Saigon, HCMC

So...we arrived here around 9pm and were suprised to see how developed Saigon is...all the highrise buildings were a definite contrast to the small Hue and moderate sized Hanoi. The motorbikes even had their own lanes in some parts of town!

We went straight to our hotel where we discovered that they gave us wrong information and only one room was available, not 2. The guy told us that he had a friend across the street in another hotel that had a ro0m available...we went over there instead and were taken up to the 4th floor...the rooms were really spartan and basic accomodations but the room included free internet so who could argue with that? ;)

Well, bugs in the shower is what did it...after 3 days in Sa Pa northern Vietnam the girls were really craving a shower and when Ester jumped in and discovered tons of tiny little bugs all over the walls started freaking out...we then combed the rest of the room and discovered more of the bugs in the beds...needless to say, we ditched that hotel and had one very angry Vietnamese hotel manager! She was screaming at us saying that we owed her money for the use of the towel that Ester had used in the bathroom...anyway, the whole ordeal led us right back out to the street where we quickly discovered that Saigon was a popular town tonight without many rooms available...

Eventually, we took the room at the first place...just decided to all cram in. Really, it's for what, 10 hours? We went out to dinner and the food was terrible...we were accosted by a little girl who couldn't have been more than 4...she came into the restaurant and came right for our table...grabbed the bottle of Malarone right out of Hadas' purse! Fortunately we got it back!

Being here is kind of sad...there was a baby wrapped in a blanket laid at the doorstep to our hotel. The hotel manager said it was the local begger's baby and she regularly leaves him there on their door...

Anyway, I was hoping to do some karaoke tonight but the girls aren't up for it. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow...exploring the tunnels of Saigon then moving right along to Siem Reap, Cambodia. More soon!