Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh is enormous. We could see this as we landed. We wanted to get to the hotel quickly to go out for Sherrill's birthday. The hotel had sent a taxi to pick us up because the hotel is "a bit hard to find". They weren't just kidding. It's down an alley with pretty much no signage. Clothes totally never getting there... 

Mo had met some people in Hoi An while standing in the flood waters who suggested we go to Bui Vien in Ho Chi Minh, so I did a bit of google mapping...things were looking up, a 4 minute walk! We got ready and in honor of Sherrill's birthday I put on big earrings and red lipstick. 

We had the only non-Vietnamese food since setting foot in Vietnam and headed to Universal, where they have live music.

We bought Sherrill a little present of a tower of Tiger.

 

The band was great and Sherrill even got to show off her skills with some Nicki Manaj..

This band even played our theme song when I requested it! Wake Me Up!

We ended the night with sweet buns! We've been on the lookout ever since we found them in the Sunday Market in Chiang Mai.

The next day we took some recovery time and tested the theory that pho is good after a night out. We also discovered a great little bakery. I had quite a tasty croissant, Mo had her favourite cheesy twist and Sherrill went for her signature cinnamon roll. We asked reception if any packages had arrived...of course not.

The next day we explored a bit and found a market, the opera house, the reunification palace, amongst other sights. Oddest find was about 5 minutes after telling Sherrill about mochi (my favourite Japanese dessert)... We found mochi in Vietnam?!? It was a tense 30 minute wait, but she enjoyed it. Not sure she will stick to the desserts you must wait a half hour to soften before eating!

We had more pho and stopped in a coffee shop for a bit, then headed back to the hotel to wait for our taxi. The lady at the front desk saw us come in and said...w"hat is your name?"

Could it be??? Some lingering birthday magic???

It was!!! Our clothes! Here's our surprised face.

So many thanks to Sherrill for her birthday negotiations through flood waters.

And look! It fits! The jacket fits too...well, it fits my body. Not sure how I'm going to fit that onto my pack...

Unfortunately Mo wasn't as lucky and her stuff doesn't really fit so well. Well, at least we got them!

That's it for Vietnam, now we're off to Siem Reap.