We spent the day looking around Ho Chi Minh City, previously called Saigon - the former capital of South Vietnam. It’s a really large city, with some charming architecture, nice parks with huge trees and lots of new buildings. It has 9 million people, and 5 million motorbikes. We’ve never seen so many motorbikes in our lives! Crossing the road is a nightmare – nobody pays attention to the traffic lights so you have to just take a chance and hope the bikes weave around you! 
In the morning we visited the War Remnants Museum, which has exhibits about the 2 Indochina wars. The exhibits on the war with America were horrific, showing the damage the Americans did with their chemical weapons – it really was a lot to take in and very upsetting.
In the afternoon we visited the re-unification palace, built in 1964 for the President of South Vietnam. It’s been left in the same state as it was the day Saigon fell to the Northern Vietnamese and was quite interesting. We also looked around the Notre Dame cathedral, and popped into a department store as I wanted a new T-Shirt. The cheapest one I could find was for $130. Yes $130. Given that the average monthly wage here is $15 I was a bit miffed – clearly the locals shop elsewhere! Needless to say I still need a new T-Shirt.
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