South Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City Days 1 & 2

Yesterday morning was soooo long ago, I may have to cheat and look at my pictures to remember...

I woke up late, 10:30 or so.  Then I proceeded to have a bit of a mental freak out.  I could not figure out where my hotel was on the Lonely Planet pull out map (I hope you don't want that back in pristine condition Rachelle, cause that little map is trashed!).  I tried cross checking Booking.com's map against my paper map and google maps.  None of them seemed to have the same info in the same language.  Anyone who has ever travelled with me (or met me) knows I am not good with directions.  And every street here has a very long and complicated Vietnamese name which I will not remember enough to make a mental map.

I eventually convinced myself that I could not spend my first day in a crappy hotel room so I ventured out with the goal of finding food.  It was noon by this time. I had no idea where I was or where I was going.  But I managed to walk in a square AND found my hotel again (actually, I found the spa across the street but I will take it since I ended up back where I started).  This was a major accomplishment.  I was very proud of myself.

But I hadn't found food.  I started to think I was the only person in this country who couldn't find street food.  I knew it was around but it is surprisingly hard to actually determine what is a restaurant and what is something else.  And what might be on offer.  Eventually, I gave up and went for a coffee at a Starbucks knockoff.  I'm sure it cost me an extra buck but sometimes one just needs something familiar (or at least a knockoff of something familiar).

Here's the coffee shop later that day
when I discovered it was only a block from my hotel
Viva Star Coffee!

Instead of going back into my room when I finished my square, I headed towards town.  My little jaunt had oriented me enough to know which direction to head.  I walked and walked and got rerouted due to construction but eventually I found a landmark on my map and figured out I was near stuff.    I found the cathedral (I didn't go in) and the post office.

Cathedral

Post Office

I bought some stamps because the only thing I have bought so far was a couple of popup cards.  I needed stamps.  Then I found this cool little street that runs alongside of the post office.  It is all bookstores on one side and coffee shops on the other.  As I was wandering around there, it started to rain.  Of course I hadn't brought my umbrella or raincoat so there was nothing to do but duck into one of the coffee shops.  I had cold lemongrass tea and a pork patty thing, my first food in Vietnam.  It was delicious, sweet and salty and spicy and peppery without being to much of anyone flavour.

Bookstores

waiting out the rain with lemongrass iced tea

Then I started to walk back to the hotel.  I should mention the traffic.  There is a total disregard for pedestrians use of sidewalks here.  Sidewalks are for motorbike parking, vegetable stands, food stalls, construction, security guard sitting, general not walking.  immediately learned that I would have to walk in the road as part of the traffic.  There are motorbikes everywhere.  From what I can tell, they don't want to kill me.  The bikes are pretty good about going around people.  Sometimes you might find a nice wide, unobstructed sidewalk.  Do not be fooled.  This is just an excellent place for bikes to avoid traffic.  Or to go the wrong way on a one way street.  Or just have a nice wide path to ride on.  Whatever the reason, clear sidewalks are just another way to force pedestrians to walk in traffic.

Rules I have figured out.  Walk in the straightest line possible (not possible but I try).  Keep a steady pace so oncoming traffic can guess where you are going to be so they can swerve around.  Imagine that scene in City Slickers with motorcycles instead of cows.   And clump when crossing the street whenever possible.  Bikes can avoid groups more easily than a bunch of individuals.  So far so good.

Here are some obligatory traffic photos.

riding on the side'walk'.

At one point today, I tried to 'clump' with a woman also crossing in a huge traffic circle with no crosswalks or lights or predictability.  She just took my hand and led me across like a child.  I was very grateful. 

I managed to find my street Co Giang.  When I turned onto it, I discovered that it had completely transformed.  At 5pm, it had become covered in food stands.  I had just been looking at the wrong time of day when I left my hotel.  I chose a stall where I could see people eating Pho.  I asked for soup.  They laughed and waved at a table for me to sit down in one of the preschool sized seats.  They were kind and brought me some basic soup.  Noodles, broth, chicken and some sausage.  It was very good, of course.

my soup restaurant

my soup - $1

Just as my bowl arrived, so did the rat.  It scurried around the tables as I was eating. Either I was the only one who saw it or I was the only one who was paying it any attention.  I suspect the latter, I have seen a lot of rats in the last two days.  It was not too big.  Don't get me wrong, if it was in my house, I would say it was huge, but for a vietnamese street rat, it was moderate.

(I stopped there to eat and I guess I fell asleep - next morning now, not sure what time, the sun's not up but the roosters are)

Day 2:  I woke up earlier this time and made it out the door by 8am.  I wanted an early start to go to the botanical garden to try to do a bit of birding, 8am was still too late for proper birding but whatever.

I left the hotel and found that Co Giang street had transformed again.  This road is a different experience at each point in the day.  In the morning, it becomes a giant street market.  There were all of the food stalls from the night before and everyone selling everything.  There were stalls for meat, fish, rice, vegetables, fruit, household goods, clothes, lottery, electronics and probably more that I didn't see or recognize.  Here are some photos:

I was part of traffic at this point, there was NO sidewalk.

