First few days in Saigon

Got in Friday night and the three of us found a nice hotel right on the main backpacker strip for $30 total, with A/C, cable TV, a 180-degree view of the neighborhood and pretty good service.  Found a place with 60 cent pitchers, ate some $1 sandwiches that were outstanding, met some travelers from Portland, Austin and Michigan (coincidental since my two traveling buddies are from Michigan and Houston), and overall had some fun in Saigon.

Since then we've had some amazing food which typically runs in the $2-4 range if we get drinks and stuff, a $4 massage, some beautiful custom-made blazers and suits, a water-puppet show, fake Rolex, Fossil and Omega watches for $25-30, Ray Bans for $15 and some other really great stuff. 

This place isn't beautiful like Thailand but is cheaper and very interesting.  Went to the Cu-Chi tunnels today and saw first-hand where the Viet Cong fought the US military, and it was a pretty amazing experience.  I could see how scary it would have been to be in that war.  Takes your breath away a little.  We also went to the US Commercial Service and learned about the Vietnam economy and US's role, as well as attended a speech from the HSBC SE Asia CFO, which was very interesting.

We're off now to get a nice dinner and then check out the town.  Tomorrow is the tour of the Mekong delta, so thankfully we don't have to wear a suit and visit companies in this heat again in the morning!  Should be a fun night and day tomorrow.  Leaving on Wednesday night for Hanoi! 

We have a great group and are having fun so far.  Can't go on facebook because of communism, but wanted to give you all the medium-length update of the first 72 hours.  Hope all is well, and happy International Women's Day!  (Big deal here in Vietnam apparently)