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.
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