But how else do you get to experience the traffic? Sure, you could pick a curbside seat in a cafe like I did my first night and watch it with a beer in hand rather than cross it. Or you could choose to get out and about in the morning peak hour. This is the time footpaths which, for much of the day are moto parks, become secondary roads with the speed to match. You haven't lived until you play unavoidable chicken with a mob of oncoming Honda Dreams. So yes, I have mixed feeling about HCMC! Its doesn't help the traffic situation that some of the main thouroughfares in District 1 are building sites for the underground railway that will be finished in around a decade.
But there is still plenty to like. The 30c bus ride from the airport for one - cop that Skybus. Not staying in Pham Ngu Lau and instead being within spitting distance of the Rex Hotel. Seriously, backpacker central is even more sleazy and run down than I remember. I'm sure it gives the Khao San Road a run for its money! The Fine Arts Museum is pretty good. Likewise heading down to Cholon in District 5 and checking out the Ben Tre market and the Chinese temples in the surrounding streets. That was bus no. 1 - once you get a map the HCMC bus system is pretty good (and cheap).
But I do exasperate the moto taxi drivers with my constant refusals of thier services. I really do prefer walking and looking with no particular destination in mind. You do end up bathing in your own sweat but that's Asia! I find Vietnam's architecture facinating. From fading colonial buildings to modernist concrete apartment blocks you just have to look up and around corners and down alleyways. And the emerging cafe scene is also fabulous in its aesthetics. They've embraced industrial chic with old sewing machine tables to rest your coffee on and decorated with old typewriters, radios, window grills and doors. And they're usually upstairs in apartment blocks taking you down alleys and up anonymous stairs until you reach them. There were two such cafes in the same alley as my hotel.
And even though I didn't do a street food tour (ran out of money!) I did eat well. On my first night I had Japanese! There was a sushi joint, a proper, not out of place in Tokyo sushi joint in you guessed it, the same alley as my hotel. I blissed out on tempura don and miso. Is there a more comforting combination than miso and rice? (Probably. But its a happy place for me!) I ate many banh mi and tried bo bittet - minute steak and egg served sizzling with pate and meatball for good measure and a roll to mop up the juices. Pretty satisfying and only $3.50.
I drank lots of black coffee on ice served from the back of a bike. I also ate a few times at L'Usine, a hip shop come cafe which is straight out of Fitzroy - actually Fitzroy wishes it could be this good. Is the sort of upmarket cafe that is popping up all over Asia - evolving from the cheap noodle dishes for Western palates and beer joints to a haven for flashpackers (and expats) wanting a slice of home. And in my case wine - 2 for 1 on Vermtino before 8pm. Sweet!
Apologies if this post is a bit disjointed. But that how the last days of my trips always seem to roll. Also I'm finishing this post at klia2 enroute home and I've been feeling unwell all day (most unusual for me) - so make of it what you will. Overall I enjoyed Vietnam the second time - if only to cross more food off my to try list! And its so variable - you can get the backpacker vibe in Hue or go totally upmarket in HCMC. It certainly makes things interesting. So, signing off until the next adventure which who knows, might not be Asia! H
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