Weather: Sunny, hot extremely humid. Temperatures 28c (83f) to 36c (97f). Real feel 34c (93f) to 42c (107f).

It’s our last day in Vietnam, we’re flying home this evening. We’ve had a fabulous time and really enjoyed it. However, we’ll be glad to escape the heat and humidity and return to the cold and wet of the UK.

Weather forecast: Hot with intervals of clouds and high humidity. Temperatures from 27c (81f) to 36c (97f). Real feel 33c (91f) to 38c (100f)

This morning, we have a tour around the Reunification Palace, which used to be the presidential Palace. On 30th April 1975, a North Vietnamese tank crashed through the gates of the Palace; this marked the end of a decade of brutal fighting against the US and South Vietnamese allies.

We are then going to the War Remnants Museum, which contains exhibits from the Vietnam War. Various planes, tanks, and heavy weapons are displayed outside in the grounds. Several people we have spoken to about the museum say it is a very moving experience.

In the late afternoon, we are off on a Sunset Cruise along the Saigon River, which meanders its way through the city.

War Remnants Museum visit—If you visit Ho Chi Minh City, set aside at least half a day to visit this museum, which tells the story of the Vietnam War. You don’t need to book a tour guide; all the displays have an English translation, and there is an information headset you can purchase. The exhibits and photos are powerful, sad, harrowing, and moving. Start on floor two, which is all about the journalists who died in the war on all sides and the photos they took. Floor one is the most is the most harrowing, showing the atrocities that took place, including the My Lai massacre and the effects of Agent Orange.

Presidential Palace—It is Worth visiting to take pictures of the Viet Cong tanks that burst through the gate, signaling the end of the Vietnam War. There were actually two tanks: one smashed through the gate, and the other dragged the gate off its hinges. The two tanks on display are copies of those tanks; the real ones are on display in Hanoi.

We found the rest of the Palace not very interesting. It was just a series of rooms for the President and his family to use, rooms for entertaining, meetings, and war rooms.

The sunset Saigon River tour was a great way to finish our holiday. We booked a small speedboat for a private one-hour trip and watched the sunset on the river on our way back.

In the evening, we visited Bui Vien Street, the main party street in Ho Chi Minh City. It was heaving with people. Music blares out from the bars and clubs, scantily dressed girls dance on podiums trying to attract you into their bars, ladies of the night offer their wares, and numerous people try to encourage you to sit in their bars or enter their clubs. It’s a deafening cacophony of noise and people, but it’s very entertaining.

Weather: Mostly sunny, excessive heat. Temperatures from 26c (79f) to 39c (102f). Real feel 31c (88f) to 42c (108f)

We were up very early today (5.30am) as we were off at 7am to the Mekong Delta, a two-hour car journey away. 

The Mekong Delta encompasses a vast and fertile floodplain of the Mekong and Cuu Long rivers with a maze of waterways. It is a mass of rivers, swamps, islands, Khmer pagodas, and villages and is surrounded by rice paddies. The Mekong Delta is known for its unique rice cultivation tradition, floating houses, floating markets, and farming practices. Boats are the primary means of transportation.

We enjoyed our trip to the Mekong Delta, but it was extremely hot and humid and very tiring. We first went to a huge open-air market, then on a 20-minute boat trip down the Mekong River. 

We visited a small company that processes coconuts and turns them into many different products, including milk, oil, and sweets. We then switched to a hand-rowed sampan for a trip down a smaller canal. We were the only boat on this waterway, which was very peaceful. 

We had lunch at a restaurant on the Mekong River bank. We were due to go on a cycle ride, but it was so hot and humid that we canceled this and traveled back to Ho Chi Minh City.

While visiting the Mekong Delta, Scott hired a motorbike and drove to the Ben Douc Viet Cong Tunnels with a tour guide from the Saigon Riders. These are part of the Cu Chi Tunnels in the Cu Chi district of Vietnam.

Two tunnel systems are open to the public: the Ben Dinh and the Ben Duoc. 

Most tour operators take tourists to the Ben Dinh tunnels, which are nearer to Ho Chi Minh City. The Ben Denh tunnels have also been modified and enlarged to accommodate taller and bigger Western tourists.

Ben Duoc tunnels are more authentic, have not been modified, and stretch over a bigger distance. So, if you want to visit the tunnels, insist that you are taken to Ben Duoc. You will miss the crowds and have a far better experience.

However, one word of warning: the Ben Duoc tunnels are very low and narrow. Our Scott had to crawl on his hands and knees to get into them; even so, he could not get far.

