Day25 and 26 (5 and 6.03) Ho CHi Minh City

After our long nap, it was into a taxi and into downtown HCMC for an afternoon/evening of looking around.

HCMC is a vibrant quickly expanding and modernizing – life and vitality vibrate everywhere.  It was massively different to Hanoi, which although hectic also, it seemed more laid-back than here.  Quite a number of sky-scrapers intermingled with old colonial french buildings makes for interesting contrasts, and for surprises around almost ever corner that we walked around….

The main Post office, City hall, boulevards, ….all wonderful to look and and wander through.

The Main Post office is a superb french colonial building, with the old telephone booths still visible and two old maps from way back on the walls – all under the watchful gaze of Ho Chi Minh

And, in the post office there was a public writer available (i am pretty sure it was the elderly gentleman) – from what I gathered, he could write your letters for you if you were unable yourself. Now that’s a  service……

The City Hall (Hotel du Ville)

Great locally brewed beer – a huge selection – certainly not the cheapest beer in town.

The view from the top of the Bitexco Financial tower (51st floor)

Night market / traffic

We also visited a couple fo sites documenting historical events

The street junction where the buddist monk THICH QUANG DUC set himself on fire in protest in the early 60s

And the War Remnants Museum, documenting some of the worst of mankind in Veitnam in the French and American wars in the 20th Centruy – there is not much of what is there that I am willing to post here – very depressing stuff….

We also brought our bikes into Saigon Cycles to get them cleaned and oiled and adjusted – they came back looking almost like new – amazing job, and all that for under 5€ a bike…..

Tomorrow its off in direction Mekong Delta and Cambodian Border