Good morning Vietnam

I've now been in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)/Saigon for a couple of days. It's an amazing city, but with crazy traffic! 8 million people, and what feels like the same number of motorbikes. Lots of broad boulevards (guess the French is to blame for that...) filled with zig-zaging motorbikes, cars and buses, all making maximum use of their horns. The noise level is quite high.... First I thought that I would NEVER be able to get across a street, but it's actually not to bad. You just have to cross quite slowly so everyone has the time to swerve around you. Still, pretty scary at times. Especially when also trying to avoid all the hawkers, cyclo and motorcycle taxi guys (no, no, no, no, no, I actually DO want to walk), and other perplexed tourists. Like in Thailand, there appears to be no limit to how many people you can fit onto one motorbike, but here at least everyone is wearing a helmet...

One very nice suprise, that also shows my lack of knowledge about Vietnam, is that everything is written with our normal alphabeth! That, together with those straight boulevards, makes it a lot easier to not be constantly lost. Aside from the traffic, Saigon is actually quite pretty with lots of colourful houses, street vendors, markets, pagodas and food stall. Mmmm, Vietnamese food is very nice! So far pho bo (noodle soup), bun cha (bbq pork with cold noodles, herbs and dipping sauce), and bach xeo (pork and shrimp-filled pancake) are my favourites.

I've been doing quite a lot of sight-seeing, most memorable is the War remnants museum showing the horrors of the Vietnam war (or American war as it's known here). I've also done a little bit of shopping, mostly to replenish boring stuff like schampoo. Certain things like body lotion is not that easy though if you go to a Vietnamese store, as all of them are "whitening". As I just started to get a nice tan I'm not to keen to loose it...

Tomorrow I'm going to go on a 3-day tour through the Mekong-delta, and then I fly to the island Ph Quoc close to the Cambodian border for a couple of days on the beach. The plan is to go back to Saigon by bus from Rach gia, and then to Dalat. From Dalat I think I'll go to Hoi An and spend Christmas there before going to Hue for a few days. From Hue I hope to take the train to Hanoi, celebrate New Year there, and then head up to Sa Pa.