Saigon - Sin city

Thursday October 12, 2006

I hilarious plane ride to Ho Chi Minh city with Andrew and Jasmin this morning. Haven't laughed so much in a while. Andrew was in fine form and entertained Jasmin and I the entire time. We had a guy staring from across the isle the entire flight, so we asked if he'd take a picture of us all as we began our descent to Saigon. He flatly refused. Pity, as Jasmin quickly quipped after all his staring "if he'd taken a photo, it would have lasted longer!". Our attempt at group shots on the plane were damn funny. Laughs all round. A nice man sitting in front of us took a photo of us and was very friendly.

A 71-year-old Taxi driver took us to the hotel Mel had booked us into. What a dude. You would not have picked he was that old. Said our goodbyes at hotel (sniff sniff, felt very sad saying goodbye to them both) and then it was off to discover the new city.

Saigon is so much nicer than I imagined. After my short stopover when first arriving in Vietnam, I saw a sprawling, concrete jungle. As I kept saying to A and J - Saigon looks ugly - but once you're actually on the streets, its quite wonderful. It's just like Hanoi - only faster, more action packed and more colourful.

Mel and I wandered around the city centre. Venturing just down from our hotel there were people selling a variety of pets right on the footpath.


Puppies, rabbits, little squirrel looking animals, kittens...


Aroma abound: Dried seafood shop

Find a nice spot for lunch - a bowl of pho at a street stall opposite the big central markets, Ben Thanh - then headed to the Reunification Palace.



Rather nice little place that one - got to see all sorts of things - from the communication bunkers that were used during the French war through to the rooms where Vietnamese leaders meet with international delegates. They even had a piccy of good ole Downer there... hmm. Amazing views from the forth floor - and the grounds are quite beautiful.



Went through the Ben Thanh markets in the afternoon and had coffee before meeting two of Melissa's interpid tour friends at STA Travel to book a Mekong Delta tour. I then went and got a pedicure and it was back to the hotel for a relax before heading back out again to meet with a crew of Mel's tour friends at the local markets for dinner.

Dinner was followed by drinks at a rooftop bar at the Rex hotel. Very lovely place. Reminded me of some of the lovely outdoor areas in Darwin.

While I was keen to check out the nightlife, we had an early start tomorrow with the Mekong tour, so decided to go back to the hotel... still quite late by the time we got to bed.

Oh Saigon - city of so many delights! It's great to finally meet you properly.