First few days in Ho Chi Minh City

After a day and a half of flying we arrived at Tan Son Nhat Intenational Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. As we stepped off the plane we were hit by a wave of Asian heat which has now become a constant in our lives. On arriving at the airport we followed the signs to the landing visa area. This process was very efficient and took no longer than 30mins to be issued with our 3 month tourist visa ($45 stamping fee) and go through customs. Roxy even managed to sneak through with all her pills and protection devices (tazer and pepper spray).

We caught a taxi (R100 each) to our hotel/backpackers and were immediately struck by the chaos that was the traffic in the city center - which includes taxis, buses, tuktuks, bicycles and millions of scooters (we thought driving in Butterworth was tricky, but it ain't got nothing on this!!!!)

Luckily, upon arriving at our awesomely air conditioned backpackers (dorm style room for R60 per person per night), we met a couple of French guys who offered to show us around the city with all its bright night lights and more importantly...taught us how to effectively cross the roads. GOLDEN RULE - only yield to buses and cars, just walk straight and evenly across the road, the scooters will weave around you {just pray with ever fiber in your being that this principle is true =) }

And so our chapter in Ho Chi Minh City began...

[photos to follow...]