SE Asia Day 11 (Ho Chi Minh City)
Still on the mend a bit, but feeling much better and rehydrated. Had to check out of the hotel at noon which meant killing nine hours before getting to the airport.
Decided to be total westerners, and grabbed a cab to Vincom Centre, the largest, green shopping mall and residential skyscraper in Saigon, if I recall correctly. Lots of high end shops with high end prices. Wanted shoes, but anything larger than size 10 had folks perplexed. Size 13? They don’t think it exists.
It was very rainy, and the temps were the coolest we’ve seen through the whole trip. Minus the humidity, it was almost like a Portland day.
After a couple hours of shopping with no results, we decided to round out our tour of countries with a massage in Vietnam. We took a cab back to the hotel, as they were holding our bags, and freshened up. We asked for a recommendation for massage, and the desk clerk told us her favorite place. She gave them a ring to come pick us up which led to Kim and I getting our first taste of scootering in the crazy mess of the De Tham area, possibly the most fun we’ve had in this city.
The massage was “discounted” by 40% which means $12 US for a ninety minute massage that included hot stones, a cucumber facial, Thai massage, very short skirts and some…these ladies weren’t shy. Ask me or Kim for details.
After massages, it was back to the Ben Thanh street market for a last minute grab at some street food. Dishes really don’t have names; menu items are little more than a list of the main ingredients and how they’re prepared (squid in fried rice, pork stewed in clay pot). It’s all pretty good, though the SE Asian version of pork pâté is a little sketchy looking.
Strolled through the market with the idea of buying fake Rolexes as gifts, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. Buying counterfeit junk, even in jest, seemed wrong.
Back to the hotel. Zoomed to the airport, checked in, breezed through immigration and security, and was in the air at 11:56PM.
Twenty-six hours of travel await.
