The Saigon saga

After a very long and "exciting" train ride from Danang, described in the previous post, we finally got to Saigon at around 3pm and since the train station is situated quite far from all the main tourist areas of Saigon, we needed to get a taxi. 

Not sure if it was the way we looked, but the taxi drivers mostly ignored us al together and weren't very excited to take us in as passengers. Another "first time in my life" experience, where taxi drivers prefer to ignore you rather than to earn some money. Finally, we got a taxi that was standing at the end of the waiting line and 20 minutes later got to the part of town where most hotels were situated on a few narrow streets.

First we tried the hotel that we found in LP. There we were shown the rooms without windows for 18$ that we politely refused. After 3-4 attempts, we found a hotel on the same street that had a window and an unlimited hot water in the room (our two absolute musts), and the fact that we had to leave our shoes in the hotel lobby and walk barefoot didn't bother us that much after the whole train thing.

After settling and taking a very needed shower, we decided to get something to eat as we didn't eat all day and also to explore Saigon at night. The tourist part of the old town wasn't much different from other cities we visited in Vietnam but still a very charming one.

Right in the middle of our walk, Dima suddenly got sick. We suspected the food we had a night before in Hoi An because his symptoms looked a lot like a food poisoning. Even the very smell of street food was making him sick to the stomach. 

We got him back to the hotel to rest and decided to walk around a bit with just the three of us. Also we had to find some European food for Dima, as he actually decided to stop eating Vietnamese food all together and decided to eat only chicken meals from now on. :-)) Because it was late already we only managed to find some Oreos, cheddar cheese and some French bread.

With Dima feeling so badly and staying at the hotel, we decided to cut the evening short and get some rest, hoping that he will feel better the next day and we will explore Saigon together.

 

The next day we started our Saigon tour by walking to the main square.

First order of business was to stop by at the market to buy new flip flops for Dima, because we managed to forget his good Teva sport shoes on the train... 

The choice was huge, as at any Asian market, and we hoped to find a pair in no time. However, it wasn't as easy as we expected because the Vietnamese shoe sizes only go to 43 and we needed a European 44, which is 47-48 in Vietnam (as it turned out later). 

So, after hearing for the 10th time that their 43 is as good as European 44 (not!!) we just walked around and stared at strange vegetables, fruits and herbs...

 ... all kind of fish at the fish stalls...

... including some gorgeously colorful crabs.

To keep the fish fresh,

locals use huge blocks of ice and seeing them carry one of those things is quite interesting.

 Here, pretty much anything is being bought and sold.

After walking down a few streets...

 ... we decided it was time for some nice cold beer, as it was getting hotter by the minute and so far it was the hottest day of our trip.

They got us some coffee instead. We made an attempt to point it out to the waiter,

but the nobody really cared and we were too lazy to complain properly. Besides, coffee here is fantastic, which is not something that can be said about beer :-))

In Saigon, most of the places of interest are located quite far from each other, so not to lose any time, we started walking the streets again. On the way, we met some locals...

... got amazed again by the number of motorbikes...

 ... looked at the government palace from behind the fence (at 10$ for an entry ticket pp we decided it wasn't worth a visit)...

 ... saw some Vietnamese school kids standing in line to get their lunch...

 ... while the other ones were playing some card game outside (reminded me very much of my own school days)...

 ... saw the Notre Dam de Saigon...

 ... noticed lots of newlyweds making wedding photos with the cathedral in the background...

 ... visited the "must see" post office...

 ... and tried to figure out what else we need to see while in Saigon.

I read about the Jade Emperor Pagoda as one of the most beautiful ones in Saigon and we decided to walk their instead of taking a cab or a tuk-tuk. It turned out to be not a very good idea as the pagoda was quite far from the center and eventually we ended up on the wrong side of the highway and had to cross it just in the middle because there were no traffic lights in sight.

The pagoda was nice, but unexpectedly pink, which was a bit strange, since I always thought that jade is mostly green. May be I was wrong...

Although the statues of dogs in front of it where properly green :-))

Since the pagoda was quite far from our hotel street we decided to get a cab back. We knew that we shouldn't agree to a certain cab fair and that it was recommended to ask to switch on the meter. So, it was exactly what we did and got scammed again. The taxi driver switched on the meter that started going like crazy and after 10 minutes we told him to stop, paid and decided to walk the rest. Luckily for us he was just driving through a very nice neighborhood and we liked the walk.

The Christmas trees and New Year decorations on the streets of Saigon and in Vietnam in general look very funny and weird at the same time, almost misplaced.

Later in the afternoon, just before it got dark, we went to the river...

... and wanted to watch the sunset from the top of one of the skyscrapers.

After hearing the price of 20$ pp, we decided to wait until Kuala Lumpur, at least it would be more interesting and exciting sunset to watch.

At night Saigon sparkled with lights and Christmas decoration and was completely ready for the turn of the year.

Both outside and inside the decorations were over the top and a lot of local people were taking pictures. We even thought that some of them came to the city especially to see the Christmas lights.

The holiday sale started as well and not only in the shops. Many shopping malls set the outside stalls with boxes of products and people driving along stopped by to get some discounted offers. Something I've seen for the first time as well.

We finished the evening in a nice restaurant recommended by our hotel owner.

After his misfortune with Vietnamese food in Hoi An, Dima was keen on ordering only familiar European food, so he chose chicken feet! Lucky for him we could stop him before he ordered because in Vietnam chicken feet are actual chicken feet, not the upper part but the feet with toes. I can only imagine what his reaction would have been if he would got what he initially wanted to order. He would probably bought a ticket back to Amsterdam the next day.  :-))

On the way back to the hotel we saw lots of people in the park alley in the middle of the large street. Some of them where doing fitness on free fitness equipment installed in the park, some were doing aerobics and playing sports. And some were dancing, like in the good old Soviet days when there was nothing else to do and people would gather on the dancing floor in the park and dance to a waltz and tango.

On the way back to the hotel we saw some night buses prepped ready for departure and we couldn't stop ourselves from having a look.

It looked liked a really comfy one, being new and clean. Too bad the trains were not as good ))

The next day we were planning to take the 8am bus (not a sleeper, just a normal one) to Mekong Delta's main town called Can Tho. There, we would stay for one night and to visit the floating market in the morning.