Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Vietnam 2010
Off to market
I again woke up around 0730 and we repeated the previous day's practice of having breakfast in the Executive Lounge, which again was very busy. Setting out under the merciless heat of the sun, we walked the short distance to Ben Thanh market through some busy streets that had more of a local neighbourhood feel, despite being very much in downtown Saigon. The market, as expected, was quite an assault on all the senses and I managed to get some reasonably good photos of the various types of produce. When we were done, we sought refuge from the intense heat in an air-conditioned mall and had a relaxing iced coffee, before returning to the hotel to spend an hour recovering from the morning's brief foray.
Duly
recovered, we set out once more and made the short walk to the
nearby Legend Hotel for a dim sum lunch at their in-house branch of
Crystal Jade, the Singapore-based chain that had served us so well
on recent visits to Shanghai and Beijing. The food was delicious, as
ever. We then walked up to the central area for a closer look at a
number of buildings that we had hitherto caught sight of, but which
now warranted closer inspection. First came the General Post Office,
still very much a working building (complete with a counter for the
US Postal Service!) and the nearby Notre Dame Cathedral which, while
externally impressive, had a disappointing and uninspired interior.
Next we walked round to City Hall for a quick look, then repaired to the Rooftop Garden bar of the adjacent Rex Hotel, home of what became known as the Five O'Clock Follies - the daily US military press briefings that were ridiculed for their rose-coloured view of the war. We had an open-air cocktail complete with view of the opera house, just like the previous day. There had been some ominous rumblings and a darkening sky, so it was no great surprise when a heavy tropical shower started, forcing us to move to a more sheltered table. The temperature dropped several degrees in a few minutes.
Back at the hotel, we once again partook of Happy Hour in the Executive Lounge before heading out for dinner at the Hyatt Hotel's Square One restaurant. While the setting was impressive and the food excellent, we felt we were let down a little by the service, which was rather slipshod for these surroundings. Overall, though, it was a most enjoyable final evening in Saigon.