along the way: day 97 - Bien Hoa to Ho Chi Minh City

Wednesday, 29 January 2014

We arrived today in Ho Chi Minh City after a short 35km ride from Bien Hoa. We had set off early as we expected heavy traffic but were surprised to find the road into the city was remarkably quiet compared with our experience over the past few days. The majority of traffic on the road appeared to be heading away from the City so we had a pretty straight forward ride in.

(On the highway into HCMC, what looks like a temple looming up on the left

turns out to be a large amusement park)

We wanted to arrive early in the city to go to a bicycle store and do a few other bits and pieces, not knowing whether shops would remain open over the Tet holiday. At that point, we were still unclear exactly when Tet falls but we hoped we weren't too late. While we found many businesses to be closed around the city, the tourist districts were buzzing with activity. We were also able to purchase new rear tyres and inner tubes for the bikes which we'll install at a later time.

(New Year decorations for sale)

Once we had checked into our hotel, we headed out mid afternoon to explore the nearby area. The city is full of life and colour. There is a Flower Festival happening on one of the main streets in the city and it was clearly a very popular spot to have a photo taken as many of the locals, and visitors, were out in their finest, striking a pose in front of the many floral displays.

On our walkabout, we passed the Opera House, known as the Municipal Theatre since 1975, the People's Committee Building and Notre Dame Cathedral. As with many of the other cities we have visited in Vietnam, evidence of the French occupation can be seen in the many old, elegant buildings that still remain around the city with the Opera House, the Committee Building and Notre Dame being three lovely examples.

(Bright flowers available to buy in the city centre.

Red and yellow are the Tet colours and hence there's a lot of red and yellow flowers about.)

(The People's Committee Building)

(A young girl poses for her parents at the Flower Festival)

(Four women dressed in traditional Vietnamese style outfits)

(An elderly man in his finest pyjamas and coordinating sandals)

(Notre Dame Cathedral)

In the evening, we headed out for dinner and drinks with Tina and Tim, and Tim's girlfriend who has just spent the past four weeks travelling through Myanmar. It was great to catch up and to hear about what it's like to travel through Myanmar. After a tasty dinner, they took us to a lovely rooftop bar from where we had a wonderful view of the city. We plan to catch up again tomorrow evening to see in the Lunar New Year.