Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon aka Scooter Central

Chuc Mung Nam Moi

Having spent 14 days on the move, cycling and checking into new hotels almost every single night, it was wonderful to be able to settle somewhere and actually unpack our bags.  10 days at our next hotel were going to be a luxury simply by being spent in the same place.  Courtesy of the German side of the tour's organisation, we had a lovely place booked up at half price and we truly were thankful for this over the coming days.

Our intention was to simply mooch about; reading, working out, lying by the pool and of course seeing the sights of Saigon....all 3 of them!  We can confirm that we achieved all of the above and a little more.


We managed to hit the opera house one evening for a show that combined a series of acts to deliver the "Spirit of Vietnam".  Bless them, they tried, but somehow it was more Bradford or Bammenthal than Broadway.  Ho hum - let it not be said we didn't at least attempt to inject some culture into the world tour.  The highlight of the show was an elderly (80 year old?) flute player, who was amazing.

2315 - a room with a view

Hamleys Saigon

Most days started with a lovely breakfast on the top floor, looking down on the ants nest that was Saigon.  Apparently Tet (New Year) was a time for at least half the city to return back to their home towns to celebrate with family, but honestly it seemed pretty busy to us.  Crossing the roads became a skill we acquired and were quite proud of.....though it is probably easier to cross the road in Vietnam than most people think.  The drivers are just so aware of pedestrians, that as long as you keep moving slowly in the same direction, they move around you.  It's worth pointing out that there are hardly any cars other than taxis and trucks on the roads.  Most of the drivers are buzzing around on 125cc mopeds wearing the coolest helmets we've ever seen.  Sometimes whole families will be sat on a moped, eldest child at the front (around 6 years old) then dad, then baby child, then mum.  We did see the odd family of 5 on a moped....nuts.

After breakfast we'd normally chill out by the pool reading or lie in bed watching the Killing 3.  We finished the series in short order - so you can imagine the level of mooching we were achieving.  Around lunchtime we'd normally skip lunch, because at 2pm our little area on the top floor would serve up the cutest little sandwiches and beautiful little cakes and petits fours.  So clearly we'd wallow in all that goodness, before a little nap or a massage, then perhaps a visit to the gym.  All in the most laid back manner possible.


Dinner was normally back upstairs again - saving money, unfortunately not our pancreases though...those little desserts were irresistible.  That and the fact that the booze was free....well....you do the math!

Don't get us wrong, we managed to leave the hotel every now and then.  One morning we spent the WHOLE morning (well 3 hours of it) walking around central Saigon.  We visited the Post Office (a highlight), the church and the War Museum....which was pretty harrowing and we aren't even Americans.









But after that little escapade and the ensuing cabbie that tried to rip us off, we stayed in most of the time.  Sometimes we'd head out for dinner, the best of which was eaten at the Refinery.  Not the most encouraging of names, but it was fantastic.  Occidental food in a stylish (air-conditioned) atmosphere.  We tried to eat at the Temple Club again, but as is so often the case, second time round just didn't have the magic of the first time.

The World Famous Saigon Post Office

Our one big night out was on New Year's Eve...you'll have read the post here of course ;o) This was a recommendation from the team up on the top floor.  You can see them here and boy oh boy did we come to enjoy their company.  Such a happy and capable bunch that were always doing everything they could to please us.  The look of embarrassed failure on their face when we proved to them that they had been playing the same 12 songs every minute of every day for the first 7 days....well, it was proof enough how much they cared about the guests...they didn't notice the music they were working so hard.

The Top Floor Team (minus an "unhappy with how I look in this photo" Julia)

The hardest part of those 10 days was checking out.  Both of us truly enjoyed our time at the hotel, but we were ready for our next 550km on a bicycle.  Our first tour through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam had trained us up and we now wanted to mount up and head off to Hanoi.

Good Night Saigon