Day 237 - Crusing down the shoreline to Saigon

We woke to the blue, cloudless sky and calm water and an echo saying "stay, relax, don't go" and we wished we hadn't already purchased our onward tickets to Saigon - but before we could be tempted to stay our bus arrived and whisked us down the coast to the largest metropolis in Vietnam.

After 6 hours or so we arrived in Saigon - now officially named Ho Chi Minh City, but still called Saigon by most people. The Lonely Planet had prepared us to enter a chaotic mess of traffic and people, but we almost instantly felt relaxed and started enjoying being here - not even the 3 million motorbikes got in our way: we guess we have our 8 months in China to thank for that!

We found a room relatively quickly, thank goodness because it is blimmin hot here, and after finding some nourishment we went out for an adlibed exploration of our surroundings, turning this way and that without any reason for the directionn and accidentally stumbling across a bus stop we would need in a couple of days: bonus!

We finally sampled an ice cold sugar cane drink from a street vendor, and while it lived up to its refreshing reputation it didn't totally suit our tastes - but we enjoyed watching her crush the water soaked canes through the squashing machine.
We headed up a tight alleyway that led from one traffic-laden street to another, walking past the houses of the locals who work in the area and smelling the smells drifting from the kitchens.
In the evening the smells from our walk were still fresh in our minds so we wandered off to find some food to match the smells and returned satisfied, before crashing out!!

Adlibing it up in the city.