I Left Mui Ne and headded for Saigon(Ho Chi Min City) after the rain wouldnt quit. It was nice to be in a big city again. Saigon is a much more modern city than Hanoi, I really enjoyed it. I took in the sights for a few days, the War Remnants Museum, which tells the tragic tale of what Americas use of Agent Orange on the Vietnamese during the war. Angent Orange was a Herbicide that contained Dioxin, a chemical that causes deaths and birth defects. 77 million liters of Agent Orange was sprayed all over central Vietnam, they say in some parts it will remain in the ecosystem for 400 years. I visitied a place where they had childern whos parents had come into contact with dioxin through water or however. One girl was 14 and had been there since birth, she just lays on a bed all day unable to move herself. This was a real eye opener to me because I really didnt know a whole lot about the War before.
The rest of Saigon was amazing, the markets were large and sold anything you could ever think of. I had Pho Bo'(rice noodle soup with beef) everyday from this street vendor, it was $.70 a bowl and the best I had in all of Vietnam. Since Lao I have been trying this type of soup everywhere and this is the best I found. Some nights before bed I would have two bowls! It was that good! The trafic isnt as crazy as Hanoi, many more vehilces here, but still loads of motorbikes.
I decided to take a tour of the Mekong Delta, an area where the mighty Mekong river spills out to the ocean, and it creates many more rivers the closer to the coast it gets. We toured through these tropical canals with lush jungle on either sides, on a small wooden long boat. It felt like a ride at Disneyland. We seen how the locals make coconut candy and I got to hold this huge python snake! We toured the rest of the delta by boat and seen the biggest floating market in Vietnam. All the vendors load their boats with vegtables or fish or whatever they are selling and sit out in the river. You know what each boat is selling because they will have a bamboo stick with whatever thet are selling hanging off it! I spent the night in a homestay they call it, me and a few others stayed with a local village family for the night. Really neat experience.
I left the tour I was with and continued on south in search of some more BEACH. I really cant be away from the ocean too long anymore.
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