Diary

Tombs of the Vietnamese emperors today. Breakfast at the Saigon Morin, under the leafy trees in the courtyard. Calm, tranquil start to the day. A refuge from the heat, noise and dust that awaits us outside our five-star fortress. Pedestal fans waft the humid air amongst the guests, as we are served tea, coffee and […]

Travel day. Fly out day. We’re headed for central Vietnam, to Hue. Aboard Jetstar Asia, so pray for no delays. Thanks to genius planning on Husbando’s behalf, we’re right next to the airport and have only a two minute drive to the domestic terminal. There’s barely enough room in the hotel room for the both […]

Awaken again to the sounds of earthworks in the vacant lot next door. Shower, pack, breakfast, check out – in that order. A big day today. Off to Cu Chi and Tay Ninh, then checking in to our new hotel close to the airport ready for our next leg tomorrow. Traffic is astoundingly slow this […]

All hail the rest day. It’s been a big couple of days since we arrived, and last night the party goblins got out. We ticked off the last of the craft beer places on our Ho Chi Minh City list. Sleep late, early lunch pool side. Sunbathe, then walk to Citibank branch on Nguyen Hue […]

Early start. Picked up by Long, our tour guide for the day. Happy, chatty and funny. Almost absurdly so for this hour of the morning. He declares himself ‘Saigonese’ and answers every uncomfortable question we’ve been sitting on since we got here. Police corruption, government policies, propaganda – nothing is off limits. We ooze through […]

Awaken to the sounds of construction in the vacant block next door. Excavator is pushing dirt around, filling in a muddy hole. I spot about 10 health and safety concerns in the space of about two minutes. The sun is rising, and soon it will be too hot for them to work. We see them […]