18.02 Day 34 Saigon

Day 34 - Sunday 18th February - Saigon

Despite the contrast in background street noise versus LannaRich Suites in Chiang Mai, our usual sleeping under a flight path in Sydney means we have no problem sleeping in. Kate wants and needs another day in bed to rest, so I take the kids for a walk around the city. 

We’re staying in Q1, not far from most common attractions, though apart from a few office workers it’s noticeable it’s only white tourists out walking and even then, we’re few in number. 

We notice a lot of security guards perched on stools or leaning against bikes for banks or offices. There are also lots of locals sat on stools facing the road having a drink, usually an iced coffee. They’re all pulled up on their bikes so the pavement is littered with mopeds. Seb continues to attract attention, happy to give a wave or a high five on request. 

We’re walking a loop, first to the Independence Palace, but before we can get there, we’re distracted by a troupe of performing artists involving a long act of 2 people with dragon head and bum leaping from pole to pole up to 10 feet off the ground, on several occasions roaring up so that the ‘head’ is sat on the shoulders of the ‘bum’. All the while drums and symbols are clattered while the rest of the group sit on the beams supporting the pillars to help hold it all steady. 

Next up individuals have bricks placed on their head or back of neck before getting whacked by a hammer to break the bricks. When a man places his leg on a bed of nails and then has bricks put on his leg, it all gets a bit much for Sienna and we make a hasty exit along the street. 

After glimpsing the palace we move towards Notre Dame - by now it’s 35 degrees so we make a beeline for a Circle K convenience store for iced coffee (me) and a large, multicoloured slushie (Sienna and Seb) which we make a dent in in an upstairs eating space. Notre Dame is covered in scaffolding anyway. 

We try another of the late 1800’s French buildings in the Post Office, but we are turned away due to the slushie. Down a mainstrip we walk, which if I were American I’d be more aware of a famous hotel, a building where journalists worked during the war, the building of the final helicopter evacuations. We didn’t cover any of this at school though so I plan to read up. 

There is though the Opera House, which the kids turn their noses up at because it's nothing like the Sydney version. There was a chance of going up a tall tower for city views, but Sienna has developed blisters from her flip flops in the heat and humidity. So she starts hopping, then gets blisters on the other foot so walks the last 10 minutes barefoot. One of the aforementioned security guards helps her to sit down and applies some cream which Sienna says helps. 

Gasping for air con we collapse in our hotel room for a few hours rest. I venture around the block in search of fruit and strike across a high end mini-supermarket. What was common is now a treat, so yoghurt for a snack and cheese for a sandwich is an (relatively) expensive, but well earned treat. 

For dinner we leave Kate at home and find some noodle dishes nearby. Though seemingly the fans employed serve merely to push the heat around more so we convert one half eaten dinner into takeaway and head back to Anam Homestay.