Saigon can only be defined as chaotic and heavily polluted with motorbikes everywhere. There is little in the way of defining architecture; it is really just another city ... a concrete jungle and a lot less developed than we were expecting with the buildings taking on that typical half finished, slightly decrepid look.After sharing a taxi ride to the centre with some other backpackers, we dumped our bags and headed out to check out the local area and find a reputable travel agency to book our passage into Cambodia (via the Mekong River Delta). It was Chinese New Year's Eve the day we arrived (also celebrated in Vietnam) and which is followed by a 3 day 'Tet' public holiday and the hotel and some travel agencies were telling us that everything would be closed for the next 4 days. Not good news for our overland trip through Cambodia and into Bangkok for our flight to Kathmandu by Feb 3rd. Thankfully, the information we were given was inaccurate. We have learnt that people will give you information to suit themselves. Some of the agencies were closing for the holiday and we suspect they were misleading us in order to get us to defer our departures so that we would book with them!
We had dinner then waited for midnight to see in the Chinese New Year and watch the fireworks with the locals and other tourists. 
Even more memorable than the fireworks was the number of mopeds stopped on the wide streets in front of us to watch the fireworks..... there must have been thousands of them, some with their families piled onto the back including tiny babies. It is a sight you would never ever see in the Western World. Saigon has over 3 million mopeds flying around the streets and boy do we know it! The air was thick with the exhaust fumes and you take your life into your hands everytime you try and cross a the road. You have to just step out and let the the bikes weave around you as you make your way across. By the time the fireworks had finished we both had burning eyes and our clothes stank. That said, it was absolute sheer madness seeing and hearing the thousands of mopeds moving off like a stampede!
Even more memorable than the fireworks was the number of mopeds stopped on the wide streets in front of us to watch the fireworks..... there must have been thousands of them, some with their families piled onto the back including tiny babies. It is a sight you would never ever see in the Western World. Saigon has over 3 million mopeds flying around the streets and boy do we know it! The air was thick with the exhaust fumes and you take your life into your hands everytime you try and cross a the road. You have to just step out and let the the bikes weave around you as you make your way across. By the time the fireworks had finished we both had burning eyes and our clothes stank. That said, it was absolute sheer madness seeing and hearing the thousands of mopeds moving off like a stampede!On Monday we were up early and took a tour 60km north to see the Cu Chi tunnels (with the obligatory 40 minute stop at the tourist tack shop!). 
The Cu Chi tunnels are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels and were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War. They were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. 
We began by watching a short documentary about the tunnels, which gave an interesting insight into the war from the Vietnamese perspective before walking to see the various animal traps and pits that the Viet Cong set to trap American GIs. We then entered one of the tunnels, dug at 3 different levels, of 3, 6 and 9 metres through a section of them we were exhausted and dripping in sweat... amazing to think people lived in them for 21 hours a day.
We returned to Saigon at lunchtime and in the afternoon we walked through the city to visit the War Remnants Museum, dedicated to the memories of those who fought in the Vietnam War. We had been told the museum was closed by all the tourist agencies but thought we'd check ourselves and it was open. The museum was very educational but very harrowing; a stark depiction of the brutality of warfare. There were displays and photos in the museum that we had never seen the likes of before. Some were quite gruesome and Bi found it very hard to deal with and burst out crying in the museum. It is shocking and upsetting to see the barbaric treatment of another human being in such graphic form and to see people's facial expressions, women and children especially, in photos taken just moments before they were killed. Particularly disturbing also was a tank of preserved foetuses which had been horrifically deformed by the US use of chemical Agent Orange during the war. It was upsetting but an all too important lesson in the pointlessness of war.
The Cu Chi tunnels are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels and were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War. They were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. 
We began by watching a short documentary about the tunnels, which gave an interesting insight into the war from the Vietnamese perspective before walking to see the various animal traps and pits that the Viet Cong set to trap American GIs. We then entered one of the tunnels, dug at 3 different levels, of 3, 6 and 9 metres through a section of them we were exhausted and dripping in sweat... amazing to think people lived in them for 21 hours a day.We returned to Saigon at lunchtime and in the afternoon we walked through the city to visit the War Remnants Museum, dedicated to the memories of those who fought in the Vietnam War. We had been told the museum was closed by all the tourist agencies but thought we'd check ourselves and it was open. The museum was very educational but very harrowing; a stark depiction of the brutality of warfare. There were displays and photos in the museum that we had never seen the likes of before. Some were quite gruesome and Bi found it very hard to deal with and burst out crying in the museum. It is shocking and upsetting to see the barbaric treatment of another human being in such graphic form and to see people's facial expressions, women and children especially, in photos taken just moments before they were killed. Particularly disturbing also was a tank of preserved foetuses which had been horrifically deformed by the US use of chemical Agent Orange during the war. It was upsetting but an all too important lesson in the pointlessness of war.