I ate some BBQ chicken on rice at a food stall.  I will spare you a photo of every meal I eat.  Then I headed back toward town.  It was rush hour so the streets were crazy.  The botanical gardens are farther away than where I had made it the day before so I had planned to take a taxi but I could not find one or flag one down in the mayhem.  At about half way, I saw that taxis were stopping in front of a fancy hotel so I stood there until one stopped.  I was hoping to save the walking time to salvage a bit of birding before it got too hot.

I jumped in and told him botanical garden.  Nope.  I showed him the map.  Nope.  I pointed forward then turn right.  Nope.  He took the map and studied it for a minute or two and then seemed to have an epiphany.  Yes!  We were off.  But he didn't turn.  And didn't turn.  I was starting to make noises that he needed to turn.  Then we crossed the river.  I had been willing to believe up to that point that maybe he was skirting busy streets or one ways but now I knew for sure we were not going to the right place.

On the bridge I said we were going the wrong way.  In his very limited English he managed to mansplain to me that I didn't know and he was the professional.  We arrived at City Garden.  Nope.  I was not getting out of the car.  He asked the guards and then all tittered away until they agreed that this was not where I wanted to be.

Back over the bridge until he managed to drop me at the gate for the botanical garden.  Where he tried to charge me the amount on the meter.  Nope.  Here is 20K.  Thanks.  So much for saving the walking time.

Lonely Planet says there is a zoo in the botanical gardens.  Actually, the botanical gardens are the zoo.  I don't particularly like zoos, they make me sad for the animals.  But here I was, in a zoo.  I didn't take any photos of the big animals but there are a couple of forlorn lizards.

Orchid garden

Orchids

Sad lizard

Another sad lizard

School kids watching the elephant show

some of the monkeys had escaped so that made me happy.
They still hung around their caged brethren.  Maybe they could get back in?

The rats in the garden/zoo were brazen.  They own the place.

Javan Pond Heron

I found an island near the middle with two gibbons living basically free.  One black, one golden.  They were hard to see as they played near the top.  then this little old lady wandered by and called out to them.  First the black one arrived and she threw it a juice box.  then the golden one arrived, baby clutching to her tummy.  Another juice box, straw already inserted.  They liked their juice.  At least the baby didn't get any.

Wild and free and a juice junkie

baby

Here is an update on the three monkeys who see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil.  I call this the four civic workers monkeys.  the fourth one is just covering his balls.

I wanted to go to the history museum that is on the garden grounds but it was closed for lunch so I ventured out to eat.  I tried my first touristy place.  There were no actual tourists, at least not western tourists, but it had a tripadvisor sign on it.  And an English menu with pictures.  It turns out if you want to eat on a proper table without rats (at least visible rats) you pay more.  I had to jump up to $2.50!. I ordered pork and lettuce rolls.  Since I had spent so much, I took half home.  Which I carried around in the blazing heat all day and then ate for dinner last night.  The Vietnam version of the questionable sandwich tour!

Then a pop over to the Jade Pagoda.  I was basically doing whatever was featured in Lonely Planet.  Two days in a major city is not enough time to get inventive.  The Jade Pagoda has no signs.  I think they found themselves in Lonely Planet and gave didn't care.  Tourists are like ghosts.  They know we're there but they don't look at us or acknowledge us.  No signage, no English, no entrance fee.  Just keep quiet.  I did drop some money in one of the donation boxes.  I don't know which god I honoured but I figured any of them would end up in the same coffer.

Pagoda cat

Then I headed back to the gardens to see the history museum. It is in an old French colonial house which is a museum display unto itself.

garden pond in the courtyard

Then over to the temple across the way.  They are directly opposite but a lady helped me 'find' it.  That ended up costing me a couple of bucks for postcards for the 'help'.  She was very sweet so I didn't mind too much.

An impromptu game of soccer with a water bottle out front

Entrance

Ceiling

It was only 4pm so I still had time to fit in one more LP feature.  the War Remnants museum.  Lots of captured or abandones American equipment.  I was pretty tired by this time so I just looked at the distressing photos but I didn't read much.  There was the constant sound of falling bombs being piped all over the grounds.  That was disconcerting but i suppose that's the point.

Then I walked home again.  I hadn't worn my fitbit the first day but I wore it on day 2.  Did you know it rolls back to zero when you hit 20000 steps.  And then when you hit 30000 steps it gives the same celebration as when you fit 10000.  I felt a bit ripped off.  I wanted more.  

I was pretty sore when I got back to my room but my feet are surprisingly good.  I love my new orthotics.  I did take a preemptive tylenol when I got home though, just in case.

The sun is up now, I found my watch.  It is time to get up and moving.  I am heading to My Tho in the Mekong Delta today.  Now I just have to find the bus station and figure out the bus schedule.  That should be easy...