Sunday 19th July - the last day

Saigon airport is not as impressive as Hanoi but we had a painless transfer to the airport with enough time for some last last minute shopping.   We gave our left over money to one of the cleaners at the airport - she was so happy (and it was only about £5). And with that, it’s goodbye Vietnam.

90 minutes later we are back in Bangkok.  We had to clear immigration and customs which took ages and we were panicked that we would miss our connection.




Panic over and 2 hours later we are back in Singapore.  The weather is much better than we left behind in Saigon.  We have 8 hours till the flight back to London so decided to go into the city (on the excellent MRT system) to see the Gardens by the Bay.  This is Singapore’s version of the Eden project which I have never seen but David tells me Eden is much better.  There are 5.5m people in Singapore and as David would have it 4.5m of the were visiting that day.

 
 

 Some of it is just plain tacky:

So back to the airport to finish this blog and DAMN and BLAST, I have left my laptop charger on the flight from Bangkok.  Hopefully Cathay Pacific will get it to me.  I will have to finish this in London.

Now back home.  Parker is delirious - thank you Eileen for taking care of our dog aka David’s very special precious puppy that he missed so much (you know I didn't write the latter part off the last sentence). 

Some closing thoughts on the holiday.

Singapore

We don’t regret going but wouldn’t go back.  Singapore is OK to break a longer journey but definitely not a holiday destination in its own right.  Everything is overpriced and I don’t care what anyone says - the food ain’t that good even at the Hawker Markets - especially when compared to  Laos or especially Vietnam.  Jumbo Seafood/chilli Crab is completely over-rated - we have eaten better in Herne Hill.  But......if you like shopping for brand names, or designer goods you will love Singapore.

Laos

A very poor but beautiful country with an air of tranquility about the people - must be the Buddhism.  Dogs appear to be very well treated (in both Laos and Vietnam). Laos is cheap as chips and the people were very friendly.  Luang Prabang is a must.  Great food if a tad heavy on the chilli.





 
Vietnam
What can I say.  A fantastic country which goes straight to second place (after Japan) as the best holiday ever.  The countryside is fantastic and the people were great.  Not really a developing country at all (certainly not the parts we saw).  The food is outstanding and on a par with anything we have ever eaten.  We stayed in some great hotels.  All the hotels we stayed in are classes as "medium" or "simple".  Some areas are pretty commercialised and some street sellers are very annoying.  I can't imagine what the 5-star hotels must be like.  We would DEFINITELY go back.




 


And with that it’s goodbye from me and goodbye from him.

Cảm ơn bạn và chúc ngủ ngon.

Saturday 18th July - Saigon

Collected from the hotel for the 30 minute drive through Danang to the airport.

These were bunkers in the Vietnam War - now used as storage:

Flight to Saigon was uneventful and we arrived with just 5 hours to see it all before our evening activity at 18:00.  Hotel is on the 16th floor and has great views:

No time to waste.   First things first, time to get something to eat, and drink...

Saigon and Hanoi have a lot in common:

§But Saigon (as least the parts we saw) is a lot more disciplined (and wealthier) than Hanoi.

Our first stop was the War Remnant Museum detailing what happened in the Vietnam War albeit from a Vietnamese perspective.

I was very harrowing and there were people crying as they walked around.  You are allowed to take photos but most are just to harrowing.  This is one of the least awful photos showing the effects if Agent Orange.

After that it was to the Reunification Palace which was the state home of the president of South Vietnam.  It has been left as it was when the South surrendered to the North.

So we are standing outside doing the obligatory selfie.  David is setting up the photo when we hear people shouting but didn't know what was going on.

What we didn't realise is that the sprinklers had been switched back on and they move in a circular motion.

The people were shouting at us to get out of the way.  We were soaked.

After that a whizz around the market before heading back to the hotel for a quick drink in the Sky Bar (which is not as good as it sounds)

Saigon is a city of 9 million people and 5 million motorbikes.  Our guide told us, every day 40 people are killed in motorcycle accidents in Vietnam.  This was not what we wanted to hear as our evening tour was on the back of motorbikes.  To make matters worse, we encountered out first serious rain of the holiday so had to wear ponchos.

It was all very crazy but exciting at the same time.

We stopped at 4 different places to eat:
 

But believe it or not, the best was the frogs legs:

They were fantastic.

After that it was a trip to a sort of jazz clubs with songs in both Vietnamese and English.

Then to a rock club singing rock staples e.g. Aerosmith.

We would recommend it as long as you can cope with the madness when you are on the bikes.  We were in a group of 6, the others were all Australian and they were a good group to be with as you ate all the meals with them.

Then back to the hotel for the journey home starting at 05:30 tomorrow morning.  That means no time to visit the tunnels where people hid during the war which is a shame as it is one of the things I really wanted to see.