An enjoyable destination

Journey End,

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0800

End of blog

Singapore, Singapore

Tue, 22 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0800

TBC…

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Sat, 19 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0700

Friday 18th August Ho Chi Minh City We awake this morning at the White Lotus Hotel, the place we stayed briefly before heading to Nha Trang for the week. Although comfortable here, here not nearly as nice as the Apus last week. It was a bit of a wasted day leaving Nha Trang on such a late flight. The 2pm flight with Vietjet, turned into the 6.30pm from Cam Ranh Airport, leaving a half a day to fill, before even thinking of making our way to the airport. As it turned out, the nearly hour’s journey from hotel to airport, plus being dropped at the International rather than Domestic Terminal, saw the minutes melt away. On the plus side, the flight was on time, but the usual busing of passengers onto the tarmac and loading by stairs ensured we took off no earlier. Vietjet certainly have a modern fleet and now serve a great deal of South East Asia and even Australia, offering economy flights from only $A200, one way. I would like to imagine, should you take one of the longer journeys, the seats are were a little more roomy. I guess the average Vietnamese probably wouldn’t notice, but even getting into the seat at the window end is a squeeze. We didn’t get into the taxi until 8.30 at HCMC, due to storms and the aircraft circling for 45 minutes. At breakfast, the ladies working in the restaurant greeted us like long lost friends and the lady at reception asked, ‘How did you get on with all the Russians in Hha Trang’. She was interested to hear everything and was the first person I have spoken to in this country who gave any visible signs of dislike to anyone. Anyway, we are here until Tuesday, when we start the sojourn back home. Although we came here over 5 years ago, a repeat visit to some of the places we saw last time, would still hold an interest. Saturday 19th August HCMC We didn’t see any rain the whole time we were in Nha Trang, I doubt we will be that lucky here. After some rain late yesterday afternoon, we awake to a really steamy Saturday morning. The rain didn’t spoil the day yesterday, people just get on with it in these parts, after all its warm rain and often a relief from the intense humidity. We had a walk along the Saigon River (not to be confused with the Meekong, which meets the sea a few miles south of the city, after rising in China and flowing through Laos, Cambodia and Thailand before Vietnam) which flows through the middle of the city. Other than the drama of crossing the road to reach the promenade, it was a nice walk. The backdrop of the modern city and the Cau Ba Son bridge we left behind us, as we passed the older architecture of the Riverside Hotel Saigon and Hotel Majestic on our right. These two hotels recalled the majesty of colonial building built back in the day, this time by the French. After the promenade came to an abrupt end, as things often do here, we turned inland and headed towards the centre of the city. After Nha Trang, this city came as a bit of a rude shock. The motorcyclists were more aggressive, both on the roads and the pavements. Quite frankly it is more important here to look both ways on the roads and the pavements. Even if there is a narrow gap between the parked motorcycles, always expect another to come flying through that narrow gap, to ensure a faster passage than on the road. The locals do not bat an eyelid, although though you may sometimes get an eyebrow raised by an elderly man, sitting on his plastic stool and watching the world go by. Add this to the blocked pavements, the missing pavings, the odd hole and the dog mess, and there is not a lot of time to take in the scenery. India is often remembered by its noise, HCMC would come a close second. At least we are not being bothered by any hawkers! We thought we would visit the History Museum of HCMC, a magnificently imposing building running parallel to a beautiful