SAIGON...... SIMPLICITY AND SPLENDOUR

LEAVING NHA TRANG BEHIND WE ARE BACK ON THE TRAIN FOR ANOTHER 8 HOUR JOURNEY TO SAIGON....this time we are travelling through the day, but there is no choice for foreigners it would seem than the 4 berth soft sleeper carriages. The train we board has started its journey from Hanoi so several people have already hopped on and off and used our carriage....the sheets covering the bunks we have to sit on are not so very nice (understatement) but a little word and smile with one of the train guards gets us fresh cleans sheets so at least we can sit down comfortably and relax a little....with a couple of cockroaches for company! The journey does give us a chance though to view the beautiful Vietnamese country side, plantations and small towns we pass as we make out way south to Saigon.

THE NEXT TRAIN TO ARRIVE AT THE ONLY PLATFORM IS THE 11.35 TO SAIGON

THE ONBOARD FACILITIES

WE DIDN'T DARE CHECK OUT THE NON WESTERN ONES!

ONLY IF YOU ARE DESPERATE

WE'LL NEVER COMPLAIN ABOUT NETWORK RAIL AGAIN!

 

THE NOT SO CLEAN WASH BASIN...GRANDER THAN THE LAST TRAIN WE WERE ON!

 

 

THE VIEWS FROM THE TRAIN WINDOW ARE MUCH BETTER!

 

 

MORE PLANTATION AND FRUIT GROWING AREAS
THAN IN THE NORTH

 

    A REALLY MOUNTAINOUS COUNTRY...

THE STATIONS WE STOP AT ARE VERY SIMPLE.

 

 

A TAXI FROM THE STATION AND WE ARE SOON AT OUR 'MAJESTIC' HOTEL....simple stunning....overlooking the Mekong River it is steeped in history and elegance and built by the French in the 1920's it is one of the oldest in Saigon.

THE VIEW FROM OUR HOTEL ROOM BALCONY

 

 After settling into our room we venture out into the night to discover the sights, sounds and smells of the city. It is a bustling cosmopolitan city much different to those we have visited so far....with a Cathedral an opera house and a shopping and commercial landscape to match London, New York or Paris with Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Chanel and street sellers all blending in together.

CITY HALL... BEAUTIFULLY LIT UP!

 

SAIGON CENTRAL POST OFFICE

 

THE OPERA HOUSE

 

DESIGNER SHOPPING

ITS BEGINING TO LOOK A BIT LIKE CHRISTMAS IN THE SAIGON SHOPPING MALLS!

 

ANOTHER FAB HOTEL IN SAIGON

 

We meander our way to the night market, grab a few bargains for presents to parcel up and send home and have a delicious dinner at the street market restaurant followed by a night cap listening to

a live band in the roof top bar.

NEXT DAY AND EXPLORING THE STREETS OF SAIGON WE STUMBLE ACROSS DENTAL CLINIC OFFERING ...Great deals on laser teeth whitening....So we wander in to enquire and 3 minutes later we are both in chairs

 

A THOROUGH CLEANING AND LASER TREATMENT = LOVELY WHITE TEETH

 

 

NOTRA DAME CATHERDRAL AT DUSK

TIME FOR A DRINK AFTER A BUSY DAY.....

 

 

 

UP AND OFF FOR ANOTHER DAY CHECKING OUT THE CITY..., market shopping and lunch at one of the stalls inside the market



..then off to visit the war museum to try to get an understanding of the war from the Vietnamese perspective...

 CAPTURED AMERCIAN TANKS, HELICOPTERS AND FIGHTER JETS ON DISPLAY

ENTRANCE TO THE TIGER CAGES WHERE VIET CONG FIGHTERS AND SUPPORTERS  CAPTURED BY THE AMERICANS WERE HELD IN BARBED WIRE CAGES. THE PRISON WAS UNDER THE COMMAND OF THE AMERICANS BUT RUN BY THE VIETNAMESE THEY WERE SUPPORTING WHO CARRIED OUT UNTHINKABLE ACTS OF  BRUTALITY

 

THE AMERICANS DROPPED NAPALM BOMBS (CONTAINING THE DEADLY CHEMICAL KNOWN AS AGENT ORANGE) OVER VAST AREAS OF THE CENTRAL REGION OF VIETNAM ...

 

THE LEGACY OF AGENT ORANGE IS STILL BEING SEEN TODAY WITH SO MANY OF THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE HAVING DEFORMITIES GENREATIONS LATER

 

 

A BEGGAR OUTSIDE NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL...DEFORMED FROM BIRTH .. A VICTIM OF AGENT ORANGE...THERE ARE MANY OF THEM WITH LITTLE OPPORTUNITY TO EARN A LIVING ANY OTHER WAY.

