The Adventures of Denise and Ruth in HCMC

Today we had no guided tours and decided to set forth and explore Ho Chi Minh City by ourselves. This is not as easy as it sounds - as just crossing the road around here is a major undertaking.  The traffic ignores red lights, and you just have to stroll out into the middle of the unending stream of motorbikes and trust that they'll go around you - which they do - but it's still a bit of a hair-raising experience.  Denise found it particularly stressful.

The view from the window of the Eon Heli Bar

Our eventual destination was the Bitexco Tower - the tallest building in HCMC.  You can pay to go up to the viewing platform (it's 300,0000 Dongs) or you can go to the Eon Heli Bar on the 52nd floor (which is actually higher than the viewing platform) and buy a cocktail for about 260000 Dongs and get the view for free.  No prizes for guessing which option we chose. 






We took a taxi back to the hotel after our liquid lunch, as the day was hot and the road crossing experiences had taken a lot out of us.  We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool, and the evening repacking our bags, as we're leaving for the ship tomorrow.  


HCMC has been a unique experience, but it is still a big city with all the mod cons.  As we sail down the Mekong we'll be heading into the more rural areas, and it will be interesting to see what we'll find there.