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Published: August 6th 2015
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Day 18 - Saigon Zoo and botanical gardens
What a lovely, restful nights sleep! Soft bed, fluffy pillows, oh how I take the comforts oft own home for granted. I am reminded how much I love my marshmallow like bed!
We both woke up feeling totally refreshed, and ready to start again.
We had breakfast in the hotel; it was a refreshing change to not have an omelette, but i did still have an egg! I had it with toast, then croissants with jam, some fresh fruits and a cup of tea. Perfect!
Our main task for today is to book the Mekong tour. We have researched before coming, it seemed expensive, but we agree that it is something that we definitely want to do.
Last night we found some tour agent places do we are heading straight there in foot. We stop off for coffee on the way in order to confirm our needs and thoughts. That is always a good reason for coffee, but for Helen and I, we really don't need a reason! It is always coffee/tea 0'clock!
The guy in the tout place was telly helpful, obviously starting at the top
end if his options, we discussed this, and ended up at the more appropriate basic level! He tailored it to our personal needs, which rand leaving the tour in Chau Doc, in order to get the boat into phnom Penh, whilst the tour group return to Saigon. So we did get exactly what we need.
He has also booked a pick up from the Chau Doc hotel to, and on the boat, which takes away hassle for us, although we have paid the price for this confidence, it is well worth paying!
That bit done, we also wanted to do the Cu Chi Tunnels tour, so felt it was better to book all in one place. So we will do that tomorrow morning. Again, we are managing to fit in everything that we had planned on. Good job done! We are both happy with our bookings.
The plan for today is to do what we can on foot, so from the tourist centre we head for Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
Done!
The zoo was basic, compared to an English zoo, but all of the animals seemed to have good welfare. There was a really wide
variety of animals to view. I learnt that crocodiles seem to sleep on land with their mouths wide open! We spent about 3 hours in there. I really don't know where the time went!
On the way out we went into the The Museum of Vietnamese History. It is a museum showcasing Vietnam's history with exhibits from all periods. It took you through each room chronologically by the years. Really interesting! That took us another hour!
We got back to walking, both needing a snack now. I am peckish..... But not really hungry!
We walked on a bit; we stumbled upon the Saigon Central Post Office. It was built in the late 19th century. The architecture is of the French Indochinese origin. It is a beautiful building to look at.
We got very comfortable at the Cafe de la Poste, with its sweeping curved bar, again a lovely environment that encouraged you to want to be there. I could have been back in the GI 50's!
Just across the road is the beautiful Notre Dame of Bascilius cathedral .
After an extended sit, drink & snack, we continued our walk. This time, we worked
our way though the winding, very busy, back streets of downtown Saigon, finally finding our way back to Dong Khoi area. We strolled down along a short part of the harbour area, before settling for somewhere to have our evening meal.
We have now been out for about eleven hours! Walking, sightseeing, coffee and tea-ing, or eating! Hhhmmm.... Another busy day!
Tonight whilst eating dinner, it came to my attention that Helen has developed a very strange, and disturbing habit. For the second night running, she has snorted a fly up her nose! She doesn't seem to be perturbed by this new habit; she laughs! LoL..... I can only put it down to her nostril size. I hope she's not going to make it a new hobby!
The only thing left to do is return to the hotel, shower, then bed! Tired out!
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