Life in Ho Chi Minh City

So life in the above city- hereafter referred to as HCMC for the sake of my fingers!- continues in the breathless pace that is Saigon. The traffic remains crazy, the traffic lights are fun and I have a 2nd degree burn on my leg from the exhaust of one of the motor bike taxis! I managed to then get it infected and had to pay yet another visit to yet another hospital. I must start calling this blog "Travels around hospitals of the world!" Anyway they fixed me up but I nearly fainted when they charged me 3 million Vietnamese Dong. Its only about 100 quid but its a lot of money for one doctors visit- thank God for travel insurance!

I must mention that I'm becoming a bit of a celebrity in HCMC. I have done 2 interviews and photos for local newspapers which was quite fun. Then to my horror today a film crew turned up and filmed us packing the food!!! Picture the scene: its 100 degrees and about 90% humidity. The room is small with ovens all blazing and there is about 20 people crammed into the small space. Sweat is dripping off us all and I am red in the face (the Vietnamese people not so much!!) Then this perfectly dressed, absolutely beautiful little Vietnamese woman pops up out of nowhere and says brightly "I interview you now yes?" Of course the proper answer is "No you maniac get out of my face!!" but instead I politely say "Yes of course no problem!" The camera man is close enough to examine your fillings and I really just want a shower and some make up!

The pictures included are of the full day tour that we did to the Cao Dai temple and the Cu Chi tunnels. Both were amazing. The temple is one of the only places in the world that a mix of religions are practised under one name. The name of the religion escapes me at the moment, but its a combination of Catholicism, Buddhism and Hinduism. We were priviledged to observe the worshipping ceremony that takes place which was beautiful, and very different to anything else I've ever seen before. The photos are of the entrance and the ceiling decorations. It was quite the most extravagant building I've ever seen! The other photo is me getting to grips with the M60 at the Cu Chi tunnels. They charge to for the bullets and then you carry on. Its the first time in my life that I've fired a gun and it will certainly be the last. It was terrifying and the kickback on the shoulder is incredible! I may have already commented on the tunnels but its worth saying again. They are tiny. The Vietnamese are very small so they fit down them but even then its a tight fit. I cannot imagine how awful it must have been to fight a war in them and be bombed and stuck there for days. The Vietnamese have even more of my respect after seeing that!

So I think thats all for now. I'm sad that I don't have more time here but there is a big wide world out there and I'm dying to explore it!

Till next time.

Disappearing off the face of the earth

Oops. So the blog has been sooo neglected of late. I just checked out the last post and its so old! Things have changed quite a bit since then!

First of all South Africa. I finished there a few days ago. It was an awesome experience but I'm glad to be on the move again. Also the area that I was staying in was so white and bland that it could have been anywhere.

Egypt- it was sooo amazing! We went to Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Dahab, Jordan and then back to Cairo. The people that I met were fun and I'm so glad that I met them. I think my favourite parts were the pyramids- obviously!- and probably Jordan, although it was very expensive. I could have spent longer in Jordan quite easily. Petra was beautiful and fantastic and I loved it. We also did gorge walking and quite a bit of climbing, including climbing 800 steps to an ancient monastry. In the 120 degree heat, thats not easy! Of course I also met Mido who became my constant companion for much of my time in Egypt and is still in contact so thats an added extra!

But to bring this old blogger right up to date, enough of the past!! I am currently blogging from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam (also known as Saigon and both are considered correct). This place has to be one of my favourite places that I've visited. I think that the people are responsible for most of that. They are welcoming and sweet and warm and ready to laugh at almost anything- including me!! They will also bend over backward to please you and make you happy. I am working in a charity cookhouse for sick people, both those who are in hospital and those who have been released but still need some assistance. So in the morning I get there and we chop all the veggies and tofu (all the food that we cook is vegetarian which is good for me!). Then the food is cooked and we all eat some of it for breakfast/lunch. The food is amazing and certainly way better than the stuff that we give our patients at home! After food we rest- in a cute little room upstairs on a bamboo mat. Then the food has to be bagged and packed, then we go and deliver it. This is my favourite part of the day. First we go to the hospital and leave their food there. Then we go to a different area and set up a kind of soup kitchen where the poor patients can come with their containers and collect some food. These people can eat! The rice that they can consume is amazing and they are all soooo skinny its ridiculous! The Vietnamese are naturally small anyway- the women all look like 12 year old children. We all laugh at the clothes shops. The mannequins that they use are European and the clothes here are too small even for the mannequins!!! Even the men are tiny- Tien picked me up at the airport and I was afraid that he was about to snap in half when he picked up my ruckie. He is 3 inches shorter and at least 100 lbs less than I am! Carlee, one of the other volunteers gets many stares because she is over 6 ft tall and they are not really used to that!

The volunteer house is cool- its very basic accommodation but its fine and the other volunteers are great. We are all doing loads of different projects but we all hang out in the evenings and go for dinner, drinks etc. The work is tiring for everyone, especially because of the climate. Its not always sunny but its always hot. And the humidity is a killer. You have a constant layer of sweat all over your skin just from sitting still!

So far Vietnam is great! I haven't had much chance yet to check out Saigon but there are loads of museums and cool places to visit. There is also the opportunity to travel a lot over the weekends so I think I am going to visit the Mekong Delta, Hanoi and maybe Sappa. I also have some time once I finish work at the end of the month, so I can do some moving around then.

So thats it! Blog updated! I want to add some photos but the reader here doesn't recognise my USB cable for some reason. So I will have to figure out how to organise that at some point! But in the meantime you will have to be happy with just my ramblings!!

Till next time