We get up with the sun and go it in the park. We practice boxing and karate among all the other people exercising this beautiful morning.
After breakfast we wade through the list of activities we have that have to be done. When we’re finished with the tasks at hand we go out as it’s time for lunch. We aim for the French cafe again, but find it closed. What French bakery with any self respect is closed on a Sunday?

 

Fortune had it so a nice local restaurant was at the corner. We entered and ordered chicken, pork and beef with rice. We also got a bowl soup each. The solid food was really good but the soup tasted like wet grass. Luckily there’s no mom here to complain about food not being eaten.

We walk in the streets and look at Sunday life in HCMC. It’s a bit slower pace on Sundays, but I emphasize on “a bit”. We grab a coffee and chill down a at coffee bean. The sun is scorching and just moving between direct sunlight and shadow is a life saver.

Back at the hotel Katja change and go for yoga while I work on the blog. Upon return from yoga she just shower and go down one set of stairs to the spa. She booked herself for a ninety minutes treatment. I sleep as little, take a long bath bath and relax.

We go out for dinner and find a restaurant that serves a lot of different food. Nothing spectacular, but we’re decent enough full and move out. We take a slow stroll through the streets and look at the traffic and flow of people steadily increasing. HCMC is a bustling city, no doubt. Completely different than Hanoi, more like Bangkok really. It’s middle modern in many ways, but at the same time it shows off old school people and customs. The country celebrates 40 years as one country after the final battle of the Civil war going on two years after the Americans left. April 30th 1975 tank 390 crashed through the gates of the presidential palace and symbolises the end of the war between north and south. Soon after the city changed name to Ho Chi Minh city. A fascinating country with a fascinating history, showed us through a fascinating city.

Goodnight Saigon.

 

“Remember, the storm is a good opportunity for the pine and the cypress to show their strength and their stability.”