Taken for a ride

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What a busy week it has been, this is the first chance I have had to update the blog.

So without further delay, I will tell you about Sunday.

Had a lazy start to the day before heading out to Dam Sen Park. This is kind of the Disneyland of Vietnam, although without the gloss (but with fake Mickey Mouses and Donald Ducks, everything has a cheap immitation in Vietnam). It has idyllic surrounding and you soon forget about the chaos of the city.

Starting with a walk around the Orchid Garden, the beautiful scenery surrounding hundreds of fish in ponds. This was very relaxing, even if you did stumble across the odd couple in a secluded area. It seemed though for many that a western male was much more fun to look at than the flowers, as groups of children pointed and giggled. I now know what it is like to be a celebrity.

There are many activities to do in the park, ranging from an elephant ride to a haunted house. There are some of the activites included with your entrance to the park, but most you have to pay for separately. The haunted house was quite fun, although we only managed to get halfway around because some of the group found it too scary. To be fair, they do build up the suspense quite well. It is a simple concept, but with a lot of screams.

There are the usual other rides, including a roller coaster (decided after the haunted house experience this was not such a good idea) and a mock cruise down the amazon. It all looks a little cheap, but extremely fun all the same. Spent some time of the dodgems, but after three weeks of Ho Chi Minh City traffic the thrill just was not the same.

One of the highlights for me was the ice exhibition. Set up in a giant industrial freezer, there are many ice sculptures to view and an ice slide (cue bouts of extreme laughter as I hurtle down very fast and do not stop where I am supposed to, it is the simple pleasures). The sculptures were very beautiful with some excellent lighting to accentuate the look. Before entering, they were handing out coats for people to wear. With, in retrospect, foolish bravado I decided that a coat was not required. I live in Aberdeen. How cold could it be? Very, as it turned out. After a couple of minutes I returned to the entrance and explained, yes, I would like a coat afterall.

Another fun and enjoyable day. Go with friends for a giggle, or take children (but not if they have actually been to Disneyland).

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