park. A 30,000 dong entrance fee, $2, gave us an interesting morning in a couple of ways. Firstly, the rooms inside gave the usual displays expected in a historical sense, but secondly it was obviously popular as a backdrop used fo wedding photos, either before or post ceremony, I’m not sure. We would walk out of one room and come literally face to face with a blushing bride. The blushing was sometimes actually us! There weren’t just brides and grooms, there were bridesmaids and ushers, all getting their photographs, in all manner of poses, both individually and in groups. At one stage, we came out of a display room and were cofronted with a bridesmaid reclined on the main staircase like a modern day and may I say, ‘sexy’ Marilyn Monroe. I don’t think at any stage the subjects were bothered by the curiosity and sometimes gawking of the tourists. I can see why the museum was a good background to any photo, because of its sweeping stairs, some beautiful furniture and other historical displays, however I would think very hard of where I was going to sit with my best fineary, let alone wedding dress, as the whole building seemed to be missing any cleaning for a good while. Sunday 20th August HCMC The weekend in HCMC, was almost a more relaxed affair than during the week. Relaxed? Well lets say a little bit easier to cross the road and more of a noticeable presence in the coffee shops. The ‘coffee culture’, as we are led to believe, is the correct term for those of us who have the money to waste and the time of day, to lounge away our time putting the world to rights, with other like minded people, is big here! A major difference however, for the working class at least, these pastimes are taken sitting on plastic stools on the pavement’s of the city. The conversation of coarse, maybe similar. Starbucks, Coffee Bean etc., have a big presence, but a look through the windows at the lables on the gold handled carrier bags, denotes clientele I could never imagine on a plastic anything, frequenting these establishments and the inflated prices that goes with them. On our way to the ‘Independence Palace’, we get a good feel of the ‘green HCMC’. The French certainly left, not only their tree lined a avenues, but some large and shady parks, certainly utilised to the full by the locals. When we arrived at Cong vien Tao Dan, we were greeted by huge tropical trees providing a canopy of shade and a welcoming greenery smack bang in the middle of the city. Music form a flutist sitting on a park bench honing his skills, a speaker playing a salsa for the dance class under a shady pagoda and cicadas rubbing their legs together as they have for the last millennia, added the elegance, the magic and the enchantment to this oasis here in District One. As we sit on a bench amongst the local’s, we learn that this very park has been earmarked as the site for a station to serve the new proposed metro system. Whilst much of the population are excited about the new innovation, many are saddened that a green space, left from the garden of the Governor General’s house back in 1869, will be devastated. As we walked through the park, past the huge trees, the numerous shrines to Gods and Goddesses, the beautifully kept gardens, the families playing ,netless’ badmington and even a small monkey roaming freely amongst the adoring children, we did feel a moment of sadness, for a sanctuary citizens and future tourists will no longer experience. Monday 21st August HCMC Its hard (almost impossible), to visit Vietnam and not see reminders or have thoughts about the Vietnam War, especially if you are from my generation. Brought up with Woodstock and Dylan, graphic photography of fleeing children from napalm and western protests about the US intervention. No matter where you stood on the politics, it was an event hard to ignore. I spent nearly 4 years of my youth in Australia (a particpant in Vietnam) from 1964 until 1968. I returned to England aged 14. Everyone at my school in Brisbane knew someone, brother, father or son serving in Vietnam or called up. I, like every other male faced the prospect once becoming of age, to face