The tunnels were uniquely designed with multiple bends for protection against explosions, U-shaped passages filled with water to shield against toxic gases, and narrow dimensions to facilitate Vietnamese movement while hindering American forces. 

Wildlife from the jungle sometimes took refuge in the tunnels, adding to the peril. Inside, entire villages were reconstructed, complete with ammunition depots, hospitals, bedrooms, meeting rooms, food storage areas, and even theaters.

Many Vietnamese would spend their entire days inside the tunnels, emerging only at night to engage in combat. This tactic confounded the Americans, who found it difficult to track the elusive Vietnamese fighters. 

However, this prolonged tunnel living brought about health issues due to the subterranean living conditions and the absence of sunlight.

If you are interested in the tunnels, read this article. 

https://local-insider.com/post/a-guide-to-ben-duoc-tunnel-a-non-touristy-route-in-cu-chi-tunnels/61334337afccd60a0bfca130

What I found interesting is that the tunnels were originally built to fight the French colonists in the 1940s and then greatly extended during the Vietnam War. They stretch over 75 miles and are on three levels. 

The tunnels linked villages in the Cu Chi district, which surrounded Ho Chi Minh City. They allowed the Viet Cong (South Vietnamese guerrillas supporting Ho Chi Minh and his forces in the North) and the North Vietnamese army to attack in ambushes, set up booby traps, and escape through the complex network of underground tunnels. For U.S. forces, even just finding their enemy proved difficult.

If you would like to read a short guide to the Vietnam War read this:

https://www.thoughtco.com/vietnam-war-s2-1779964

Weather: Hot with intervals of clouds and sunshine. Temperatures from 28c (82f) to 36c (97f). Real feel 35c (95f) to 39c (102f).

This morning, we are going on a three-hour tour of Ho Chi Minh City’s main tourist sites as pillion passengers with the ladies from XO Tours. The three ladies were: Giang, Linh and Hang.

The tour was excellent but it was very hot and humid so very tiring. We visited the Central Post Office, a magnificent building built by the FrenchNotre Dame Cathedral which is undergoing restoration. The Reunification Palace, where the Viet Cong tank went through the gate and hoisted their flag, is seen as the end of the Vietnam War. The secret CIA building and the tower from the last helicopters transported staff out of Saigon. The Burning Monk Memorial commemorates Thick Quang Duc, who set himself on fire in protest at government repression of Buddhists on June 11, 1963. The hidden weapons Arsenal where North Vietnamese infiltrators stored lots of weapons and, during the Tet Offensive, attacked the Presidential Palace. Our final stop was the Ten Thousand Buddha Pagoda in Chinatown.

This morning, we travel to Da Nang Airport, a one-hour journey, to catch a lunchtime flight to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

We have loved our time in Hoi An. It has been great to take things easy and relax in the hot and humid temperatures.

When we arrived at Da Nang airport, we found out our flight had been delayed 45 minutes.
We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at 4 pm. The temperature was 34c. At the taxi rank, we met numerous taxi firm salespeople aggressively trying to win our business. We were quoted 300,000 VND to go to our hotel, but we said that was too much, so he went to 250,000. When we went to walk away, we agreed to 200,000 VND, which is around £6.

We are staying at La Vela Saigon, a 4/5-star hotel in the city’s center. The chaos on the roads is worse than in Hanoi; there are still a majority of scooters but lots more cars. There is still the same total anarchy with apparently no road rules about where people can go, turn, or cross from one side to the other.

In the evening, we went on a three-hour scooter tour of the city (8 pm to 11 pm) as pillion passengers with XO Tours, a company run by women with all-women drivers. We were driven by three very enthusiastic young riders: Han, Anh, and Thao. They also had a male rider, Thinh, who followed them around to keep an eye on them and to help with things.

The tour was excellent. You would expect to be frightened riding as a pillion passenger in the madness and chaos of the traffic, but the girls were so skilled that you just relaxed, and it was great fun.
We visited Chinatown, which has a population of 300,000. It was 8 pm, but the food and vegetable street market was still open and very busy, with vendors sitting on the road with their produce piled up beside them. The vendors sleep on the street by their produce and open again the following day.

We then visited some very old and run-down flats where the founder of XO Tours comes from and where many of her relatives still live. The government wanted to knock the apartments down, but residents fought against it. We went to see one of the flats. It was very tiny; five people all related were living there. It was divided into living spaces by blankets. The cooking area was in the same area as a tiny bathroom. There was no wardrobe space, so all the clothes were hanging on a washing line throughout the flat.

