After we arrived late afternoon in Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon), we headed to the local market which has become our routine. Ben Thanh market was likely one of the larger markets to date for us and definitely the feistiest- it got to the point where we would have to walk around three sides of the market square to avoid getting accosted by the t-shirt ladies. Those girls are ferocious and see your first "No" reply as a mere challenge!
That night, Vietnam won the football (soccer) match in the South East Asia (SEA) Games going on right now. This made for total hysteria in the streets- a sea of motorcycles and Vietnamese flags. To put this in context- Saigon has had the craziest traffic we've seen yet, even including India. Luckily, the bulk of the traffic is motorbikes which are agile enough to avoid you when you take your fate in your hands negotiating a road crossing. On this particular night, there was no crossing the street. Period. That is, until the police decided it was time for the fans to disperse and within 10min, relative order was restored :)
The highlight of Ho Chi Minh was visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels, used by the Vietcong guerrilla fighters during the war. We were privileged to have one of the few remaining war veterans to be our guide. He delivered more than just a site tour- we got a history lesson and the inside story of the Vietnam war, which turns out to be much more complicated than we ever knew.
Following a surprisingly enjoyable night train trip, we arrived to the oceanside town of Nha Trang. First impression- there appears to be Russian everywhere- tourists, street signs, menus, entire restaurants and night clubs. They almost outnumber the locals in some areas of this town (the local market being one example)! Nha Trang has been a bit of a hardship- we have been subject to mud bath soaking, natural hot spring wading, snorkeling and sunbathing in the bay and yet another massage. *Sigh*. Seriously, the massage here (Vietnamese-style?) was the MOST divine experience of this trip. Some comical mis-communication led to many giggles, from both the masseuses & massagees throughout the 1.5hrs of bliss.....for a mere......$6 USD.
We now know why Russians come here for vacation :)
Now that we're all relaxed and rested, we should be in good shape tonight for our second overnight train adventure- destination Hoi An.
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