Good Morning Vietnam- Ho Chi Mihn

We travelled on Thursday 12th September from Birmingham picking up a connection in Paris on to Vietnam - well that was the plan. We thought we would travel regional from Birmingham which is great until things go wrong then you don't have too many options like you would from London- we arrived 24 hours late So missed 1 day in Ho Chi Minh city our first port of call Ho Chi Minh is better known as Saigon and is located in the South East of Vietnam it has a population of 10 million people which makes Coventry look very small in the scheme of things There seems to be a million motorbikes (the main mode of transport) We were staying at the Park Hyatt an oasis of calm in the centre of the city .so pretty much close to everything We had missed our city tour due to our late arrival so decided to step outside and brave the traffic - it was hilarious you just walk ( and don't hesitate) and they go around you It was all a little odd as there were supercars revving up to the cheers of crowds everywhere taking selfies- the Gumball 3000 car rally starting the following day from Ho Chi Mihn to Singapore had taken over and it was pretty chaotic and overwhelming especially when you have had very little sleep We briefly visited Ben Thanh Market but couldn't get our head around the currency £1 to Barter as it was pretty full on =£31,000 Vietnam dong and they don't put 31,000 just 31 just to confuse you further so we returned to the hotel and decided the pool seemed a better option to chill in the heat

The Park Hyatt hotel is beautiful and located in a cul de sac in the historic heart of the city so not affected by the traffic noise - it was built in 2005 and was rebuilt in the Colonial style the original hotel before 'the Binks' was made famous as a US Military base during the Vietnam War and is the location of the DJ Adrian Cronauer made his daily broadcast ( Robin Williams character in Good Morning Vietnam) You can walk out the hotel to some excellent restaurants just 2 minutes from the hotel and shopping 10-20 minutes walk it was very safe

We had a welcome meal provided by our tour operator UNIWORLD and met up with other guests and then crashed - ready for our first day visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels before embarking our Cruise on the MEKONG so checking out It was only a small group as there are only 34 cabins on board and there was a mixture of Uk , Americans, Australians , with a couple of Irish & Canadians. Age group I would say mid 50's to mid 70's

The Cu chi tunnels was about an hour outside of Ho Chi Mihn ( 18-20 miles) - where you could see the underground tunnels dug during the Vietnam War and also a few of the traps as well . It showed you how inventive the Vietnamese were able to have communities living underground with hospitals, schools, weapon factories and kitchens At its height the tunnel system stretched to the Cambodian border

I wasnt brave enough to go into a tunnel as I thought I might struggle to get out !