Day 11

I am sitting in the small, cozy lobby of Phan Anh Backpacker Hostel in the Pham Ngu Lao area of bustling, colorful Saigon. The rain is pouring down outside, and will probably continue for another hour of so before being replaced by the distinct smell and uncharacteristic quiet that briefly follows every rainfall, as the city gets back into gear. I have just returned from Mui Ne, and have only 3 days left in Vietnam before continuing my journey towards Cambodia.

I have kept pretty busy ever since leaving Dubai, and the warmth, charm and hospitality of the Vietnamese people have already won me over. I see now that my time here is way too short, and I will most definitely return in the future!

So far I have explored the massive beast that is Ho Chi Minh City with my wonderful Vietnamese colleague as a guide, and in contrast to what many travellers experience here, I really love the atmosphere of the city. I have taken advantage of the fantastic (ridiculously cheap) massage spas that crowd the backpacker area, I have witnessed the absolute horror of decades of war from the Vietnamese perspective at the War Remnants Museum, I have crawled underground in hiding from American bombardment in the Cu Chi Tunnel system, I have partied at rooftop bars at the 2 tallest buildings in the city and had 3 DKK Saigon beers at charismatic outdoor bars until the early hours of morning.

Vietnamese cuisine is absolutely amazing. I have already consumed a truly exotic array of dishes during my short stay here - some incredibly good, some incredibly gross :D Roasted chicken feet, grilled octopus, boiled squid, manta ray, neon colored sticky rice, pigfeet, duck liver, frogs, duriem (the Vietnamese version of surstromming!), and a great deal of things I have no idea what was - most of it so hot that it will have you sweating as if you've been running a marathon. A cooking class with a Vietnamese TV cook has even taught me the fine art of cooking an excellent Bun Bo Hue :)

Mui Ne and Phan Tiet along the coast are small slices of paradise, and a couple of days in pure beach resort luxury away from busy Saigon have been extraordinary. I have been eating in the middle of the night at 24 hour local restaurants, visiting street markets, swapping stories with rugged Australian beach bar owners, partying with a throng of Kazaksthanis, visiting the local sand dunes, swimming in the clear ocean, bike riding up the coast, meeting the friendly locals and taking 4 AM motorbike rides in the pouring rain. 

The next part of my journey brings me into the heart of the rural Mekong Delta... I am excited! :D

(To ease the process of keeping this updated, I will be using Facebook's public photo album service for pictures from now on. You dont need an account to view the pictures, just click on the link!)

Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152094093922262.1073741827.649632261&type=1&l=292253bceb