The flat was owned by Mai who is known as Aunti Mai or Co Mai for endearment. Mai said that when she was growing up 14 people lived there, with some sleeping in a void between the ceiling and the roof which is about 18 inches high with no light or ventilation. They accessed this by climbing a ladder and crawling through a small opening.

Some homeless people live in what were originally bin rooms in the flats. The residents are happy for them to do this as long as they keep the space tidy and clean.
Auntie Mai was a lovely woman. She had the most amazing and welcoming smile. She said she had grown up and lived in the flats all her life, was very happy there, and did not want to leave.

Weather: Sunny very hot. Temperatures from 26c (79f) to 34c (93f). Real feel 32c (90f) to 40c (104f)

Our last day in Hoi An. We have nothing planned going to relax, swim in the sea, lay in the shade and enjoy the very hot weather.

Scott and Sue are going back this morning to see Ms Kim. She delivered his suits and shirts last night. Scott was very happy with two of his suits and all his shirts, but just wants a few minor adjustments to his double breasted suit.

Three interesting facts about Vietnam.

Firstly, while we in the West seek out the sun and getting a tan, Vietnamese women value being white. Having white skin is seen as being attractive. So they cover themselves up from head to toe.

Today on the beach it was in the mid 90s. We bought a few things from a lady who was wearing thick trousers and socks, shoes, a couple of blouses, a hoodie, face mask, cap, hoodie top pulled over thecap and a conical hat on top plus gloves!!

Fact two, in the war the Viet Cong fought and hid in the jungles were there was little food. The Americans fighting them had supplies dropped to them, which often went astray and were found by the Viet Cong. In the US supplies was Spam. This was not a product the Vietnamese had ever come across.

But they took to it and now Spam is sold in shops throughout Vietnam. We were told that if you go into houses of people who lived through the war you will often see empty tins of Span which they use as containers and ornaments.

Fact three if you go past a restaurant in Hoi An and the floor is covered in discarded tissues. That is a restaurant that the locals use. The restaurant owners do provide bins but locals just discard there tissues on the floor oncethey have wiped their hands. If you go in a restaurant and the floor is clean it will be one that tourists use.

Weather: Very sunny and hot. Temperatures 27c (81f) to 34c (93f). Feel like 34c (93f) to 41c (106f)

Up early this morning (6am), as we are off on The Original Hoi An Food Tour. This starts in the local market where we buy all the food then back to their kitchen to cook and taste it.

Weather: Sunny. Temperatures 28c (82f) to 34c (93f). Real feel 35c (95f) to 41c (106f)

Morning – Going to have a relaxing morning, go for a swim in the sea and then sit in the shade on our Airbnb balcony.

Scott has to go for a suit fitting after lunch and then we are going to Hoi An silk village to learn about the origins of the silk road and the process of making silk in the traditonal manner which they still do in Hoi An.

This evening we are off to see a Vietnamese culture show at the Lune Centre in Hoi An. The show is called Teh Dar. Its an epic tale of the birth, death and rebirth of every living being on earth, told through breathtaking handling of bamboo, storytelling, circus arts and live music.

Then its back to see Lien and her family at our favourite restaurant Wild Beach for our evening meal.

Ms Kim Scott suit fitting went very well. Scott really pleased with them. Picks them up tomorrow.

Sil village was fascinating. A lady took us round showing us the whole process from silk worms through to making the final product. I can understand why genuine hand made sil products are so expensive. Sue bought a very nice silk blouse from the shop at the villge.

Teh Dar cultural show was absolutely amazing. Its very hard to describe but watch this You Tube video to see how amazing it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OG0FdhKxtY

Weather: Sunny partially cloudy. Temeperature 28c (82f) to 33c (91f). Real feel 34c (93f) to 39c (102f)

Today we are having a restful morning, go for a walk along the beach and a swim in the sea and then relaxing in the shade in our Airbnb Villa.

This afternoon starting at 3pm we have a five hour tour of Hoi An old town where 844 out of the 1107 buildings are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Tour of Hoi An – Hoi An Old Town is absolutley beautiful but it was very hot and humid and very crowded. Everywhere you went you were fighting through large groups of tourists with their tour guides.This spoilt it for us even though we were also part of the problem.

We got back to our Airbnb at 7pm and were totally shattered but had enough enery to visit Lien and her family at the Wild Beach Restaurant to have something to eat. It was gone 8pm when we arrived and Lien and her husband had left to see relatives, but very kindly they returned to cook our meal which was once again superb.