......what fun. Had to be up at silly o'clock to meet in the ships theatre at 7:15. Phone alarms on for 5:45, need to get the body & bowels prepared for a 2 hour coach trip to HCM, formerly Saigon. Nice light breakfast & caffeine rich coffee in the cabin to get us started. Sitting in jim jams at 6:20 Linda put the telly on & noticed ship clock said 7:20, both phones said 6:20. Panic ensued, Linda left me on the toilet, no make up, blouse on back to front in what passes for a run towards the theatre. I caught her up in the lobby where the is always a scrum for the lifts. No need for rush, it was pandemonium in the theatre, everything was running late, immigration staff on board checking landing cards, getting through gangways a nightmare. All in all we boarded the coach about 9:30. I discovered later that our phones knew it was daylight saving in the UK and decided to change time automatically for us - very helpful.
Weather good not too hot & humidity OK. By-passed the tallest building in Vietnam on the way. Lots of construction going on, new international airport & roads being built, it was similar yesterday in Cam Rahn, where loads of international chain companies were building swanky resorts along the coast. Traffic heavy, stop start most of the way.
First stop was at the relics museum, not what you might expect compared to British Museum relics.
They had more weaponry in there than the British army & RAF can muster. Very one sided story, I spent the hour there fighting the evil French, Americans & their allies. It had nice photo records from war photo journalists, but not enough time to do it justice.
Next stop lunch in an excellent Accor hotel. French influence meant delicious pastries.
For some reason an old Post Office is always on the tour, Hong Kong as well?
Presidential palace where South Vietnam ran the war from. Weaponry seems a big thing there, lots of smaller places cashing in on the tourist trade. The underground bit of the palace was pretty hot & humid. Final stop to pay tribute to uncle Ho, I'm not sure he ever visited his city. Nice part of the city, busy with markets & shopping malls cheeky by jowel.
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