With the ride behind us we were ready to relax but still made the most of our time in Saigon. We did a lot of wandering around. The city is very different from the rest of the country. It has an eclectic mix of traditional and more modern architecture, but the ones that really stand out are the old, French colonial buildings.

We stopped by the War Remnants Museum. It included a large room of the horrible effects of Agent Orange on both the Vietnamese and Americans. The museum included the obligatory war machine display out front that we have come to expect from all such museums here.

We took a day trip out of the city to the Cu Chi tunnels. It was a bit touristy but worth it. The tunnel systems were extremely complex and impressive. We passed on the chance to fire an AK-47 but crawled through a 60 meter stretch of the tunnel.

We were told several times that the tunnels had been widened to accommodate Western tourists. Nonetheless, we still found them a bit claustrophobic.

Although vegetarian restaurants are all over the place here, the prices are closer to back home and it is still often difficult to explain vegan food. That being said, we certainly found some dishes to enjoy.

We also had the chance to dig into some new fruits. Rambutans may be the craziest looking fruit we tried.

Custard apples, possibly Jasmine’s new favorite.

Durian is a bit infamous for it’s strong foul smell and acquired taste. We had to give it a fair try and really wanted to prove the naysayers wrong, but it really does taste like a fart.

The view justified the overpriced drinks on the 23rd floor bar of the Sheraton.

Although we certainly enjoyed the drinks as well.

In order to combat the heat we took advantage of the pools at a fancy hotel.

We may have hung around too long.

A local bike shop had some boxes and they are all packed up.

We took the opportunity to enjoy our last bowl of Pho today.

And taste our last cups of Vietnamese coffee. Though we had to bring in our own soy milk to the coffee shop.

It’s nice to be away long enough to miss your home and we are ready to say goodbye to Vietnam.