If we sounded a bit bored by the end of our Shanghai stay you'll understand just how perfect a match our flight out was – we arrived at the airport at midday and after two delays, we left the airport six hours later. It was an equally boring flight.
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Arriving late in Ho Chi Minh City our driver – Mr Nguyen (Mr Win, he said to call him) – eagerly waits to whisk us off to our hotel
.
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Across the road from our hotel is an open air concert venue. Tonight's concert is in its final songs and hitting a particularly loud crescendo. Closing the windows and turning on the air-conditioning reduces the noise and most of the musty smell in the apartment. By morning the air is fresher and the concert noise (which wasn't so bad) is replaced by the sounds of traffic and excited children arriving at the school next door.
The noise of happy children gathering is almost impossible to describe. It is low, joyful and full of the type of clucking, squawking sounds you might expect to hear from a group of excited chickens. As time passes and more children gather the volume and pitch increase until the school bell rings and the children are immediately quiet.
With the quiet we leave our room and head up to the top floor for breakfast. When we arrive the children are noisy again, singing the national anthem with strong and confident voices
.
We all want to watch the event but the only window available is small, and our stomachs are grumbling so we find a table and order our breakfast.
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Today Mr Win and our guide, Diem, meet us at 9 am and take us on a fantastic discovery tour to see their own private Saigon. There are lots of dogs, a sickly kitten, a dead rat as big as a dog, chickens and cock-fighting, meat so fresh it doesn't smell and skinless, headless frog's still hopping. There are exposed bellies when the afternoon gets hot, scooters, a hidden temple, kilometres of fabric, noodles, cups of coffee and slices cake. There's also Pho, very tasty, very cheap.
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After the tour, after visiting the post office again, the cathedral, a gated community with cars in the driveway that cost more than houses, after more food, sun, traffic and jostling Diem and Mr Win return us to the hotel where we are embraced by the front of house staff and the bone-chilling air-conditioning
.
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After dinner in the hotel's restaurant we're having an early night so we can get up in time for our tai-chi class and bird chatting session tomorrow at the park across the road -Công viên Tao Đàn.
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We fly home today.
Yesterday we spent a lot of time in the park across the road. We had lunch at a local Café – they offer Vietnamese coffee in 8 different strengths. In the afternoon Steven and I went out to the Russian market – not nearly as interesting as it sounds, it sells mostly clothes for winter – but we did manage to get some T-shirts. Shopping in Ho Chi Minh isn't as good for us as we had hoped. In some markets there are simply too many things to sort through (in the heat) to find one or two things you might like. In other markets clothing sizes are very small so there's no chance of fitting my 191 cm frame - I feel like a giant as I walk through the markets, regularly bumping my head
. At the big department stores in town the prices are the same as at home, so there seems no point shopping - which allows us more time for seeing the city.
Mum and Steven have gone out for one final shopping spree before we check out of the hotel. I'm sitting in our living room trying to eat what's left of the chocolates and pastries we've bought.
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Last night we went out for dinner the city. It's not far from the hotel – the same distance would take about 10 minutes to walk at home, but here it took about half an hour – the traffic is the main cause for delay, it takes a long time to cross a road, and there are lots of pedestrians, street stalls and scooters parked on the footpath to navigate around.
We plan to looking at some of the more touristy parts of town today – the main street leading up to the town hall and the Bitexco tower, then we'll head off to the airport at around 5
.
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When Mum and Steven return from their market run they've had a great time. Steven's got another new suitcase, they've got hats and magnets and other delightful things to take home.
---
Walking from the town hall, down Nguyen Hue Street towards the river today is tiring. The street is wide and beautiful but the trees are young and shade is scarce, so it feels much hotter here than we've encountered so far. Mum seems to be more tired today than before - the toll of so much holidaying, and the extra head too I expect - but she doesn't want to return to the hotel
---
When we get to the river there is an extremely busy street to cross, we don't have to cross it because there's plenty to see without crossing the road but we decide we want to be nearer the river
. When the traffic looks clear we hold hands and begin our trek to the other side. We're stopped half way when the traffic suddenly becomes heavy again. Trucks are passing in front and behind us at what seems to be excessive speed (but because you never drive very fast in Ho Chi Minh City we know it's only an illusion). My heart is racing, Mum looks like she's about to faint and Steven, ever eagle eyed, shouts, "Now!" and leaps out, pulling us along, as a gap miraculously appears across the remaining three lanes of traffic. We make it safely to the other side realising that the only way to get back to the hotel is to cross the same road again. It is a long, and interesting, walk beside the river before we find the courage to make the return journey. This time is is a little less thrilling with the help of a well-placed round-about and a kindly motorist who stops his van to block traffic on the last lane before the footpath.
Phew!
We head for the nearest coffee shop and air-conditioning
.
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Back at the hotel we have already checked out of our rooms but the hotel has generously given us access to the top floor showers and deck. Our driver isn't due for a couple of hours so we have time to freshen-up, change into some clean clothes and make the most of the views before going to the airport.
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Because we leave the hotel at 4pm - afternoon peak - it takes about an hour to be driven the 10 kilometres to the airport, but of course the trip is not boring, this is Saigon.
Return to Saigon
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
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