Saturday 5th January already

Hello to all blog readers from Janet

Richard is down with a chest infection and head cold, so is flat on his back for the second full day running- in fact ever since we arrived in Saigon. I think he is a bit better today, but it is going to take a couple more days for him to regain energy.

I managed to find a pharmacy - no easy feat - and got him some antibiotics made in Austria. The ones from China are mostly made of chalk, so hopefully they will help him to recover.

Saigon is a place to be experienced first hand. The traffic is way beyond anything I have ever seen anywhere. It seems like every one of the 22 million motor bikes in Vietnam is arriving at the same time. To cross a road, even a little one takes divine intercession, sublime courage and a lot of luck. Basically you stride off into the traffic, close your eyes, and hope everyone will miss you. What I try to do is to get on the lee side of a local and go across with them.

I would like to go shopping in the markets, but the pressure is so great from all the girls trying to sell T shirts etc., that I can't stop to look. Yesterday I found an up-market department store so was able to buy some fruit, and fruit juice At the same time I was able to have a look around without being harassed which was great.

I don't think anybody in Vietnam eats at home - everybody is busy on the pavement, eating, cooking, playing checkers, and in Hanoi, combing one another's hair for lice, doing their feet and talking on the mobile phone. Every three steps you take, literally, you are accosted by a cyclo driver, a motorbike driver, a beggar, a bookseller, a newspaper seller, a taxi driver, or somebody wanting to sell anything from hammocks, to sunglasses and wallets. Mothers with babies are a common sight, usually trying to sell some moist Kleenex in little packets.

Nothing has a price on it, except in the department store. Normal ratio is 100 for a local and 1000 for the tourists if I want to be cynical.

For the benefit of my sister in Canada, no Richard has not had his computer stolen, and she could write me a bit more than 1 line.

With love to all the patient blog readers, Janet

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The taxidriver brought us to the wrong hotel yet again but the room is quite nice, overlooking a long, thin city park. The constant roar of scooters and cars under my window reminds me that when Janet is out on her own, her successful road-crossing is entirely dependent on some local wearing a straw cone hat who does not harbour her a grudge. The city park opposite, at 5 am, has scores of citizens strolling, jogging, doing tai-chi, stretching, standing and taking their dog for a walk. This is well before dawn and it is still dark when they turn off all the street lights.

My enjoyment primarily comes from meeting the locals and so far it's been the two who clean the room and make the beds. Under the circumstances, Saigon has not attracted us but I know it is our fault for not getting out and about. Hanoi, despite being more Communistic, was most enjoyable eventually. The large red flag with its golden star is very much in evidence in Hanoi but, including the airport, I've seen nine since arriving in Saigon. This should be a more exciting city but so far it's not and that's mainly due to a respiratory infection that's lasted 3 days with little sign of abating.

Now, it's time to have a sneezing fit.