24 degC, 95% humidity The Rex is adjacent to a demolition and re-construction site for the Saigon Metro and very early (3:30am) this morning, they started doing something really noisy, like dragging some kind of metal along the street. We both managed to get back to sleep but it was a restless sleep. We were up and at breakfast by 7am. Today we could afford to have a rather leisurely breakfast and made the most of it. The boys went for a wander after packing the ...

25 degC, 94% humidity After an early than yesterday breakfast we left about 07:40am for the "bird park" where bird enthusiasts bring their birds to learn to sing; it is thought that birds learn from others in the wild so people bring their captured/caged birds to the park to learn from other captured/caged birds. Those cages that are covered contain young birds that are still shy and want to learn. It was then a trek to the Handicapped Handicraft workshop factory...

25 degC 86% humidity We had a BIG sleep-in today - only got out of bed at 7am!! A leisurely breakfast followed and then we consulted the map for other places to see (the boys had gone on a guided tour of the Ci Chi tunnels). Wendy needed to visit a pharmacy so we located the nearest on the map and then decided on the Jade Emperor Pagoda which was approx 3km away. Pharmacy was easy to find and Wendy was able to get what she wanted and we were off to the Pagoda. Al...

26 degC 97% humidity Did quite a bit of walking today - see maps After breaks we met in the lobby at 8:30am and visited the place the monk set himself on fire in protest against something Then went to Notre Dam and the Post Office which is still a functional PO. We had coffee at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Cafe before heading for then Peace Palace which was closed until 1pm. Decided to try the war museum which was also closed so went back to hotel for a rest. Ne...

Forgot to get weather details Breakfast was a bit light-on but we only had 50km of riding today and we knew we would get plenty of snack and water stops so weren't too worried. Rode away from the hotel about 07:45am and were soon on the back roads amongst the real people, again. Had a mixture of wide roads, skinny ones, smooth, not so smooth and downright rough! Muddy in parts as well because it rained last night. Our first stop was at a rice noodle factory, seem...