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Walker's Travels in Scandinavia 2017 and others
Post-Cycle Tour Day 4. Will have to get myself one of the beds The Rex uses as I've never slept so well for ages. I love the "Pillow Menu" on the bedside table which says dial 0 for your favourite pillow, choose from a list. A leisurely breakfast of steamed dim sims, cereal, fresh French bread, fresh tropical fruit and coffee (decaf latte). It was then off to find Phil a Vietnamese coffee shop for him to try that thick, black brew. Mission accomplished; if he wasn't awake properly beforehand he was after. We met a chatty local bloke there who worked for the company who provides Saigon with lighting. Private enterprise is alive and well in Vietnam. I think the locals like to practice their English so they chat with us tourist whenever they can. Just so we didn't feel prejudice against any particular religion, we then visited a nearby Hindu Temple which was established by the Indian Tamil money changers who arrived in Vietnam about 100 years ago. Interesting. Where are all the turtles gone from Turtle Lake - turtle soup? That is what we wondered when we visited a lake (more like a concrete pond in the middle of a roundabout) of that name. Not a turtle to be seen anywhere. Check nearby restaurants, any turtle dishes on the menu? Then spent a few minutes in quiet contemplation and prayer at the Cathedral. Not a bit OTT, very tasteful. Coffee-time. The European version of the stuff has really taken off here with many coffee chains all over the city. They tend to make it too weak but it's okay. We had to finish off with some kulture so we ended up at the Saigon Fine Arts Museum. There were also private galleries in the same complex. A fine art experience, truly. Lunch was taken at a Japanese cafe, small bowl of mushroom soup, tiny salad and a generous portion of chicken on rice. Free green tea came with the meal, A$5 each. All very tasty. We killed a bit a time meandering around the art and book shops but didn't see anything that took our fancy. Back to The Rex to collect our bags and head out the airport, A$10 taxi ride, and we handed over all our remaining Dong so he was pleased. Checkin, customs, immigration and security were all very painless. Within minutes we were sitting in the Rose Lounge (Qantas Club equivalent) eating pork soup and having a quiet beer. See you in Sydney.
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