Blogs from District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 6

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Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 February 20th 2016

Waiting at the airport for Gill was an experience in itself. Outside arrivals it was deceptively quiet to start, then as some flights from China, Gill's included, were due to arrive, the crowds started to gather. There were rows of orange plastic chairs with space for passengers between, but the people waiting kept filling all this space. The security guard was going nuts with his whistle but King Canute stood a better chance - as soon as his back was turned they all swarmed in again. I knew the flight was there but no sign of Gill. 1 1/2 hours after landing there she was, being swept along by the tide. Her case, however, was absent. My second family member with missing case in 4 months. I must have bad luggage karma. The first flight had ... read more
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Amazing building, but I could only look up at it if sitting down or leaning on a lamp post!
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Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 February 19th 2016

Last night my Family Members rescued me from outside a brothel. In my defence, I didn't know it was, had just stopped to have a beer, choosing the back rather than front line to minimise the vendor attention. I'd been to the shop opposite An An Hotel, where I knew I could get DVDs, but they didn't have anything recent. Outside was another fire eating boy, again very young, rattling his tin. I said that it was very bad for him, the shop girl said he has no parents, but for sure he's run by the mafia who will be taking the money from him. So I wandered along the street to find a local place for a beer, and sat down. There were 3 'massage' girls outside, ignoring women but grabbing hold of any western ... read more
Pork noodle soup, £1.30
Where it is prepared
Little girl with toys, a rare sight

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 February 19th 2016

It was another flipflop-melting experience on the streets, still enjoy walking here despite the traffic and general cruddy nature of the pavements. I headers off to buy tickets for the water puppets and the place was marked incorrectly on my map, asked some security guards (waved the map at them) and they flapped me in the right direction, a bit further along. The parks here are so beautiful, ginormous trees, well kept flower beds, swept paths, lots of benches. Still v v hot in the shade though. Bad ticket karma- it had just closed for lunch. Continued to the Reunification/unification/independence palace, now open again for business, 30,000 (less than £1) to go in. Have never bothered before but thought why not? In fact I really enjoyed it. It is basically a collection of 1970s furniture. Every ... read more
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The red circles are where bombs hit

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 February 18th 2016

We walked back yesterday through the park and along Pham Ngu Lao for Sam to change some money, the best rate was 31,500 to the pound. Overshot De Tham doing this and ended up having to walk down the street leading to the other end of Bui Vien. Insane! It looked like there was literally nowhere to walk along the side with solid traffic coming at you. We are used to it but this was ridiculous! We stood helplessly for a bit, not wanting to risk it, then tucked in behind a local and literally stuck to her in a little convoy until it thinned out a bit. Trotted over to the Go2 bar in the evening, sitting on the front line, so in pole position for all the offers of sunglasses, popup cards and cigarettes, ... read more
Wristband at pool. Orange Wednesday, transparent Thursday!

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 February 16th 2016

Back at the hotel, it was a little bit weird saying goodbye to the expats. People come and go all the time, but the kiwi couple, who have been resident for 3 weeks and have taken charge of the social life, organising meals and including everyone, make a big thing of sending people off when they leave, kisses and hugs, only met them a couple of times. Okaaaaay. Bye! No big deal. Last dinner out in Hoi An, walked 10 minutes back down the main road yet again to a non-Tripadvisor restaurant with a reasonable menu. It was a strange mix of restaurant/travel agent/tailor. People were coming in for all sorts of stuff. We'd sussed it out on the way back from town and remembered wine 24,000 a glass (Sam) and big Saigon beer 12,000 (me). ... read more
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Water fountains. Take an empty plastic bottle through and fill up for the flight

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 January 28th 2016

That's got to be a record! 1 Yen Hotel (substitute for Seventy Hotel) 2 Seventy Hotel - didn't actually stay there due to noisy room offerings 3 Graceful Saigon - great welcome, but when we got back in the afternoon we're told the air con didn't work in the room and we had to go to the Beautiful Saigon for one night. Smiled and said no. They tried very hard to persuade us. Offered a room at the FRONT on the STREET side (no sleep possible) for 2 nights. Smiled and said too noisy and we do not want to have to pack and unpack again when only here for 2 nights. Left Sam with apologetic hotel staff and trotted to find the alley I stayed in before. Both hotels I know were full. Back into ... read more
Eden Spa
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Boy eating fire- sickening to watch

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 January 27th 2016

This final blog entry is being written in Hedge End which feels like cheating but I need to finish it off. Our last two days in Ho Chi Minh City went by in a bit of a blur but we did have one more excursion to the Cu Chi tunnels to fit in. The same guide, Yung, joined us on this trip which took about 2 hours in the minibus, this time along a proper motorway which was a bit less frenetic than the minor roads. The driving in Vietnam has provided us with endless entertainment and we still find it hard to believe that anyone completes a journey in one piece! The tunnels were used by Viet Cong soldiers as hiding places, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon ... read more
Evening mealtime
Lounging on the roof
Peoples' committee building

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 January 27th 2016

Day 1. The China Southern flight to Guangzhou was super everything. Super comfy, super films, super cheap, super efficient. It was a low moment when we realised the guy Sam had told off (run after) for trying to queue jump was actually in the seat next to her. For 11 ½ hours. Hopefully he thought she was just being English/helpful! Then I partially sat on my kindle. Half the screen obliterated. Resorted to iPad. Changed planes, the airport was freeeeeezing, and all the staff had their winter coats on. We checked out the price of water, and sure enough, the bottles in the cooler are 8 somethings and the ones on the shelf only 3. We weren't sure what the somethings were, but less than half the price (probably dollars). Arriving in Saigon, we were very ... read more
Always love the electricity cables
Packing to exit Yen Hotel
They clearly hadn't checked the fridge. Birthday cake, anyone???

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 January 3rd 2016

Yes, it’s OK to call it Saigon. The official name is Ho Chi Minh City, but the Saigon River is still flowing, and many businesses have Saigon in their name. I asked two college students who were giving me a tour of the Chinese quarter if it was OK to call their city Saigon. “Sure,” one of them said. “It’s easier to say, and it has only two syllables instead of the five in Ho Chi Minh City.” In fact, I got the definite impression that most people would like to change the name back to Saigon. When I think about Saigon the first thing that comes to mind is motorbikes. The roaring, stinking, ubiquitous, fracking motorbikes. I was told that Saigon is a city of ten million people and seven million motorbikes. I think that ... read more
sidewalk parking
bikes and posters
modern skyscraper

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » District 1 December 29th 2015

There are some things that I know, or at least think I know. In fact, I’m down right certain of certain historical facts. Except that some of those facts are wrong. OK, they may contain a kernel of truth, but sometimes the whole truth is ever so much more interesting. The war in Vietnam may be one of the most thoroughly documented wars in history. There were pictures in the newspapers and in magazines, and the six o’clock news was full of images. And I remember the stories behind those images, except that some of what I remember isn’t quite true. One of the most iconic images to come out of Vietnam is that of Thích Quảng Đức, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk who set himself on fire to protest the war. Except that is not the ... read more
Burning monk statue
monk  memorial2
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