the ballot for conscription and what followed. Much to Australia’s disgrace, many returning servicemen were condemned by many as ‘baby killers’ or murderer’s. Those same young men, that were conscripted to a foreign war by their country, were condemned by their fellow citizens (in the main Trade Unions). Over 58,000 American soldiers died in Vietnam and 500 Australians of the 52,000 sent. I often wonder what veterans would feel visiting the modern Vietnam, who are obviously commemorating the war as a victory against US oppression and foreign aggression. Now the communist state that the west fought to prevent. I guess, every single one would have their own thoughts and views, just as in any other war. To know, I would have to ask them. We visited the Independance Palace, known here as the Reunification Covention Hall. Famously shown on world television, when the North Vietnamese tank, crashed through the gates in 1975, effectively ending the war. Another photo that made headlines, was the last helicopter on the roof of the palace and the huge line of Vietnamese civilians trying to escape with the aid of a CIA agent. We also visited the War Remnants Museum yesterday, as haunting a place for me as was the Holocaust or Apartheid mueseums. I find it just as difficult to see the exhibits dedicated to Agent Orange or Napalm. I watch young tourists, both asian and western and wonder if many think deepr than the missiles, tanks, helicopters and machine guns on display. Again, I would have to ask them? Whether we visit South Africa, Israel or Vietnam, I feel we should always pause and try to understand their history from all sides. 22nd August HCMC Our flight back to Singapore is at 1230 pm, the receptionist, the doorman and the cleaner cannot make up their minds how long it will take to get to the airport at around 8.30 this morning. They settled on around 40 minutes, give or take 30! ‘Traffic very bad, that time’, says one. ‘No one knows’ says the doorman, all shaking their heads. The receptionist, Grace has a look of gloom and pity fo us. The head waitress, Rose just smiles, she can’t understand a word. I wish we couldn’t. We decide to give the journey an hour, instead of the 30 norm, the committee agree with nods all around. We are feeling nearly confident. Yesterday we visited the Botanical Gardens, somewhere we always hope to see, whereever we are. Unfortunately, here they are also part of the zoo. I say unfortunately, because it was quite a harrowing experience. Some of the animals (we felt) were kept is such shoddy conditions. By this I mean, the cages, the environment in general. The keepers, workers, seemingly attended the animals very well, but we thought the days of keeping tigers in a glass cage, pacing up and down, or monkeys staring into space, had passed. Unfortunately not. We wish we hadn’t gone and spent our day avoiding having to look at the animals. The gardens were absolutely magnificent, it was just sad that that zoo had to be suffered to enjoy them. It was our last day and one best forgotten. We visited our favourite restaurant last night. We understood what we were getting to a degree, by being able to point at the pictures in the menu. When the meal came however, it was accompanied by a few bowls of liquid we had not seen in the photographs. Now I have a vivid memory of once going for a curry in the UK. In my defence, I was very young, brash and knew all there was to know about eating out, especially curries! A bowl of, what resembles little coloured balls, about as big as grains of rice appeared. I did know more, than take a handful and put it in my mouth. Cat litter, is what it tasted like, I later learnt it was to place your fingers, in order to take away the smell of any food on your hands! Now when, in this case, a bowel of something I don’t recognise appears, my first thought! Is this soup or a finger bowel? Fortunately, it was soup. It was indeed a nice meal, a fitting end to our time in HCMC. As I have said, we fly onto Singapore today and back to Australia in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Why such a gap in flights? That’s another story.

