Saigon

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Upon waking we decided that the hotel we were staying was too expensive for another night and checked into a smaller famil run hoterl, Betty's. The family were really friendly and had a cute dog which reminded Dom of Bumble, although a little more lively. There was also a ceramin sculpted fish pond under the stairs which had lots of fish in, most of them were the ones with boggly eyes. After breakfast we walked in the searing heat to Benh Tanh Market where we saw many dried and alive fish. One large prawn jumped out of the container and almost landed on Rachael's foot making her jump. The smell was disgusting. There was raw meat everywhere kept slightly chilled by slushy ice which was constantly being ground from massive ice blocks. Away from the meat the rest of the markets sold souvenirs and clothes. The heat and constant grabbing of your arms and 'miss you buy' to get you to buy something became to much for even the hardened shopper (Rachael). We needed to book our flight tickets to Phu Quoc. The airlines office was set in an upper class area of saigon with many boutiques close by, including names such as Gucci and Prada. Every so often the heat forced us into one of the not so expensive stores where we noticed prices were similar to the UK, very expensive for Vietnam.

The airlines office was also very close to Notre Dame Cathedral so we stopped for lunch overlooking this sight. We then walked around the reunification Palace where we heard many crackles of loud thunder as a storm was brewing. Realising this we headed back along the streets to Saigon river but it was too late, the rain came pouring down and after seeking shelter with some police under a balcony we hopped in a taxi and headed back to the hotel. The road was like a river of spray so dense you simply couldnt see, somehow we made it back and sat the storm out in our room. It was good because the room did not have an outward window so we were unaware of the lightening and it was also in themiddle of a building so the loud crashes of thunder were barely audible.

When the rain stopped we ventured out and toured the tour shops asking about Mekong tours before sitting down to dinner at an all you can eat pizzeria, Pepperoni's.

We got back to the hotel at a reasonable hour because we knew it would be an early start tomorrow.

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Comments

[R's Mum]

Rain
Sounds a bit like home without the storms! Food sounds wonderful. Seems to play an important part in your travels.

[R's Mum]

Lovely dog. Looks a bit like Alfie!