the way back to Vinh Long we stopped at a brick factory which had loads of huge kilns, a brick making machine and a tomb of the original factory owner.



Late afternoon we got on a bus to Ho Chi Minh City.

Phu Quoc

We were picked up from our guesthouse in Kampot half an hour late, but I was invited to play chess with one of the locals. There were about 10 people around the chess board all helping by moving the pieces, I lost rather badly.

We got on the bus and it was about an hour and a half to the Vietnam border. It took 20mins to get our passports stamped and we had to pay a dollar for the privilege. Definitely dodgy.






The bus dropped us in Ha Tien and we had a quick lunch in the tourist office before getting a bus to the port so as to board the boat for the hour and a half trip to Phu Quoc island.

We asked to be taken to Long Beach which is the main stretch of beach. We decided to stay at the quieter end of the beach at the Viet Tranh bungalow resort. We got a wicked bungalow right on the front for only $10.

There were two hammocks in the porch and we spent the evening relaxing and watching the sunset. It was paradise!






The next morning we woke up and had an amazing banana shake for breakfast. We rented a moto for $5 and drove for 20mins to the Tranh Waterfalls. They were awesome and we swam in one of the pools.






We spent the early evening in the hammocks, Rosie fell out. We went for food in the night market, it was really cool! There were loads of stalls with fresh seafood ready to be put on the BBQ. We had 4 huge prawns, tuna steak and a lobster all for less than $8.






The next day we booked onto a snorkeling tour around the An Thoi islands - a group of 12 archipelago islands off the southern tip to Phu Quoc. On the way to the boat we stopped at a pearl farm which was interesting.

The boat trip was really good, the snorkeling however was rubbish. The visibility was poor.

After the boat trip we were taken to Sao Beach on the east side of Phu Quoc which again was paradise!






We had dinner at Le Bistrot, a French restaurant which was good. We both had carbonara.

We left the island the next day. We were meant to be picked up at 7.30 but the bus arrived at 7 so were really rushed. Rosie left her iPod but remembered just in time. We got the the boat and then Rosie remembered she had left her jacket. Useless! Back on the mainland we asked for it to be sent to Saigon. We were pretty sure we were never going to see that jacket again.

Vietnamese Vaccinations

After putting it off long enough I finally had an apointment with the travel nurse to findout what jabs I had previously had and the recomended ones for Vietnam and Cambodia. The recomended ones are:

• Diphtheria, Tetanus and Polio
• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid

Optional vaccinations were:

• Rabbies
• Hepatitis B
• Japanese Encephalitis

I also had to decide what Malaria tablets I wanted to take. I decided on Malarone eventhough they are way more expensive, you dont get the side affects that are often assiciated with Doxycycline such as photosensitisation plus it is an antibiotic.