FootLoose in Asia This journal is primarily for family and friends to follow our progress on our SouthEast Asia adventure through Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and possibly Malaysia and Myanmar (Burma). Hopefully there will also be some useful information to others planning a trip to thease areas.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 25 – 27 January, 2007 The flight to Ho Chi Minh City was another uneventful trip. Once again we had no hotel reservations on arrival, and we saw a hotel reservation desk after clearing immigration and customs. We found what turned out to be an excellent hotel that was also close to some of the major sites such as the Ben Thanh Market, the Reunification Palace, and the War Relics Museum (formerly the Chinese and American War Crimes Museum). We arrived at the hotel in late afternoon, and as D was still under the weather she decided to have a nap. It appears she picked up some kind of bug with flu like symptoms and a dry cough, probably at the hospital in Bangkok. As D wasn’t up to it, J took a walk around the hotel area and found many an interesting shop and food stand. He came across a pharmacy that was open, and after some grunts, coughs, hands around the throat, and other sign language, he was finally able to communicate the need for medication for a cough. After some further review and rejection of the first couple of remedies presented, he was able to obtain a bottle of cough syrup, complete with instructions in a multitude of languages including English. The next day D was still feeling rough, so J again departed for a walking tour of the area. The market is an entire block under roof and includes flowers, fresh fish, meats, produce, and crafts and clothing of every kind. As usual, J particularly enjoyed the fish and meat sections with the weird and fly covered offerings. It was an entertaining tour through the market, but we don’t need any more weight, so nothing was purchased. The next stop was the War Relics Museum. This museum presents a one sided view of the “Vietnam Conflict” and consists primarily of photographs showing mostly American forces in action the “autocracies” they committed. It is interesting to note that the majority of the photographs shown were taken by western reporters and were previously published in western magazines and newspapers. There is also some of the military hardware used by the Americans on display including tanks, field artillery, planes, one helicopter, and various types of bombs. J planned to visit the Reunification palace next, but by the time he got there it was 3:45 PM and it closed at 4:00 PM. Look for that in the next visit to HCMC in a few days time. When J returned, D was still in bed and under the weather, so we did not go out that evening for D to scout the market. We will do that during the next visit as well. It was just a quick one day stopover in HCMC as we were leaving the next morning for Phu Quoc and a few days R&R. When we went to the Vietnam Airlines office in Bangkok to purchase our ticket to HCMC, they were having a promotion on internal flights if you purchased them at the same time so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity as Phu Quoc was already on our list of places to visit. Next stop Phu Quoc island.