Day 2 - Our first real day in 'nam

The mammoth bananas, bought by the hand at approx $A1.80

The madness that is Ho Chi Minh - Love it!!

The local electricians at work - these guys are mad! Note the guy in the cables in the background

On the tourist trail, mixing it with the locals

Michelle checking her images at the Reunification Palace

One of the many rooms at the palace - straight out of the 70's. Groovy Baby!

Nhung, our adopted Ben Thanh Market stall owner. Love those Vietnamese spring rolls...

Pho Gai for dinner - yummmmm!

View from the 12th floor restaurant balcony of downtown Ho Chi Minh

Our first full day in Ho Chi Minh started with a breakfast on the roof of the hotel enjoying local fresh fruit and salads (yes even Murray gave up the cocopops!), followed by some traditional Vietnamese coffee. At this point Lesson #2 for the holiday was learnt - where we remembered that Vietnamese milk coffee uses condensed milk only AFTER we added sugar to the coffee. We are still coming down from the roof from that!

We wandered to the local supermarket for necessary supplies (read beer, soft drinks and water) and have managed the street crossing on several occasions without any dramas as yet.

We then got smashed by a couple of local bicycle 'taxis' to do the touristy thing and hit local 'places to visit' including the War Museum, Reunification Palace and finally the Ben Thanh markets where we were no doubtibly fleeced of our Dong. We were dubious about jumping on these bikes first up but in hindsite, they are a great way to see the city at a nice relaxing pace (if there is such a thing in Ho Chi Minh). Both the War Museum and Reunification Palace are worth the visit with only a 15,000 VND entry fee (approx A$1.00).

Lunch at the Ben Thanh Market consisted of Vietnamese spring rolls with fresh pineapple juice all for 66,000 VND (A$4.20) for two at a stall run by a lady called Nhung (pronounced nyum). After a few hours of hard shopping we went back to the Nhung's stall for some refreshments. Murray slammed down the local 333 beer whilst Michelle wanted to have an iced coffee. What she got was about a cup of local coffee (known for it's strength) swirled around a glass full of crushed ice. It just about blew Michelle of her seat and so we sheepishly requested some milk to try to tame things down a bit. Lesson #3 noted. We aren't doing too well in the coffee department! :)

After a few relaxing hours back in the hotel, we headed to the rooftop restaurant for Dinner before calling it a day. Michelle had a lotus flower, shrimp and pork salad while Murray took on the local soup, Pho Gai whilst enjoying the views from the rooftop. See you all tomorrow!