Our search for an apartment to rent in Saigon has come to a rather unsuccessful end. It seems that apartments here are for longer term rentals only and none would do a rental for three or four weeks only. Any that would cater for shorter rentals were serviced executive apartments and prohibitively expensive. So, a no go on the apartment and our own kitchen front. Ah, well, the food here is so delicious and cheap that the kitchen probably wouldn't have seen too much action anyway.


On a brighter note, or rather a more sombre one, we went to the fantastic War Remnants Museum here yesterday. It was a fascinating museum, with the added bonus of a separate children's play area.... and a great one at that. It kept Luca more than amused for the hour or two in which Linda and I took turns to wander around the museum. Then, when the monsoon rain storm ended, we went outside to the tanks and airplanes and that kept him amused once again. The museum houses a particularly interesting exhibition based around the work of well-known photojournalists during the Vietnam War (or the American War, as it's understandably known here). It's definitely a museum we'll all return to, happy to fork out the entrance fee of 15,000 Dong, or around 50 cent!

This morning we set out to explore District 1 in search of a hotel to stay for the three weeks or so that we're here and think we've struck gold. A nice, modern hotel, with large rooms and, the clincher for Luca, a rooftop swimming pool. And all for the princely sum of $US 20 a night. We move in there tomorrow and then start in Allambie Orphanage on Wednesday. We're looking forward to it, although perhaps not looking forward so much to the daily cycle amongst the traffic chaos of central Saigon!