 

 

LIGHTING A CANDLE FOR MY MUM, DAD AND NANNAN IN NOTRE DAME CATHERDAL

 

INSIDE NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL

INSIDE THE OLD CENTRAL POST OFFICE

PHOTOS OF THE GREAT DEPARTED LEADER HO CHI MIN ARE DISPLAYED EVERYWHERE

 

THE MAJESTIC HOTELS BEAUTIUL CHRISTMAS TREE

 

 

OUR TIME IN SAIGON HAS BEEN FANTASTIC we have thoroughly enjoyed our ourselves ...but it is time to move on and our bus ride from here over the border to Cambodia awaits!

 

 

NHA TRANG .....BUZZING BEACH CITY

A 6 HOUR TRAIN JOURNEY ....in another soft sleeper carriage and we arrive at 9.30pm at a busy Nha Trang train station....Trang has booked us a Hotel overlooking the beach and organised for us to be picked up from the station.....bit of a shock when we find no car and our pick us is by two young smiling guys on mopeds! They manage to get our luggage in the foot wells and us on the back and off we go dodging the traffic....a bit hairy to say the least. The highlight of the journey a Western Guy on a skate board hanging onto the back of a motor bike going down the busy beach front road....crazy. The hotel is okay...not 5 star but nice clean large room & bathroom plus a basket to put our washing in for the next to nothing priced laundry service.. that will do nicely.

After a good nights rest we take a walk along the beach and head into the back street of Nha Trang to see the real city....we stumble across a local barber and Paul decides a haircut is just what he needs...

 

 

 
SO ITS A SHORT BACK AND SIDES FOR JUST £1.50!

 

WAITING FOR HIS HAIR CUT THIS YOUNG MAN SHOWS US HIS  PASSION FOR FOOTBALL AND MANCHESTER UNITED!

 

 

ITS OFF TO THE MARKET WE GO .... to soak up the sights sounds and smells of real life for the local Vietnamese...

 

FRESH FISH ANYONE?

OR SHRIMPS MAYBE?

PERHAPS A FRESH CHICKEN (THEY ARE REAL SKINNY COMPARED TO BRITISH ONES

GINGER OR GARLIC?

FRESH VEGETABLES?

A FEW DOZEN EGGS?

OR MEAT...NO CHILLER CABINETS HERE TO KEEP IT COOL AND THE FLIES OFF!

FRESH FRIED DONUTS?

 

 

WE SIT OUT SIDE THE MARKET AND HAVE A DRINK..... there is fierce competition between the stalls for customers and they are all trying hard to attract the mainly Russian tourists to their tables, the majority of which appear totally ignorant and miserable!

NICE HAIR CUT PAUL

 

 



We are approached by an old lady beggar who was just so adorable...how could we not help her?

BLESS HER, SHE COULD BARELY WALK AND LOVED THIS PHOTO WHEN WE SHOWED IT TO HER!

 

 

 

ONE OF SEVERAL TAILORS WORKING ON THE PAVEMENT. WE WATCHED AS SHE WAS SEWING AND TRIED THIS TOP ON HERSELF TO CHECK THE SIZE!

 

ONE WAY TO CATCH A POWER NAP!

 

 

 

 

DAY TWO IN NHA TRANG....is some R&R soaking up the sun on the gorgeous beach......sunbeds, umbrella and towels for hire at £1.50 for the day....lovely and relaxing. We are surrounded by Russians who we are told make up the majority of the tourist in Nha Trang (they can fly directly into the resort.) Got to say we have never seen so many huge people in swim shorts and bikinis, they tower over the Vietnamese and we feel positively skinny next to them!

 

THIS PINEAPPLE IS YUMMY!

BEACH SIDE RESTAURANT FOR DINNER!

VERY GIDDY AFTER A LITTLE WINE.....WE TAKE A SELFIE!

 

 

 

AFTER 3 NIGHTS ITS TIME TO MOVE ON....NHA TRANG IS A LOVELY PLACE ....SPOILT TO AN EXTENT BY THE RUDE, AGRESSIVE, MISERABLE RUSSIANS WE ENCOUNTERED. THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE ARE THE LOVELIEST AND MOST ACCOMODATING YOU COULD WISH TO MEET AND DONT DESERVE TO BE TREATED AS WE OBSERVED SEVERAL TIMES......ITS A CATCH 22 SITUATION THOUGH AS THEY NEED THE RUSSIAN TOURISTS MONEY TO SURVIVE!