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Published: March 11th 2011
We took the early ferry out of Lipe and landed back in Trang where we caught the train back to Bangkok for a quick stop over before flying out again to Vietnam.
The train journey was excellent on account of the fact that we’d booked ourselves a first class cabin, we usually do second class on the trains in Thailand so going first was a bit of a novelty, it was a great experience and we both had a great sleep on the 15 hour journey back up to Bangkok.
Next stop Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon as it was formerly known, we’ve been here before so know a great little hotel in the back packer area, the Bich Duyen is a lovely clean place with friendly helpful staff but it’s increased in price quite a lot since our last stay in 2007, it’s now listed as the No1 place to stay on Trip Advisors website so they must be doing something right.
We love Saigon, it’s a vibrant chaotic city with something going on around every corner, one of our favourite things to do here is people watch; we just grab a bench in the park or a seat
Tourists in Cyclo's
The government are trying to ban cyclo's which would be a shame ' cause theyr'e a great way to see the cityat a pavement café and watch the world go by. The Vietnamese can be quite shy at times but give them a smile and they quickly come out of their shells, they’re lovely friendly people at heart and will go out of their way to make the visitor feel welcome.
The parks in the city seem to be a real focal point for the locals and come alive at dusk when gangs of teenagers turn out to play a weird game involving kicking what looks like a shuttle cock around, we watched one of the biggest keep fit classes going on in the park, rows and rows of woman jumping around to music in the cool dusk air is a funny sight for the foreign visitor. You also get all kinds of things for sale in the park at dusk time, everything from food to balloons and cigarettes and chewing gum can be bought from vendors with makeshift stalls.
Another thing that you instantly notice about Saigon is the traffic, we’ve never seen so much traffic anywhere!! The Number of bikes on the roads is crazy, trying to cross the road is a game of chance, you need eyes everywhere
1st class shave
On the train to Bangkok but funnily enough we didn’t see a single accident while we were here, the moped drivers seem to have a built in skill for dodging pedestrians and bigger vehicles on the road.
For my Birthday night out (yet again), we had a meal at Shri, a restaurant on the 29th floor of the Centec Tower, it’s quite a swanky place and the view from the open air terrace is amazing. The meal cost 1 million 522 thousand dong………. a real bargain that converts to approximately £46 sterling, the food was gorgeous and the setting fantastic, if this place was situated in a UK city there’d probably be a waiting list for a table and the price would be more than most of us could afford.
Some of the things that we love about Vietnam:
The Police uniforms are the colour of “Butterscotch Angel Delight”
It’s OK for woman to walk around the city wearing their PJ’s
The locals will sleep anywhere no matter what time of day it is
Vietnamese coffee is delicious
Finding your parked moped is like a game of “Where’s Wally”
The Food is always fresh and tasty
Withdraw £30 from the ATM and you’re an
instant Millionaire
The public buses have the coolest sounding horns
It’s impossible to get run over by a moped
The younger generation speak with American Twangs due to watching too much US TV
The French rulers left behind their tasty baguettes and pate
The people always smile despite their recent troubled history
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pauline outram
non-member comment
work,work,work
just got into work and looking at youe bogg, great pictures. I can see you had a really good birthday. Belated birthday wishes. Will be thinking about you out and about all day at work, try and give a fleeting thought to me. Love Paulinexx