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Day 14 Ho Chi Minh city.
For those people who have noticed these blogs getting longer and are worried that 'I need to get out more', then dont worry! Dining is an early activity here and most nights we are back at our hotels before 8.30 and tucked up in bed by 10.30pm. (Today's blog is especially long)
Before I tell you of today's activities, I feel I should relate last nights dining experiences, which went from the sublime to the ridiculous. Or more precisely sublime to the sublime then to the ridiculous.
We had decided to have a pre-dinner cocktail, during happy hour at the Bitexco tower (a 70 storey building that can be seen silhouetted in yesterdays blog picture). There is a 'Skyport viewing deck' on the 49th floor with an entrance fee of $10 per person, but, as you are probably not surprised to hear, I had done my research on the internet in advance. I had found out that by accessing the shopping plaza one could visit an equally swish bar, 3 storeys higher on the 52nd floor with equally if not better views. I had found out that happy hour started at 5.45 pm so with sunset due at 6.30 pm our destination was fixed.
Our operation was put into effect! A gentle stroll along Le Loi street, a wide avenue straddled by brightly coloured lights making the road resemble Blackpool prom, cut through a sidestreet and into the shopping plaza. Phase 1 of the mission was complete!
Phase 2 of the operation involved going up an escalator, down a small flight of steps and along a corridor to the express lift (and it really was express!). Phase 2 complete!
Then we entered the lift and we were hoisted up 50 floors in a matter of seconds...and there we were greeted by a hostess framed by the most glorious golden sunset, ready to show us to our table...Mission completed...or was it?
The Bitexco tower is a circular tower and as we followed our hostess round the tower to our table, the golden sunset disappeared over our shoulders, we arrived at our table in the shadow and 180 degrees opposite of the sunset! Never mind we did have compensations, as we soon discovered, as when darkness fell we we entertained by an array of dancing rainbow colours lighting up the surrounding buildings on our side.
I had a Long Island iced tea while Julie pushed the boat out and had a 'seven- up'. On enquiring about 'Happy hour' we we informed it had finished...more of a 'Happy Minute' than a 'Happy Hour' then! Still the view made up for it all so, all in all a sublime experience.
After our drinks we retraced our steps, and made our way to our dinner venue, Nha Hang Ngon, an old French villa with a courtyard including fountain around which a number of streetfood venders offered food that could be chosen from one menu. Fabulous ambience downstairs but, true to the evenings theme, we were shown to our table...upstairs, where the ambience was only a shade of that downstairs! Never mind, we were sat next to a window at the end of an alley that funnelled a cooling breeze towards us. So all in all, still a sublime experience.
I ordered Banh mi bo ne, which turned out to be steak, egg and chips with a bread roll whilst Julie ordered stone cold steam rice with gristly bits of chicken (I dont know the vietnamese for that!) Ridiculous!!l
So enough of last night and onto today's main event, a boat trip on the Mekong delta. As it turned out the day proved to be the best day to date, for its own differing reasons.
We were picked up at 8 am and, after a visit to a Taoist temple in Chinatown and a quick tour around Chinatown itself, we were soon on our way to our pick up point for our private sampan cruise around the tributaries of the Mekong delta.
First we had a stop off to view a small church/temple of a very small Chinese religious sect called 'Cao Dai'. This sect has priests that dress like monks, who worship the founder NGO van Chieu. Nothing remarkable in that you might say but he is the Chief god who heads a number of gods who include Buddha, Mohammed, Jesus Christ and...Victor Hugo the French author and philosopher. I believe J K Rowling is awaiting her promotion to goddess.
Moving on to the pier for our boat ride, whilst we were expecting a private boat, we were not prepared for what awaited us. A sampan was moored, finished to the standard of the royal yacht, with two crew. The crew to customer ratio was therefore 1:1 - better than P&O!
On the deck there were two rattan sunloungers with soft cushions and a bowl of exotique fruit. No sooner had we settled onto our loungers when we were provided cool flannels to freshen up, iced bottles of water and our own individual trays of said exotique fruits.
So we languished on our backs as our sampan cruised in an out of the small islands, firstly visiting a small waterborne market before stopping at a craft centre. There we could watch local people making coconut caramel all hand made from extracting the coconut milk, boiling and cooling it to make caramel, then rolling and cutting into small pieces before hand wrapping in rice paper. Of course we had to try it.
Then Julie could resist the urge to return to the kitchen so was called upon to make rice paper firstly by spreading the batter onto a heated tray, covering to steam then removing the paper with a palette knife to dry on palm leaves.
There were so many local products on view, which of course we had to try although julie turned her nose up at snake win (rice wine with pickled snakes). I had to try it of course and it was no worse than watneys red, for those old enough to remember it!
Then it was back to cruising, after visiting the house of a very poor yet typical delta resident, before we docked some 2 kms short of our lunch venue, for a bike ride along the banks of the Mekong.
Our lunch venue was an old but perfectly maintained French villa (check out Le Longanier on the internet). There awaiting were slim young Vietnamese waitresses in absolutely pristine white gowns like shining angels. Our lunch was fabulous..vegetable soup, fried spring rolls, ELEPHANTS EAR FISH!!, caramelized pork, rice and vegetables, banana cake with coconut cream. All absolutely fabulous.
Then it was a small final cruise back to meet our driver. We bade farewell to our crew and fell asleep in the back seat of our car...Julie dreaming of elephants ear fish wrapped in see through spring rolls, me dreaming of those beautiful silk clad waitresses...I said that's enough of that!!
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