From the Museum we walked to the Reunification Palace, a rather drab 1960's building which has been preserved as it was when the communist North Vietnamese Army tanks smashed through the gates in 1975, signifying the reunification of North and South Vietnam. With the major sights of the city done, we headed back to our hotel area for an ice-cream and to get out of the scorching heat!The following day, Tuesday, we began our 2 day trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia via the Mekong River Delta. The Mekong is a huge 2,700 mile long river, flowing south from Northern China through China, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia before forming a huge delta in southern Vietnam. A trip on the delta is considered a highlight in Vietnam. We got on a rather old and cramped bus at 8.30am (after fighting for our seats!) and were driven 4 hours west to the small town of Cai Be. 
Here we boarded a motorised canoe and cruised down one of the delta's branches to see the local production of rice paper, puffed rice and coconut candy which was clearly put on for the tourists but interesting nevertheless. The slow journey along the river was fascinating for the rickety wooden shacks that line the banks of the river and for seeing the local people going about their everyday lives. 
We finally had before us the scenery we expected from Vietnam. Our boat took us onto the main river and after a brief stop for lunch we sailed on to the town of Vinh Long where we disembarked and met our bus for a 4 hour drive to our destination for the night, the small town of Chau Doc. In Chau Doc we checked into the 
hotel reserved by the tourist agency and were given a room with a ''fake'' window.... it opened up onto a brick wall which was pleasant.. not! The town was quite rustic so it was bit of challenge finding somewhere to eat that looked like it might be kind to our stomachs. As per usual here in South East Asia, the town was buzzing with people and street vendors until late.
Here we boarded a motorised canoe and cruised down one of the delta's branches to see the local production of rice paper, puffed rice and coconut candy which was clearly put on for the tourists but interesting nevertheless. The slow journey along the river was fascinating for the rickety wooden shacks that line the banks of the river and for seeing the local people going about their everyday lives. 
We finally had before us the scenery we expected from Vietnam. Our boat took us onto the main river and after a brief stop for lunch we sailed on to the town of Vinh Long where we disembarked and met our bus for a 4 hour drive to our destination for the night, the small town of Chau Doc. In Chau Doc we checked into the 
hotel reserved by the tourist agency and were given a room with a ''fake'' window.... it opened up onto a brick wall which was pleasant.. not! The town was quite rustic so it was bit of challenge finding somewhere to eat that looked like it might be kind to our stomachs. As per usual here in South East Asia, the town was buzzing with people and street vendors until late.
The following morning, Wednesday, we had a 6am start and after breakfast we walked to the riverfront where we transferred onto a small wooden canoe. An older Vietnamese woman then 'rowed' us down the river and through a floating village, essentially a collection of houseboats (and by that we mean 
higgeldy piggeldy wooden shacks actually built so they sit on top of a boat) and floating buildings. The inhabitants were busy doing their washing and bathing in the river and some were even drinking the river water which was brown and filthy. The same water would probably do us some very serious harm! We came 
back to shore to walk around a small muslim Cham village before transferring onto a small boat that was to take us up the Mekong river and into to Cambodia. The journey was fascinating as we saw real life on the river as opposed to a show put on for the tourists. 
The scenery changed from rice paddy fields as far as the eye could see to jungle but consistently all the way along people were coming down to the river from their small, crooked wooden houses to fish, bathe (with their cattle at some points!), wash their clothes or to swim and cool off. The people live in such poor conditions that it makes you feel guilty about the 
luxuries you take for granted every day. After 3 hours we reached the Cambodian border and after formalities we transferred to a very narrow and uncomfortable boat where we sat on a wooden bench for the next 3 hours to Phnom Penh. 
At the end of our boat journey we peeled our aching backsides from the bench and boarded a minibus that took us the final 35km into Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
