As you may have gathered, last week’s blog detailed my voyage into the main tourist hotspots of HCMC. Along with being unwitting victim to numerous scams ‘tour-of-the- city’, ‘pretty postcard for prettieeee ladiee’ and ‘can I be your Vietnamese friend’, I also witnessed various laws of physics (mainly gravity) being broken by xeom riders. I was gawped at, laughed at, pointed at, shouted at, smiled at and clapped at, sometimes all on just one street! I was rained on frequently (there’s a thunderstorm as I write), mostly when I got lost which happens to be a twice daily occurrence. It’s difficult to walk here - the city is designed for/reigned by motorbikes. My catchphrase is ‘Khong, cam urn’ (‘No, thank you) and on average I say this every 30 seconds or 10 metres - whichever comes
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