Middle-aged flash packers

 After a very comfortable and easy flight, we did the usual “how come passport control all over the world is so uniformly slow?” routine at HCMC airport. It’s the ultimate in a display of passive power over people who can’t do a damn thing about it. We were so long, most of the luggage from our flight had been taken off the conveyor belt and was left lying around in unruly piles on the floor.

We are staying at The Silverland May hotel, just off “Japanese Town”. (Basically a couple of alleyways with sushi and dessert restaurants and a few seedy girlie bars). The hotel is nice as are the staff. 

We decided to have a wander and see what the parks of HCMC had to offer. 

The roads are no easier to cross than they were last time we visited but they do have some pedestrian crossings which are ignored of course, but they help a little.

Air pollution is a massive issue. The number of motorcycles are unbelievable and now more cars have joined the fray. You can taste the fumes and my contact lenses were extremely uncomfortable. I can’t imagine what this does to people who are exposed to it everyday. 

The parks wouldn’t be up to much normally but due to the preparations for Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year ) they were livened up by flowers and trees specifically grown for the celebrations. Peach blossom and chrysanthemums seemed to be the most prevalent. They are considered to bring luck and prosperity and most families buy some sort of tree/flowers for their home. Farmers pitch tents and chairs  in the parks to sell their wares. Looks like a hard life for them.

We stopped off for a coffee on our way back in a very pleasant cafe with a studenty/bookish feel. The coffee really was very good.

Next stop – afternoon tea in the hotel. An unusual addition to the normal hotel offering. Free breakfast wasn’t in the Silverland package but afternoon tea is complimentary. And very delicious it is too. Looking forward to tomorrow already. It’s more savoury than a British tea but this makes it an excellent lunch substitute.

A quick nap then off to the pool after booking a massage package for tomorrow. 

It’s a hard life. 

Dinner was an upmarket version of typical Vietnamese food. It was an upmarket version in price too but at the equivalent of £33 for everything we’re not going to complain.

HCMC has definitely evolved as a tourist attraction, sporting many new bars and restaurants since our last visit. The number of tourists seems to have increased and the city is buzzing. Heartbreakingly though we saw a man digging through a bin bag of food waste that had been discarded by a restaurant and I spotted women with children that looked waif like- still plenty of poverty around.

And so to bed. We exceeded our target of staying awake until 9.30pm. Let’s see if we can  adjust to our new time zone.