The war at the palace front gates

The roof escape for Vietnamese civilians

An advert that wouldn’ pass muster in the ‘woke’ west now.

Along the Saigon River

The museum grounds

HCMC Museum

Brides everywhere

HCMC

A street scene

A shop in the road

Dancing in the park

A typical roundabout

Green Parks

The (now) gates at the Independence Palace

War Museum

Botanical Gardens

A wild monkey at the zoo

Zoo infrastructure

Botanical Gardens

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0700

11 th August 2023 Nha Trang It’s not often I have paid £30 or $A57 and walked into a hotel room and said ‘wow’, until now. Our room on the top 18th floor of the Apus Hotel was wonderful. The view from the floor to ceiling window next to the bed, looked out over Vung Ngan Island and out to the South China Sea. The sunrise was mesmerising, the big red ball of fire coming up between two of the many small islands dotted around the coast. It was all just to impressive to lay in bed and we were down to breakfast by 6.15. The breakfast was a truly massive spread, but! The fruit juice, although tasty, was nothing I could recognise, after looking for a glass I realised it was to be taken with a china cup! The 10 or so bain marie’s were stacked with noodles, rice, curries, sweetcorn and other fare I find hard to describe. There was salad and cold meats galore and a conveyor type toaster, that only toasted one side. Thank goodness for the egg station. Lets say, the breakfast catered for the Asia in us, something I will probably be used to by the end of the week. No complaints anyway. Strangely enough for me, the highlight was the coffee. Well the milk anyway, it was served with condenced milk! It took me right back to the days at see when the fresh milk ran out. Yesterday’s journey was taken with Vietjet, a huge Vietnamese budget airline, even now flying to Australia. There was a slight delay, but nothing to complain about, the worse bit by far, was the bus ride out to the tarmac and boarding. A plane load of passengers and two buses that staff were determined would be enough! They were right of coarse, everyone squeezed themselves in for fear of being left behind. Only a 45 minute journey, advertised as 90, ensured all the delays were sucked up for us to be pretty well on schedule! The flight crew, or should I say in this case, the stewardesses, had the most incredible uniform. A pillbox hat and matching tweed shorts, with a red brass buttoned shirt, almost like a toy soldier would wear, nevertheless impressive and indeed very unique. Our journey to Nha Trang, was again booked through booking.com and the driver was there waiting for us. It was a good 45 minute ride from the airport at Cam Ranh along some pretty desolate dual carriageway and past many gaudy holiday resort hotels, interspersed with half built or abandoned future of former resorts. The only neibours should you stay there, would be another resort, I guess you could spend a week there and the only Vietnamese you would meet, would probably be the waiter! As we approached Nha Trang, thank goodness we were back in the real country we had come to visit, although in all honesty a little more laid back than Ho. Hi Minh. Well it seemed like that in early afternoon, but that perception changed at dusk. When we went out for a meal, it was a kaleidoscope of colour and people. Restaurants, spa’s, massage parlours, bars, good time girls and Russian tourists were everywhere. Saturday 12th August Nha Trang If you are looking for the perfect beach, with palms, sunbeds and beach bars, this is your place. However it does have the look of being a ‘man made’ slice of paradise. After all, palms don’t grow in straight lines and sun loungers don’t sprout from the sand, but its pretty nice for the average westerner! Along several kilometres of the beach at Nha Trang, is a most beautiful and shady promenade. Shaded by palms and some other splendid trees, meanders a path separating the road from the beach. There are many seats to tarry a while in the 36 degree early morning heat, although you must be early to grab the fully shady seats before the locals. From what I learnt yesterday, the sunbeds and beach umbrellas are rented from the person looking after that part of the beach. After having my normal moan about ‘everyone having to make money these days’, I recollected the old deck chair attendants at the seaside back in the day, who charged sixpence to rent one. If I am honest, if I was willing to pay to walk over the stones and set up my deck chair under a groyne out of the wind, I must be pleased to sit on what is reputedly one of the ‘top 10 beautiful beaches on the world!’ Blame the sun, blame a hangover or even my age, but I managed to do something I had never done before whilst walking this very path. After taking a break under trees, I realised I’d left my rucksack somewhere along the 3 kilometres we had just walked. Now my rucksack is never full of anything really exciting, unless its is laden with some beer on the way back to the hotel. This time it was the room key (bad enough) and a few bits and pieces. However, this was the old blue rucksack we had bought with our first ever airmiles about 15 years ago. It had been repaired many times after carrying provisions all over the world. It had carried yes, room keys, umbrellas, water bottles, passports, towels and swimmers. It had graduated from a carry on bag to what is today! Having become to embarrassing to place next to someone’s guchi in the overhead locker, it was demoted to, well yes, a beer carrier. One of the bags most embarrassing