North to South Vietnam completed

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Hoi An - Ho Chin Min City

Our last few hours in Hoi An was spent walking the streets dodging intermittent showers left over from the storms from the previous night. Hoi An is a busy place and has great character - well worth spending a few days here. The predominantly yellow colour of buildings and water makes it a visually interesting place. Whilst there are many shops you are never hassled to buy to any uncomfortable level. Keagan finished off his stay with a quick banana pancake at Miss Lay’s Cafe whist we had banana shakes. Our transfer to the airport in Danang some thirty minutes away was at 11.40 for our 1.40 pm plane to Ho Chi Min (HCM). Every tour trip logistic has worked like clockwork since we have been here which makes traveling so easy. In a light shower we traveled a short distance by bus across the tarmac to the plane.

In just over an hour we were on the ground in Vietnam’s largest city of 8 million people. We are staying at the Metropole which is a few minutes from the city centre so ideally located. We were comfortably in our 7th floor (top story) room by 4.00pm. The streets are wide and there is mind blowing traffic and whilst busier than Hanoi it feels no more dangerous because of the extra space.

Early evening we met Bernard in the hotel foyer to spend a few days with him here. He had arrived 2 days earlier in HCM direct from Australia and is having a great time and is staying in a backpackers very nearby. Dinner together in local cafe was followed by drinks and photo viewing in our room.

Our first morning in HCM was a quite one. Keagan badly needed a sleep in and had a late breakfast. At 11.30 he was ok to explore some of the city. Declan and I had been on a brief reconnaissance early traveling out by taxi and back on a motorbike which was a hoot. We went to the central market and it was colourful and active - a fun place to visit. We bought Declan a new Addidas tennis outfit of shorts and shirt for $10. Great shopping. All four of us returned to the market for lunch and more browsing. A storm passed by and we wandered back to our hotel by foot through parks and small streets. HCM is wonderful.

We swam in the hotel pool which is outside on the third floor until it was time to meet up with Bernard for the evening. I headed out first to travel the last 100m in a huge rain storm. Soaked, I purchased a dry shirt for $2 and we sat and drank in a small Ban Hoi abode until Kerri and the boys joined us. Chatting also with a young Canadian couple, it has been great to here stories and life experiences of people living in other parts of the world. Dinner followed in an Indian restaurant called Royal India nearby - fantastic food.

Other evening activities included booking a Mekong River Delta trip tomorrow and shopping for DVD’s. Also Bernard had organized to have some prescription glasses made at a fraction of the home cost. Kerri checked the optometrist out which was just near our hotel and it seems a really good deal which we may take up before we depart (ready to go in two hours from order).

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