Tourist Crossing Guards

I left Cambodia a little nervous about my arrival in Vietnam. I had heard mixed reviews from other travelers about being swindled on every corner and the notorious unfriendly nature of the Vietnamese. I have found neither to be entirely true. I have had hotels try to overcharge me and a few unfriendly interactions but have also met a lot of great people; it has been a much more pleasant experience than expected. I began my Vietnamese adventure in Ho Chi Minh City, still referred to as Saigon by the locals. The bus stopped in the middle of town and the first task after sleepily disembarking was to cross the deathtrap that is a Saigon street. I found a local to cross next to and learned that the technique is to walk steadily across while paying no mind to the hundreds or motorbikes, cars and buses that are zipping straight towards you.
I met two girls from New Zealand after surviving the streetcrossing and joined them at their guesthouse. We turned off the main street and down a small alley followed by a turn into a smaller alley and then another turn - it was so narrow that I could reach out and touch both walls. We arrived at a house that rented out three rooms to travelers. Staying in a home was a fun experience besides their fondness for durian which was consumed inside the house - this is a fruit with the scent of rotten onion and feet that seemed to always waft into my fourth floor bedroom. After escaping the Durian, the Kiwis and I headed to the market to explore and find something a bit more appetizing to eat. On our way, we were dismayed to find the widest, rush hour crowded street we had ever seen. Luckily, the city of Saigon must know how daunting this intersection is for tourists and our expressions of dismay were spotted by a tourist crossing guard (who knew) who escorted us safely across! In the market we were pushed and pulled and yelled at to the extent that we were extremely grateful to find ourselves expelled back to the motorcycle laden streets.
We found a restaurant (down an alley of course) and I decided to be brave and order a combination plate. It ended up being a combination of foods that either tasted or looked unappetizing... mostly both. The highlight of gross/interesting food was two whole shrimp (shell guts and all) encased in a strange gelatin substance that could neither be chewed nor dissolved therefore forcing me to swallow each bite whole.
The next day I explored a few of the city's parks and museums. Two of the more interesting sights were the Reunification Palace which housed a war command center in its basement and the War Remnants Museum illustrating American war crimes through photography. It was really interesting to watch videos and read about the Vietnamese perspective of the 'American' War. The Mekong Delta was my next destination. I took a package tour, an experience which reminded me why I don't do packaged tours, but there are not a lot of options in Vietnam (and the tours are cheap). We boarded a bus and rode three hours to a boat. We island hopped from the rice paper factory to the fish market to the bee farm to the coconut candy/carving location and ended the day by riding a horse cart (while wearing traditional Vietnamese hats) and listening to local music. I enjoyed the day but am glad that I haven't spent most my days being ushered through sights and factories.
The following day I boarded another bus bound for the Cu Chi tunnels. This 200Km system of multi-level passageways was used by the guerrillas in attacking and escaping from the Americans and their allies. We were able to see some of the traps and the forest was laden with the hidden doors that the forces could use to appear in the middle of the path. I was very glad that I wasn't exploring 40 years ago. We went through a tunnel and it was one of those times (there are more in Asia than anywhere else I've been) that I was glad to be short. Everyone else had to crab walk or crawl and I could just walk bent over. The funny fact of the day was that they had to widen the tunnels for tourists because they kept getting stuck.
Next stop: the highland town of Dalat where there are rumored to be cooler temperatures! We'll see.