So much has happened since I left Hoi An... met a bunch of people a few hours after I arrived and the group just seemed to swell until last night where we were a huge crazy bunch, being told off by the Irish Pub's manager to get off the furniture - there was no reason we couldn't dance on the floor. True enough. Was great fun, it got to the point that we had this "dance off", one group against another, like a really bad music clip. But as usual can't sleep, so have been hounding people on Facebook since 9am and am now waxing lyrical here.
But let's go back a few days to when I arrived in Saigon (refuse to call it Ho Chi Minh City):
When I arrived I was a bit overwhelmed, hadn't really planned to be in Saigon for another week. But I guess I'm back on form (was pretty tired & grouchy in Hoi An), because my plans seem to have regained their uncanny knack of changing every second, so I'm loving it again.
Met a really nice girl (ok, woman, she's 34) who has been travelling for 8 months and has finally found what she is looking for - was so inspiring. Made me feel like I'm not such a lost cause after all...! (May be exaggerating a bit about the lost cause.. every second person I meet seems to be on a soul searching mission. It is just nice to finally meet someone who knows what she wants from live, love, job, etc.)
Saigon is wild and wacky, although I must admit I thought it would be crazier than it is. I think I could actually live here, not that I'm actively pursuing that thought (calm down you guys, breathe!).
Went to the war museum which was very disturbing. The pics of the victims and torture scenes were bad but the quotes by the photographers below the pics really rammed the horror home: "I saw this group of woman & children [about to be shot] and said "hold it", took my picture and turned to walk away. I heard the shots and out of the corner of my eyes I saw bodies fall to the ground but I didn't look back." Terrible.
Yesterday saw me creeping around the Cu Chi tunnels - an intricate system of tunnels used by revolutionary fighters (viet cong) during the war. Very impressive - the tunnels & chambers are either 3m, 6m or 10m underground. It was amazing how tiny the tunnels were - Mark would just about fit.
An Irish trio has convinced me to join them for the full moon party in Thailand. Will leave Vietnam tomorrow, am flying out to Koh Samui and then planning on catching the speed boat over to Koh Phangan.