moments I recall however was in Penang, Malaya. We had just walked down to the local supermarket with our trusty rucksack and spied a case of Tiger Beer on a special offer! It was far cheaper to buy the 24 can case, than individual cans. We debated as to whether our trusty rucksack would cope with 24 cans, of coarse it would! Of coarse we couldn’t open the case and fill our bag in the supermarket, so with the case of beer underarm, we walked onto the main road and front of the shop. With the rucksack now on the pavement ready, I tore open the cardboard case, only for nearly all 24 cans, to roll down the road. Now imagine, this is a Muslim country and there is me (and may Allah forgive me), and a women, chasing beer cans down the street. So you you can see it’s sentimental value! Anyway I digress, after tracing our steps back a long the promenade, laying on the seat on which it was left, was the dirty blue bag! Anyone watching the way I embraced it, would imagine my worldly goods were in it, rather than a room key, a plastic bag and a few used pandemic face masks! Sunday 13th August Nha Trang Bhuddism is the dominant religion in Vietnam and about 3 kilometres from where we are staying is the Long Son Pagoda. Apparently, relocated here in 1900, after the original site was devastated by a typhoon. Reputedly renovated in 1940, only to be destroyed again during the Vietnam war. Now it stands here at the foot of a mountain and the huge white Buddha is reached by 152 stone steps whilst passing many Buddhist architecture on the way. The Buddha is guarded by two 7.2 metre drogons and incase you ever get the question on ‘Who mants to be a Millionaire’, the dragons nasal hairs wrap themselves around the pillars on either side of the altar! Debbie didn’t feel the need to climb the steps, so I did them myself. 152 uneven steps in 36c made me wish I hadn’t started, but it was rewarding to stand and admire both the splenour of the place and the now, dripping wet fit young man who got there. Any pleasure I took in accomplishing this feat, was put in perspective by the words of the lady selling fans and talking to Debbie. Now I had returned to the base, she looked up at me and said, ‘agh, here comes your husband looking like another contented Buddha’, as she reffered to my now heaving but ample stomach! Monday 14th August Nha Trang The easy option would be taxi, they are so cheap, you would imagine fuel is cheaper here (cheaper than the UK) , its no cheaper than Australia though! But why pay even a cheap cab fare whilst you’re blessed enough to be able to walk. Well that’s the theory, so that’s what we plan to do today. Walk the 10 kilometres (5 eachway) to the Ponagar Temple reputedly built around 781 AD. Now I know 10 kilometres is not a lot to many, but it’s stretching us to our limit nowadays. Its not only the 38c (feels like 42) forcast today, its the Vietnamese penchant for blocking every pavement/footpath, usually with motorcycles, but also with roadsigns, waste paper bins, street hawkers, resting taxi drivers or tradesmen using the pavement as their factory workshop! On the plus side, there are plenty of seats on the way, the occasional shade and if things get desperate, a taxi back and a free pass into our room fridge full of cold Saigon Beer! Anyway, look on the bright side, if we don’t make it, you won’t have to read about it tomorrow! Tuesday 15th August Nha Trang Smashed it yesterday! Was it worth it? Probably. We did take our time walking to Ponagar Temple and took a few shady recovery timeouts along the way. Quite frankly, the most taxing part was crossing the road on the other side of the bridge, that spaned the mouth of the Cai River. Anyone who ventures to Vietnam, will know that crossing roads is not for the faint hearted. Although there are no apparent rules, there is an etiquette that works for both pedestrian and motorist. One. Don’t worry about what’s happening further across the road, its not your concern yet! Two. Keep side by side to make a small target. Three. When there is slight lapse in the frequency of the motorcycles passing you, walk slowly but deliberately across the road, don’t worry about the motorcycles, they will avoid you. Four. Do not stop, it confuses everyone. Five. Obviously watch out for buses and trucks, they have limited manoeuvre ability. However the will slow or move to avoid you. Six. Remember traffic approaches you from your left normally. There are exceptions when a bike is taking a short cut, it can come the wrong way, from behind you or along the footpath. Seven. Vietnamese motorists never ever get angry, they see it as a sign of weakness and shame. Eight. If you have a God, pray! I digress, we made the entrance to the Temple and had to pay the sum of 30,000 dong or $2 to enter. The site wasn’t as big as the photographs might suggest, but it was another look at how life was 1500 years ago when the Cham people ruled their own Empire reaching Cambodia in the west. The word Ponagar means, ‘The Mother of the Country’. The actual temple (Hindu) was built to worship the Queen, who was the goddess of creation and came from the clouds. Whilst we were there, local dancers entertained the tourists and of coarse the hawkers tried to fleece us. I am probably being a little unfair, because the Vietnamese people are far to polite to harass on the scale of those in countries such as Bali or India! Walking the 5 kilometres back, although now very hot, always had the lure of the Saigon Beer waiting in the fridge, but first of all we had to pass the Banh Mi Shop. We had taken every lunch time to a famous