Saigon is the second largest city we’ve visited so far, behind only Bangkok. It seems we prefer somewhat smaller cities, perhaps from having spent so much time in Saint Paul. At any rate, it took some getting used to, but we were reasonably successful.
I’ve already talked about the motorcycles. Traffic, in general, is intense. We are gradually getting the hang of crossing busy streets. It does take an active leap of faith, but it does seem that the drivers really don’t want to kill us. We’re hoping that by the time we reach Hanoi, we’ll be old hands at it.
We did take a Hop-on Hop-off Tour after the war remnants museum. We saw a vibrant and active cosmopolitan city, on the move with no thoughts of slowing down.
We’d heard about the Telephone Bar from some Australians on one of our tours. Turns out it was only a block and a half from our hotel. You entered an old-fashioned British phone booth. Picked up the phone, and a secret door slid open for you to enter.
They didn’t have a menu, claiming they would serve any classic cocktail, or invent one for you based on your tastes. Just the thing after the Cu Chi Tunnels.
Postcard
The people, Vietnamese here have been very friendly and welcoming. They all try very hard to speak English and some do very well. many have relatives in California, which tells you something about who left and who stayed. We didn’t find a huge desire for those here to do more then visit the US at some point. Their is a lot of Country pride! Or maybe I’m just so low on country pride I am envious.
