Local

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After a slightly restless night at the airport, having arrived around 1.30am to a quiet departure lounge, by 5am it was manic with people checking in. We left the airport and found the bus we needed right outside the door. We got on and had to pay for ourselves and our bags.

We showed the conductor where we needed to get off and off we set. It seemed like we had only been on the bus a few minutes when the conductor told us this was our stop. It didn't feel right but everything is done in a rush in Vietnam and before we had a chance to check, the conductor had taken our bags off and put them on the side of the road. So off we got. Having checked where we were, we think the conductor had read the wrong message on the screen relating to our next bus -104. The bus had dropped us off at the 104 bus stop. We jumped on the next 104 that showed up. Again we showed the conductor where we were heading and she immediately told the driver to stop and pointed to the other side of the street. We had been heading in the wrong direction!

Having negotiated crossing a very busy dual carriageway we eventually got on the right bus going in the right direction. When we got off at our stop it was about 5.50am and the road was already packed with motorcycles. We walked through many small crowded streets and eventually spotted our next accomodation. The security guard let us in and used his lift card to get us to the right floor. We had arrived on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh!


We ate a fancy breakfast before catching up on missed sleep. We ate fish for lunch and next had a guided tour or the local markets by our host. The markets were fascinating. You could buy anything there! We were shown the best place for bread, for hot pot meals and vegetarian food. One place that was great to see was the tofu shop where they made fresh tofu everyday. We bought some for dinner.

An egg seller caught our attention too. There seemed to be around 10 varieties of egg. Some were covered in what looked like black soil. These eggs apparently cook themselves in the soil and are ready to eat without boiling.


The evening was filled with a special treat. Our host is a member of a dance group and she had asked all of the members to visit the park beneath where we are staying. They all wore their dance troop colours and put on a show for us! We even joined in - to our best ability. When bed time arrived we were ready to sleep in a real bed as it is a 5am start tomorrow! 

Room with a view!


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