Walking Saturday: 3.2km (in Ho Chi Minh Ville)
Swimming Saturday: 0.04km (4 lengths of the rooftop pool)
Walking Sunday: 2.5km (Mekong delta and Ho Chi Minh Ville)
Swimming Sunday: 0.1km
Cycling Sunday: 4.2km (in the rice fields of the Mekong Delta)
Walking Monday: 271km (think the GPS threw a wobbly at HCMV buildings and streets). More like 7.9km from the map.
Swimming Sunday 0.4km
Walking Tuesday: 3.3km
Swimming Tuesday: 0.12km
Most number of people seen on a scooter: 5 (3 of them under 5 years old)
Largest items seen on a scooter: a full-size chest freezer
Oddest item seen on a scooter: two cages of chickens
Number of near-death experiences with scooters while crossing the road: 1273
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We arrived into Saigon/Ho Chi Minh Ville/HCMC - officially it is Ho Chi Minh City but the locals all still call it Saigon - on the flight from Singapore and the experience from leaving rural France was a bit like jumping out of a cold bath into a sauna. I've never seen so many motor scooters In my life, crossing the road here is largely an act of faith. We are indebted to the scooter rider who stopped as we were trying to work out how to cross our first major road wih no lights, said "here, follow me" and proceeded to step into the flowing masses with us in tow. It all seems to work as long as you don't slow, flinch or stop, the mass flow seems to part around you, scary but it does work.
I'll use HCMC for ease.
HCMC is changing very rapidly, the run-down romantic French inspired city is disappearing and being replaced by a steel and glass Asian super-city:
It reminds me a little of Hong Kong, the signs of British empire are still there (red post boxes, street names, company names, colonial buildings and shop brands) but you have to look for them. I'd hoped to find some french feeling still evident from the city that France tried to turn into the "Paris of the Orient" but, apart from the Cathédrale Notre Dame now hidden and hemmed in by skyscrapers, the Hôtel de Ville now the headquarters of the Workers Committee of HCMC and a few road names that survived the conquest by North Vietnam it's gone. I asked if anyone still spoke French but it seems it's only the older generation now.
The rooftop pool was nice though:
The food's been great, see my reviews on Trip Advisor for a memorable vegetarian meal at Hum and a great set meal at Cyclo Resto.
Can you make a swan with a tomato, a spring onion and a chillie?
Next post: we take the Reunification Express north to Hoi An on a sleeper service.
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