A bit of this and a bit of that

Sleep for a solid five hours, unheard of for me, usually an hour or two at a time is good going.  The extra  hours relaxation leaves me awake and ready to go at 6:00 am, but too early for my pho.  Eventually 7:00 am and breakfast treats me to the usual. Nice and cool outside still so I set out for a walk.

Crazy, crazy traffic but even crazier contrasts. I walk for hours through the narrow smelly lanes where women sit in the footpath brewing coffee or cooking, to the tree lined streets where international smart coffee shops and restaurants beckon you inside. From the wallow of the street markets with the food hanging in the sun amidst the petrol fumes, flies, cigarette smoke and all and sundry, to the sterility of the newly opened multi story shopping complex not 100 yards away.  Sky scrapers, wide promenades, beautiful buildings.  Its like being in another town.  Even the traffic is more sedate and you don't feel as though you are going to be swallowed alive by the scooters, swarming all around.

Somewhere between the two I find a coffee shop, clean, sterile, cool and serving a variety of coffees and. Cold drinks.  I am told that I can rely on the ice here as being from purified water so take the opportunity to have a cold drink.  Lime mojito without the booze, but oh so divine and oh so cool.

I check out a few of the tourist recommended places and spend ages on street corners people watching before the heat gets too much and I wander back to the hotel for a break.  Showered and relaxed I lie in my bed, writing this blog and devouring a packet of  "'centrefilled mocha coffee candy". Divine and takes me back to Bali where they were part of my daily ritual.  So much for the diet.

My itchy feet get the better of me and instead of having a rest I take off again on foot headed for the river.  Duh!  No map,  oh well. I follow my nose. Bad move. I end up at Saigon Square and find the western tourists.  Squashed into a market space buying up large on cheap junk. They are happy and off the streets.  Eventually I find the river, find the sludge, see the pollution and carry on my way.

No map, lost again.  The heavens open up and I seek solace in a souvenir shop where I chat with the staff and get ideas for tonights dinner.  Rain stopped I walk to the Reunification Palace, highly recommended by a few people.  Wiki tells me;
"Also known as Independence Palace (this is the old name). This is a restored 5 floor time warp to the 60s left largely untouched from the day before Saigon fell to the North (construction started in 1962 and finished in 1966). Formerly South Vietnam's presidential palace, the war ended on April 30, 1975 when tank #843 crashed through the gate. A replica of that tank is now parked on the lawn outside. Be sure to check out the impressively kitschy recreation room, featuring a circular sofa, and the eerie basement, full of vintage 1960s phones, radios, and office equipment, supposedly left exactly as it was found when the North took over. There is also a photo gallery and a propaganda film recounting how the South Vietnamese military and American forces succumbed to Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary forces, upon which point many South Vietnamese supporters fled as refugees, military and police were punished and many sent to labor camps."    

Fascinating and glad I went but it didnt excite me at all, perhaps the oppressive heat and the hundreds of visitors contributing to the "I've had enough" feeling.

My last night in Ho Chi Minh City was spent wandering the markets, enjoying a delicious meal of clams (pea sized tiny things) cooked with onions and served with crispy pancakes, just prior to a massage that was to die for; not quite like our PC NZ versions, but one that covered considerably more flesh than it's closest equivalent at home.  Ready for bed and I am sure a good sleep.  Another spell like last night will keep me going for days.  Cambodia tomorrow after a time filling tour in the morning.

Time for a rest