Friday, Feb. 13

We got to the airport, checked in, waited for security.  It was very busy.  Then we had to go through immigration.  Then we went looking for breakie.  

Breakfast was $350 each or $9 each.

Up, up, and away!  We flew to HCMC (Saigon) and landed about 12:30.  A one hr flight on Vietnam Airlines and a meal....

Warm bun, cold cuts, cucumber, lettuce with potato and apple salad.  Fresh fruit for dessert.

  We had to wait almost an hour to get our visa.  Place was crazy... A tour group of 60 was ahead of us....  At least we didn't have to wait for our luggage LOL. We walked out of the baggage area and a guy was there holding a sign with my name spelled right.  We had a private car and headed to the hotel which was about 30 minutes from the airport.  We checked in and went to our room.  The room is basic- two chairs and a small table, queen bed, decent bathroom (tub and shower).  It is in a great location.... Five min from the night market.

We decided to go for a drink...but we found a hair salon/massage place instead.  Bruce had a  90 min Vietnamese massage, I had a 30 min foot massage, hair cut, and manicure..... Total bill around $30.

I must give details about the hair cut.  She asked me if I wanted it washed- I said not necessary.  So she cut it dry... A little ouch you seeing she used the thinning shears.  Then when she was finished she took pics with her iPad of the back and sides because no mirrors in this salon.  In fact just a normal chair by the till.  No disinfecting stuff for the combs and scissors either.  The shampoo was Pantene from the drugstore... Too funny.

The exchange rate is almost $17 000 dong to 1 Canadian dollar.

Yep, I took eight million out of the AT...which is a little over $400.  Crazy!

We had time to come home and change shoes as I had booked XO tour at 5:55.  This is a city tour/food tour.  The cool part is you ride on a motorcycle and the drivers are all women who wear the traditional dress.  It was a blast!  The others in our group were three men from Perth.  We learned a lot about Saigon and had some great food. The average person here makes $200 American a month.  They took photos along the way and they will be available in a week.

Broken noodle and pork with mint/cilantro 

Pork chops on rice with carrots and cucumbers and a sweet sauce

We went for a walk and found a very nice hotel with a lounge and a girl singing.  We had a drink- piña mojito  for me and a mint margarita for Bruce.  On the way home we passed a park filled with flower stalls.  Part of TET is that everyone  has gold flowers at their door, it is supposed to help gold (money) flow into your house.