Learned my lesson from Mother Nature after my first couple of days in Ho Chi Minh City
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| Boring TV program? |
and that is to turn out of hotel and hit the streets early---invariably it seems that torrential down-pours commence at 3pm and last for 2-3 hours. Last night it was still raining hard at 8pm when I sallied forth to find some dinner. The mornings are definitely the best time to see the city and the skies darken hourly after mid-day.
Yesterday being Sunday, there was noticeably more family action and it was pleasant sauntering around the central Cathedral area crowded with locals and tourists alike. This quarter is an up-market area where many key government buildings are located and is dotted with prestige eateries like Starbucks and Haagen Dazs ice cream shops. Yes, even McDonalds has a comfortable &
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| He needs a dishwasher! |
dressed up unit on the square. Interesting to note how, in emerging markets, that everyday North American brand names are repositioned to be quite prestigious viz: a dressed hamburger and coffee might cost half days pay for an average worker in Vietnam. In the adjoining streets are both new & used book shops to browse.
On the subject of books, I have noticed that in the Vietnamese small hotels that I inhabit, they do not seem to offer a book exchange in their reception area which is the custom in many other places. Over the years I have benefited many times from these exchanges and been able to obtain great reads. Take one (book), leave one, works very well for the traveller who frequently has hours to kill in bus stations etc. I am guessing that in the new capitalistic spirit of this communist country, the discarded/lost/abandoned books of tourists are "hoovered" up by the hotel room cleaning staff and resold into the used book trade. In Vietnamese retail used book stores, decent items mostly end up being sold at very high prices for very shop worn material. Tomorrow
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| Even has an Uncle Ho look-alike beard..... |
I leave HCMC for the area known as the 'delta' where the Mekong river breaks in several large tributaries and empties into the ocean. I have to take a local bus for the 60kms travel distance to Can Tho, city of 1.4 million, at the centre of the region and from where I will investigate other river towns worth visiting. The HCMC West bus station for destinations in the delta is 14 kms from my central city location. I have made arrangements for a motor-cycle taxi driver to meet me outside my hotel at 7.00am
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