Eat Duck Don't Die

We flew into Ho Chi Minh City (which most people still seem to call Saigon - more romantic, no?) just yesterday arvo - how awesomely squiggly is the Mekong just below?!  

 I don't think this is going to be a particularly coherent or informative post, but better than nothing, eh? Especially since I haven't posted anything in almost a year... whoa fourth year + Honours was a nasty brain-sucking beast!!! Yay! Brain has returned! More or less...

ANYWAY, Saigon.
-bikes. everywhere.
-oh and more bikes.
-on the roads.
-on the sides of the roads.
-whizzing up the alleyways behind/beside/around you!

First challenge (actually it's still a challenge, just less scary cos we've done it a few times and haven't died so that means there's more chance that we still won't die? Impeccable logic I think) : crossing the road.

After lots of time hanging out on the side of the road observing and waiting for gaps in the streams of traffic which never seem to arrive, we finally decided that you wait for the cars - but for the bikes? You just start walking. A moderate pace, not too fast, but not too cautious (otherwise you bring the bikes to a complete, perhaps mildly annoyed halt). You stroll bravely across the road, and the bikes (of which there are 15 or 20 to every car that you see) just weave their way around you. Like I say, haven't died yet.

Last night we wandered the city a little bit, watched the light fade over the Saigon canal, and finally hunted down a place where we felt confident enough to order food (it's a while since I've been in a place where I am completely at a loss about what to eat and how to communicate that..). Anyway, we found a place with pictures, and we were convinced by the friendly waiter to order the 'roast chicken'.. We settled ourselves into the little plastic street-side chairs, and looked behind us to see that the roast chicken was actually one of two elongated ducks, hanging in the window...

Interesting. We did think quietly to ourselves about how ironic it would be if we got ill on our very first night away, but we tucked in all the same! Fatty but delicious. Except maybe the brain, we weren't so convinced about that bit.. But we haven't died yet! Yay!

 I have more fun photos from today but I can't get them off my camera at present.. We spent the day wandering the city and entertaining locals/fine-tuning our road-crossing style/eating lots of noodles/discovering all things iced (it's hot!!)/being smoked out by incense in a pagoda/getting just slightly ripped off/finding hilarious exercise equipment in a park (must find a picture of that for you!!) and so forth..

There's still a lot of the colourful Tet (lunar new year) decorations around the place - tinselly trees, yellow flowers, bunting, banners.. There are trees to thin the concrete jungle, gorgeous pot-plant forests in crumbly old apartment balconies, and food! SO much food everywhere. I have no idea what most of it is, but it's great.

Off up the coast tomorrow! Tam biet for now!

J.