Vietnamese snack, the Banh Mi! This is basically a thin crisp baguette, filled with things such as chicken, pork, meatballs and other savoury delicacies. They are served warm and also contain quite a hot sauce alongside greenery which is usually surprisingly nice, though I often have no idea what it is. Wednesday 16th August Nha Trang On holiday or not, there is only one thing on my mind when awakening this morning. Not the blue sea and golden sands, not the impressive breakfast waiting down stairs, not even the Saigon Beer at the table at our adopted Coral Ahn’s Restaurant tonight, but the game! Fair warning, what I am about to say now is definitely sexist. I never thought in my wildest dreams I would ever look foward to see (girls lol), women, playing football, the beautiful game, the domain of men and boys over the decades! Yet here I am and my awakening thought is, it’s the World Cup semi final today, England v Australia. I must admit, the England v Colombia game and the Australia v France game are the only women’s football I have watched from start to finish. How impressive, the openess of the play and the skills, I am the first to admit and how pleased I am to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it, every minute. Living in Australia makes it far more important than reaching the final, far more important than it might be good game. It makes it important that we win, we beat the number 1 sporting foe, no matter how (for it doesn’t matter, Australia or England will find an excuse to blame something or someone, no matter who wins) and the ‘we’ for me, is of coarse England. We will have to watch it with French commentary, which does make me smile, Australia knocked out France and France dislike England! Now after admitting I was going to be sexist, I am now probably going to be racist. Wow, isn’t there some Russians here. They could be draft dodgers as far as I know, but there are many. Apparently Russians make up to a third of the total tourists here. Also if Putin is looking for a few Oligarch’s to help fund his war, then he might look here also. Huge gold rings and watches seems the way for Russians to show their wealth here and a yacht anchored in the bay! Although many menu’s and signs are in English, many are in Russian only. Of coarse it is sometimes forgotten that Vietnam is indeed a communist country, although in practice it surely has one of the most capitalist systems on the planet. Everyone, other than government workers are running their own businesses, from the beach hawker to the restauranteur and all in between. Every official sign or government office though, is usually bedecked with the Yellow Star or the Hammer and Sickle and there are many posters portraying the workers following the Nationalist dogma. I guess while the Brit’s look to Spain, the Aussie’s to Bali, the Russian’s flock to Vietnam for the sun and cheap beer! Thursday 17th August Nha Trang Well as pleased as I am with the fantastic result last night, I will leave my elation here, along with any Australian ‘grace’ in defeat you may find! Today is our last here and we have a late 3pm checkout, after Vietjet graciously put our 2.30pm flight back to Ho Chi Minh, to 6.30 pm. The hotel staff apologised for a 30% of the daily rate charge, but seriously, can we complain. Thirty percent of a very small tariff is a very small charge. Vietnam is a very cost effective country to tour or stay. Sometimes the check for a meal or the supermarket, are ridiculously low. An example of a shared starter, two meals and 3 beers are shown in the photographs. The 265,000 dong bill equates to $A17 or £8.70. The beers are 65c or 32p each. I have sometimes given a tip, which has equated to nearly 50% of the tab, without realising. I cannot imagine however, the average Vietnamese worker, living anything but a frugal life. What makes it even more difficult to not try to reward the waiter/waitress, is their friendliness and attentiveness. I don’t know (being a communist country), if there is any state help for citizens, however there always seems to be many people sitting around looking like they have nothing to do. The hawkers along the beach front, that yesterday tried to sell us anything from fake Rayban’s, watches, handbags and even lobsters, would find it difficult to make any kind of comfortable living, I would imagine. As I think I have mentioned before, the taxi driver after an hours ride only asks for $A20, the equivalent fare in Australia would be upwards of $100, yet the petrol price is similar. Nha Trang, I think it is fair to say, is cheaper to visit than HCM Ciity. If it was your first time to Vietnam, a place like this (basically a beach holiday) would be a lot more comfortable than the hustle and bustle of HCMC or Hanoi. Even crossing the road here holds little of the big city dread! We have visited temples and old religious sites (and walked to both), we have toured the Maritime Museum which basically was a large aquarium and have walked both the city centre and the promenades. The heat prevents much in the afternoon, unless it involves a swimming pool or the sea. The beaches are very clean and the restaurant scene is fantastic. I believe the bar and dance scene are amazing too, however I don’t know that for a fact! If you are a sun worshipper on holiday and want no bugs, frights or hastle, this could be your Vietnam destination. Never to be confused however with the mayhem, humidity and challenges of the larger cities. They are places to go when you want to feel the vibe, feel the sweat run down your back and jostle with locals in the markets.

