This morning we made our way to Ho Chi Minh city from Chau Doc. Our visit to Chau Doc was short but very pleasant. I ate Pho for breakfast this morning. I had ordered bread as a back up but u didn't really need it as the Pho was very tasty. I ate the bread anyway as it was super delicious. A crispy baguette with a soft and fluffy centre = perfect! I miss bread a little bit but there is more and more appearing as we move along. I could also go a bit of Smid right now too! The trip took around 8 hours so I'm sure you can imagine I'm a little weary with all the travel and early starts. The trips seem to go quickly though as we have lots of interesting conversations in the bus. The trip was varely uneventful beside a ferry ride across the Mekong with the cutest little boy who just wanted to play with me. We stopped for a nice lunch but I couldn't enjoy it much as I was feeling pretty sick. I was really faint, feeling very cold and shivering in 40 degree heat. A little bit of food , some water and a bit of quiet time seemed to fix me after a while though. I had a Vietnamese vegetable pancake the you wrap with different kinds of edible leaves. Very very different to a Japanese pancake. These ones are very thin and yellow and then stuffed with beanshoots.
Ho Chi Minh seems like a very nice city from what I've seen. I haven't seen the riverfront yet though. We went for a bit of a walk (turned out to be a very long walk in the rain) and saw the market, post office, Notre Dame cathedral, Hotel Rex and the opera house. The city has lots and lots of trees, which surprised me, and reminds me of a less ordered and clean version of Singapore. We had a few free hours so we all had ice coffee which is a bit of a speciality over here. It's basically a shot of espresso and a shot of sweetened condensed milk over a glass full of ice. Yummo!! Afterwards Hearher and I went and had the most incredible foot massage. I'll definitely be going back tomorrow. We had a nice dinner except that I found two small pieces of wood in mine at the end. I hope I didn't swallow any! I've just arrived back from a drink at a bar down town. The others stayed but I piked and opted for a shower instead!
Tomorrow we have a free day so I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'll have to do a little research. We end our Cambodia part of our tour tomorrow and say goodbye to some people and welcome 6 new people to our group for Vietnam. It will be interesting to see who joins us!
