A day in Ho Chi Minh City...

We woke this morning, early (or 'normal' time for being back at home in Australia), and managed to do some editing and posting of photos. We even got an 'interesting' email from home, from 'M's' brother and his girlfriend... It went a little like this...

J to M - That's good!! The traffic looks crazy!! Glad ur safe! Me and J locked ourselves out already... Well we locked ourselves in the room between the screen door and the wooden door!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha LC is coming to save us haha and we are locked in with the cat!! I am scared of Cats!!!!!!! Haha all good though :) Hope ur having fun!

M to J - How did you lock yourself in??? What time were you locked in there??? D and L next door would have heard you yell!!!

J to M - Haha well I picked up a set of keys as I was leaving work and said to James are these the ones and shower him and he was like yeh. So I go out and I'm trying to open the screen door and I was like which key is it? So he came out to show me and the big door shut behind him. Then we realised that the keys we had weren't the ounces Bernie gave us. Not sure what they are haha so we were stuck! Haha so we called Luke! And he saved us. We were stuck for like 1 hour maybe.. All good :) safe to say we Won't make that mistake again!! Haha

All harmless and pretty good fun really, but the 'up side' to the story is that J has a mate who is a locksmith, who came and let them out and changed the screen door's lock so it is keyed the same as my front door!!! Thanks J&J!! So after this, we went down and got some breakfast, and a coffee, and then we thought we'd check out the hotel's mini golf! Yes, it has a green, and two cups to putt on!! Its also on the 7th floor!!! After we had a look, we then ventured to the tenth floor, for the pool and spa, and we were not disappointed at all! It looks out over the surrounding buildings, and if clear, would also be spectacular! A good swim/cool down was very refreshing...

So now, it was time to venture out of the hotel, all of the above was done by 9am, so it was still early enough to learn how to cross the road! this may seem strange, but in a city that has no (apparent) road rules, crossing a road could be problematic. So we got to the first road, and literally watched a couple of people cross, and remember the hint from home, cross and make it look like you know what you're doing!! We have now mastered this art, however, I do wonder why I am always placed in a position closest to oncoming traffic...

We soon arrived at the Ben Thanh Market, which is huge, but at one end, is the 'wet market' which was a little off putting...

We walked through the market, I got a small something for me, whilst M got some things as well... I also grabbed a cheap pair of sunglasses due to the glare about!! I was all but about to purchased a shirt, possibly more, but when the price got more expensive for multiples (even after an agreed price) everything went pear shaped and I simply walked away...

We soon started walking about, and the Melbourne Cup slipped into our heads, and luckily for us, and another Aussie couple we met at breakfast, we managed to find a bar to stand and watch the race (not to mention a FREE glass of Champagne as well! After the race, we crossed the road and had lunch, before starting to head back to the hotel. Along the way, we spotted a store that was selling a wide angled lens for my camera. I had been longing for one, and would have really loved an 8-16, but for the price, I could not let this 10-20mm lens go by... (I later in the evening went back and exchanged $6.683M for the said lens!)

The only other thing we did today, was visit the War Museum. I had not really followed or read much about the Vietnam War, but what we saw (aside from the preserved aircraft and tanks outside) was really quite oppressive in its nature. Some of the many images were even quite graphic, and if you'd like to see them, then click on any of the pics in this post (land at my flickr page, and then have a look for yourself)

So now, after dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, we are now back at the hotel. We had a quick swim (although closed 30 minutes prior to us arriving), and showered and in bed... Both J and M are asleep, whilst I am typing this post!!! Although, I shall not be far behind them, as tomorrow is promising to be as big as today!!

Hoo roo for now...

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