Saturday 28 November 2009

Ho Chi Minh City and the Night Train

From 6 Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City


From 6 Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City


From 6 Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City


From 6 Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City


Last night we departed Ho Chi Minh City, having been there a night and seen one of the most manic cities in Asia. There were people everywhere, 99% of whom were on scooters, which made for some hairy road crossings. We've also noticed the horn seems to be preferred to the brake almost every time! Our journey there was a long one, not helped by a driver running off to the loo and a traffic accident, but we eventually arrived late afternoon on the 26th. We went out for a brief walking tour and all got incredibly hot in the sticky heat of the evening. For dinner, we went to a place visited by Bill Clinton in 2000 that specialises in Pho - noodle soup. It's very nice, I've even had some for breakfast! After dinner a la Clinton, we wandered back through the park, to see all the cool kids dancing to various latino dances in the band stands. Sara was right in there with a few of the others, showing off their best moves. There we're some real snake hipped chaps in there, wiggling about so much it was actually pretty funny! Leaving, it started to rain, so we conga'd out and back to the hotel at which point the heavens opened and temporarily cooled the city down.

The next day we got up at our leisure, popped out to buy a patch for the bag, and then went for lunch in a very smart old place with Kris, Louise, Sian, Penila and Tia. The food was cheap and great, and the surroundings very colonial! We then went to the War Museum, which informed us a great deal more about the Vietnam War. I was particularly interested by the photographs of Larry Burrows, an Englishman who was one of the first to take colour images for Western publications. After the War Museum, we popped into the Palace of Independence, where numerous important people had met their Vietnamese equivalents. It was a little bit of a socialist style building though, and not that interesting to look at!

We then popped back to get some grub and have a beer before heading to the overnight train to Nha Trang. Sara and I shared a cabin with the two Kiwi girls, Gill and Lisa. It was cozy, but comfortable enough, and we all slept quite well all in all. We arrived in Nha Trang at 6.30 this morning, had breakfast and are now relaxing until 12 when the plan is to go for a mudbath - apparently it's the done thing...?

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