still in saigon, still not impressed, really. have been trying out the restaurants and the bars, have been to the designer street but even there, the charm of hanoi is nowhere to be found. i should have done this country the other way around... it would have been ideal that way.

i spent nearly 2.5 hours today at the post office. i had stuff with me from as far back as japan, i was really due to ship stuff home. but vietnam is slow, and everything has to go through customs. i had stuff refused (my water purifying drops, hannah had her rolls of film refused) and stuff i had to fight for (snuff bottle from china: had to convince them that it wasn't an antique). i also had to donate some of my fine chinese tea to the customs official for drug testings and the likes... i'm sure they'll just drink my tea and not do tests on it. but after all of that, i have a parcel heading home, which should arrive god knows when. all that to save 4 kilos in my bag. it may not sound like a lot, but it is a lot. a lot of space and weight. my bag must now weight a tiny 14 kilos... less than what i left home with. sweet!

i'm quite happy though, regardless of this city. hannah and i had a great dinner at a french bistro, where i had a wonderful steak with not so wonderful mashed potatoes. then we have some friends in town, so the distraction will be nice. and tomorrow we are doing to cu chi tunels (used during the war) and a wicked church. i'll pay $1 usd and will get to shoot an ak47. for those who do not know what that is, it's a freakin' huge gun. i'm looking forwards to great pictures.

katy and i have also booked our transport into phnom penh. we are taking the mekong delta tour, so our crossing into the country will take 2 days. but it will be beautiful, on the water... i can't wait!