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The view from my room's window.
Check out the 1.5m wide building in the centre |
This tour was supposed to start in the late afternoon, which would have given us a chance to settle into our hotel and rest, but because several members of the tour wanted to also do the walking street food tour so the cyclo tour was brought forward to allow them to do both.
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| My cyclo guy |
The cyclo tour was interesting. You're definitely right in the thick of the mad Saigon traffic and seeing the city from a very human perspective. My rider/driver/operator was a lovely old man who looked 100 and made of beef jerky; wirey little guy. Being "in the traffic" is not for the faint-hearted, but as usual in such circumstances, it all seems to work out even though there's no rhyme or reason to the traffic's behaviour. I took lots of photos of things that I saw in passing. I post a selection here, largely without comment.
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| More tree pics. I really can't get over them in these narrow streets |
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| Street scenes of Saigon from a cyclo |
We had two stops: the flower market, which was very quiet, mostly because of the time of the day, I think; and the "Hong Kong market" (so said my driver/rider) which Tham had previously called "Chinatown".
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| The quiet flower market |
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| Flowers in the flower market |
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These ones are fake, I'm pretty sure
(There were fake flowers as well as fresh flowers. I think these were some of the fake ones.) |
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Saigon's telecommunications
infrastructure | Cyclos in traffic | A big brewery (333, I think) |
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| A motorcycle (parts) market. You can buy a motorcycle here; some assembly required. |
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| The "Hong Kong" markets building | Interior courtyard of the markets |
| (Photographing the actual market stalls was too challenging.) |
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| Couriers dragging their goods along in the traffic (ironically, bicycle/scooter helmets!) |
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| On the Saigon River |
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| The Hotel Majestic, living up to its name |
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| One of many tributary statues in roundabouts in Saigon | Stark Tower? |
The cyclo tour was interesting but, as Gwyn said afterwards was probably 90 minutes too long (given it was over three hours of being ridden/driven around). The gang had drinks in a bar two doors from the hotel and then I went up to bed. I had intended to do blog entries but just didn't have the strength of will. That's why these last few entries are all in the same day. (I've made notes, so I don't have to remember everything again.)
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