Day 9 – Ho Chi Minh City

January 2nd 2009

Surprisingly good sleep last night, must be acclimatising well to the heat – it certainly got hot in here with the air con off – and desensitising to the constant honking of horns from the street below which appears to be in total chaos for at least 18 hours a day – brilliant chaos though, absolutely compelling to watch.

Quiet day today, went back to the room after breakfast, Sarah still not the best and with a 2 day Mekong Delta excursion tomorrow it just wasn't worth the risk of trying to do too much. Breakfast, while standard stuff, was amusing as we'd finally remembered to take up some of the (legendary) decaf teabags we'd brought with us. On seeing us drinking tea a gentleman from another table, the conversation was brief but I think he was Scottish, asked us where we got that from, the answer of course “we brought our own, the English abroad eh?” - well, we all laughed anyway...

Caught up on where the money's going, or surprisingly not going – expect a massive splurge in Hong Kong! - general pottering on the internet and have got seriously into the Dean Koontz Sarah bought me for Christmas.

Round about lunchtime we venture out onto the streets of HCMC for the first time and it is surprisingly relaxed. Not laid back relaxed, but the guidebooks lead you to believe that the moment you step out into the street you'll be pounced on by petty thieves, marauding gangs of children trying to sell you anything and everything while drivers will be dragging you into taxis. Well there's none of that, I think people here are far too busy getting on with building their businesses than worrying about tourists – yes, they need our money in general but so far it seems that the influx is being invested into things new. On a 2 hour walk I genuinely believe we are sold to less than the number of Big Issue salespeople you encounter walking from Piccadilly to Deansgate (if you pick the right/wrong route!).

Sarah wants something bland for lunch so, sorry Colonel Saunders, we head for KFC!

Our walk takes us down to the river, which to be brutally honest is not a pretty sight at all. Maybe after dark – i.e. when you can't see anything but a few lights! Later we walk up to Notre Dame Cathedral, which although yes the French did build it, it's late 1800s, brick, and while pleasantly familiar looking in this alien environment is instantly forgettable. The highlight architecturally is the Post Office – wait for the photos.

Finally we walk the length of Dong Khoi, of Graham Green then American Soldiers fame, returning to its former, more pleasant, glories back to the river before turning back up Nguyen Hue to our hotel. Without going too far we've experienced quite a bit of what HCMC has to offer and are reminded of the words of our travel agent James who said that HCMC was an experience rather than a sight seeing fest – and he was of course right.

Evening in the hotel with dinner at the 11th floor restaurant which has great views down to the street where you can get a real feel for the flow of the hundreds of motorbikes that travel up and down every minute – the neon and fairy lights really complete the picture of this energetic place after dark. Looking forward to getting back here after our excursion and hitting the streets at night.

Early start though, 8am pickup, so it's early to bed tonight...