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Ho Chi Minh City is sizzling beneath the sun today. We started late, and lazy. Walking outside is a challenge. The footpaths double as obstacle courses – rough pavement, exposed tree roots and gravel. Those that aren’t posing as the next ninja warrior course are utilised as scooter parking lots, complete with guards and attendants. Crossing the road is an extreme sport, but we take to it like a duck to water. Slowly, calmly, in a straight line with your hand in the air so motorists further down the road can see you. Traffic flows around us like water around stones.
Embarked on a short walking tour while the heat was bearable. Past the Municipal Theatre, a beautiful building of French colonial style. Painted white and pastel colours. The French left pretty architecture and good bread. Bless. Government workers were busy setting up a stage in front of it, in preparation for Reunification Day celebrations, taking place in about a week’s time. Left on to Le Thanh Ton, avoiding another flood of scooters. Another example of French colonial architecture ahead – the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City. Across the road, there’s a long promenade flanked by trees. Tourists, both foreign and local, take turns standing next to the modest Ho Chi Minh statue. Classes of graduating students pose with their mortarboards and groups of girls in matching ao dais vogue it up for photographers.
Onward to Gia Long Palace, now home to the Ho Chi Minh City Museum. The museum is informative, if not a little confusingly arranged. We get lost in the corridors, admiring the original tiles and the ancient maps of the city limits throughout the decades. The museum is not without a collection of VRA propaganda, all in the familiar cartoon style. I can’t help but think the Gia Long Palace looks similar to the Reunification Palace, just smaller. Happy couples are having their wedding photos taken in the gardens, among the desert roses. Unsure how their make up stays in place – I’m sweltering in the tropical humidity and wearing my BB cream on my chest now.
Lunchtime, and I’m parched. Bring me the coldest Coke in the place. We seek out a sports bar, in the hopes of seeing our football team. Phatty’s Sports Bar & Grill is a short walk from the People’s Committee building, and full of expats watching just about every sport imaginable. Pretty sure there was even table tennis on one screen. It’s mostly Australians watching AFL and Americans watching NFL. There’s a lot of yelling and the bar staff look harassed. We manage to get a screen in a corner near the front window. Lunch and the game turns into a few beers as we relax into the afternoon. Lunch portions are huge. Air conditioning is heaven-sent.
In our true style, we celebrate our first proper day of holidays like two people ten years our junior – with copious amounts of beer. Husbando’s list of craft beer places in Vietnam is lengthy, and we set about knocking a few off. Most of the places we visit in District 1 are within walking distance of each other, but catching taxis is easy enough. Less hassle than Bangkok! Absolutely no shortage of places to drink in this city, and that’s before you count the bars that pop up on the footpaths once the sun has sunk below the horizon. Those not ensconced in air conditioned bars, or perched high above the skyline in rooftop establishments, are slouched comfortably in well worn stools roadside. Sipping lager, smoking and eating peanuts with dried chilli. It’s still incredibly hot and sticky, even after the sun goes down – the whole city feels like a giant steam basket. Home to bed before midnight, praising the inventor of ceiling fans and air conditioning.
Notes:
- Use Vinasun or MaiLinh taxis in Saigon. They used the meter every time and tried no stupid shit, like asking for ‘special fees’ or refusing our fare.
- Most taxi drivers can read Google maps so its handy to have your destination on your phone screen for them. Alternatively, use TripAdvisor’s local language function to display the address.
Enjoying reading my diary? There’s more Vietnam content here, or you can catch up on my Cambodian adventures too!