A quirky uniform on Vietjet

The room

The view from the hotel

Outside the front of the Aupus Hotel

Across the bay.

Morning as it appears when laying in bed!

Nha Trang Beach

Reminder that Vietnam is still a communist country.

The bag!

Footpath obstructions

Moving the office to the pavement

Only way is to walk the road

Balancing act along the kerb!

Long Son Pagoda

Many steps

A shady spot along the way

Across the Cai River

Ponagar in the distance

Cai River

Ponagar

Ponagar Grounds

Ponagar Temple

Ponagar

Ponagar Temple grounds

A rest in the shade

Stopping along the way

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Thu, 10 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0700

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Wednesday 9th August The plane journey here was a swift 90 minutes, ensuring the aircrew had to work to get the meals and drinks to the seats and then ready for arrival. Why do airlines ticket the destination as Saigon and even locals refer to it as Saigon, yet Ho Chi Minh City is the formal name. When flying to Mumbai, Bombay is the title of choice, the same with Kolkatta and the preferred Calcutta. Maybe its us, the politically correct West that still know what the natives want! We booked our transport from the airport to our hotel with Booking.com and prepaid the $10 online. We tried this before in India and it turned into a disaster, after phonecalls to the taxi company cost more than the taxi costs. We gave it another try here and it worked a treat. Even after waiting, what seemed like hours in the arrivals hall for immigration, there was my name in the exact place the text message and accompanying photo, had told me to look. Here is a tip though. If you use the Booking.com prepay (always competitive, see Romeo to Rio.com to compare), there is no need to get local money at the airport (always a little risky on the exchange rate), the driver knows where you are going (no language barrier) and there is no hasle from local entrepreneurs (you want taxi sir, very cheap). After saying all of that, I would strongly advise not to book the return. Hotels always have taxis available, you can guarantee they will be there within minutes and it is always cheaper to the airport than from it. We had abad experience in India again where the taxi had to come to us through traffic jams, this doesn’t happen from the hotel! The journey to the hotel was a little like being escorted by a cavalcade of scooters, Honda 50’s accompanied with a chorus of horns. The driver didn’t bat an eyelid, the mantra seemed to be, watch the vehicles and the bikes will look after themselves. Anyway, we arrived safely, the check in was smooth and we were taken to our 7th floor room with accompanying terrace, with only a few dollars (dong) passing hands in tips. US dollars are taken widely here and are appreciated as tips as the exchange rate is high, over 23,000 dong per dollar (a beer can be purchased for around 10,000, locals probably pay less) The terrace would be useful tonight for drying our now newly washed aircraft attire. I hope in the humid night, they dry! Ho Chi Minh City Thursday 10th August Awoken by cockerel’s crowing in the middle of the city? Looking out of our window, we are surrounded by what we used to call ‘skyscrappers’. Do these peole keep chickens in their appartments? Maybe, as there is not just one cock a doodle do, there are many joining in the chorus from many a differnt direction, almost an alarm clock that awakens the city at around 5am. A venture on to the patio is greeted with a steamy 26c, a precursor of the days heat to come. As we are only here for two nights, before moving on to Nha Trang today, we will leave any in depth exploring until our return in 7 days time. The city seems to have grown to a supersize since our last visit around 5 years ago. What is more noticeable however, is there seems to be more pavements and more pedestrian crossings, dare I say, a little easier to cross the road. Or are we just used to it now? The city is all very walkable (if we dismiss the traffic problem for now), evrything that is a must see, is available on foot. When the day just becomes too hot, there are many parks and green spaces to sit and watch the world go by. Shade is easy to find here, thanks to the French and the tree lined avenues they left here, after they left Vietnam to their troubles and what became the Vietnam War. It is very difficult to walk the streets and see the sights and not include the reminders of ‘the war’. From statues of Ho Chi Minh (Uncle Ho), to old tanks and fighter jets rusting in the front of a few museums. Of coarse, any walk past the gates of the Independence Palace, will recall (to people of my age anyway) the famous photos of the Viet Cong tank breaking down the gates and the ensuing American withdrawel. The Saigon Opera House, Nortre Damn Cathedral (unfortunately under renovation) and City Hall however are places worth visiting in their own rights. I am also happy to report that buying a few cans of beer for drinking in the afternoon on the patio/terrace back at hotel, are still available for less than 1 Australian dollar each!

The photo, information for taxi pick up!

View from the terrace

Wedding photos at the Saigon Opera House

City Hall

Chairman Ho Chi Minh

Norte Damn Cathedral under renovation

Singapore, Singapore

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +0800

Back in the day, when travel from the UK to Australia was an adventure, the Singapore to Australia leg used to be the short one! It still is the ‘short one’, unfortunately as the years age us, it becomes another sojourn of endless hours! Looking at the Flight Path map on the television, no matter how I try and find a landmark, a town, a familiar word, there is nothing but a browny/green mess of ‘nothing’. It could be Queensland still, it could be the Northern Territory, but I know that Singapore is still some way off! Changi Airport was its normal efficient self, so many people but managing to look composed and untroubled. What is it that Changi has right, yet so many get so wrong? I can only imagine it is the people. They always seem firendly and content with life, I guess those attributes complement eachother and it permeates through to the sharp end.

No idea!

Changi, as resplendent as ever

Brisbane

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 03:00:00 +1000

London, LA or even Sydney may look as if they are International Airports at 6am, but Brisbane doesn’t even look as if it’s open! The bus from the car park was empty and the newspapers don’t arrive until 7am, I am told. On the plus side, there are no queues and we are sitting looking at our Singapore Airlines A350 within minutes of checking in. We have a 7 hour flight to Singapore ahead of us, a 90 minute layover at Changi and a further 2 hours to Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, as it is better known by the airlines and the locals alike!

Independence Palace