So, first week in Vietnam! We'restaying in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon City. Hard to describe this place. On first impression it looks really poor and busy. Noisy street vendors, an impossible chaos of motorcycles and people crossing roads seemingly randomly, people sitting on their little part of the sidewalk all day.But after a while, another city appears. Most buildings arein bad shape and look quite shady, but go inside and you can find the most beautiful bars and restaurants. Many streets look authentically asian, but then suddenly a glamorous Mercedes Vendorship lays right in the middle. At night flocks of men in suits and ladies all dressed up cruise around the city on their motorcycles, somehow reminding me of Italy. Classy coffee barsare almost as abundant as the traditional Vietnamese Pho restaurants.

The locals are friendly. As mentioned earlier, street vendors can be quite pesky, as well as motorcycle taxi drivers shouting out from across the street, clapping their hands and waving. Luckily not all of them are as persistent. We had some good conversations with local people. The most difficult part is finding people who are able to speak English. To this end, we went to a local university and met some cool students who took us to nice places around the city.

Another night, the two of us were strolling around the city, not entirely sober, when a random guy offered us a ride on his bike. We started joking around and saying silly stuff, this guy turned out to be really cool and eventually we offered him a drink instead of taking the ride. Sitting in the park, we talked about the difficult workingconditions in Ho Chi Minh and the behaviour of the police.The policy towards local people seems to be 'One strike and you're out'. Poor people falling without a job orwho get accused of a crime, especially involving tourists, are sent away.We've heard this from several people and walking around the city at night it's noticeable. The city feels completely safe and the only people living on the street are the ones lying on their motorbikes. As these also provide their employment, they are allowed to stay.

The food is delicious, our stomachs need a little more time to adjust though. One evening we went to a great restaurant eating seafood along with the students. Although a great meal, the next day both of us were having some severe intestinal drama. Probably the fact that we drank copious amounts of wine, mojito and tequila didn't help either. However, the next morningwe had booked a trip which involved getting up at 7am for a 1h30 busdrive. The entire drive both of us were sitting in agony, eyes closed concentrating on keeping the food down, but not too far down, sinceall the way downthings were functioning equally badly. Keeping it right in the middle...

Very interesting excursion though, we visited the Cu Chi tunnels. I feel like I'm already writing a book here,so for more information do visit Wikipedia, it's worth it. In short, these tunnels were used as hiding place by the Viet Cong. Since above ground was continuously being bombed andburned, they used these as their shelter for years. One can't imagine life in there. Most impressive was the ingenuity required to divert the smoke, deal with intruders, etc.We both did 100 meters of these tunnels and were truly exhausted. The tunnels are really small and mostly pitch-black dark.It's impossible to walk in them, even bended over. Probably the fastest way to go through them would be on hands and knees, but for fancy Europeans unwilling to dirty their hands and clothes, the only other option was a funny yet exhausting duck-like walk.

Lastly, going out is great. A lot of cool bars, easily comparable to European ones. There is a slightly different atmosphere though. Other than the usual young people going there, sex tourism and prostitution is more prevalent than I expected. Bars are filled with people of varying motivations, similar to the hairsaloons of which many are not exactly subtle about offering additional services.We went to a really cool bar to meet other tourists, a local Celtica,but when going outtill the wee hours, most of themen left with a paid companion, surprisingly even guys our own age. When walking around at night, often a motorbike stops next to you with someone asking you along.This may or may not be a slightly nightmarish transgender creaturewhose voice in now way matches the looks.

Next up then. This is almost our last day in Ho Chi Minh. Tomorrowwetake a2 daytrip to the Mekong delta, then we return one day here. After this wetravel up north to the tropical beaches. Pictures on facebook btw, soon more coming!