Photo Ops, Unidentifiable liquids and Advanced Scooter Avoidance Skills

So very successful morning’s exploring again – didn’t get as hopelessly lost this time! Am, however, still having to take my life into my own hands when I cross the street (again, very glad Mum isn’t here to witness this!) but I think five years of living in Manhattan is proving to be very good training!! So set off this morning bound for Cathedral Notre-Dame and actually managed to navigate my way there, walking along Tran Hung Dao, one of the main roads through the city. Walking through a pretty park, 23/9 Park, a group of 6 or 7 locals stopped me, holding out a camera phone. I thought they wanted me to take a picture of them – until I realised they wanted to take a picture of me! So stood there sheepishly and smiled, even taking off my shades on request, before continuing on my way, wondering only briefly what on earth that photo is ever going to be used for! If nothing else, this holiday is already proving to be full of firsts! On my way to Cathedral Notre-Dame, happened to walk past the Ben Thanh market – wasn’t sure about going in on my own, but I took a deep breath, gathered my courage and thought “what the hell!”. I was glad I did as it was fascinating (very reminiscent of the market I stumbled across in Singapore), full of enticing wares I did very well to resist. The food stands were the most interesting of all – I still have no idea what this drink I ended up having was. I’d stopped to watch the vendor push what looked like sugar canes through a big metal press to produce a cloudy liquid, but seeing as my familiarity with sugar canes is only a passing one, it could have been anything! As it was, it was pretty tasty and I felt suitably intrepid and adventurous! (I’m hoping also this feeling of mild, continious nausea is a side-effect of the anti-malarials and not an ominous portend of gastrointestinal disaster to come… Wandering in the market, I also stumbled across the meat section – decided to be unphased and cool and go have a closer look. Good idea – until I remembered I was wearing sandals and everyone else around me was wearing big rubber booths, the reason for which became clear as a bucket of sluice and God knows what else suddenly got thrown on the floor ahead of me and oozed menacingly my way. Beat a very hasty retreat, but not before I managed to take a couple pics of this guy chopping up some hapless animal with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth – guess it just adds to the local flavour.

Continued my exploration, stopping off at a Vietnamese equivalent of Starbucks along the way for an iced coffee, before arriving in Lam Square and the impressive façade of People Committee Hall. Then wandered down Nguyen Hue (as planned! – well done, me!) to try and look for a small camera (no luck yet – they actually seem more expensive out here) before coming back up along the posh shopping street of Dong Khoi. Felt way too scruffy to go shopping in any of the upscale boutiques (not that I shop in them in NYC anyway!) so continued along to the Central Post Office (designed by Eiffel of the Tower fame!) and also the Cathedral. Bought a little fried waffle thing from a sweet old lady sitting outside the steps before checking out the Diamond Shopping centre. Just like a regular department store, so nothing very exciting but stopped off for some water and a fresh orange juice in the upstairs bit that is obviously a hotspot for young Vietnamese, as it was a bowling alley and full of video games machines I havent seen for years! All very noisy with flashing lights but kinda fun to sit and watch. Got a taxi back to the hotel (they’re not all that cheap, actually – but still cheaper than that bloody pedicab from yesterday!), caught up on my email and blog, checked out and now I’m off to go find somewhere for lunch before transferring to my next hotel and the official start of my cycling holiday!! Whoo-hooo!!!