This poor, unfortunate hawk was tethered on alongside a busy thoroughfare in Saigon, heavens knows why (although there were no pigeons in sight!)
I met up with Waq, an old school teacher friend and the kids got to play rough in the sand and on a cool timber climbing frame.
Fab buffet breakfast then an awesome swim as the city buzzes below. Fish balls for brekkie, cannon balls (a few of which might have splashed people eating below!) to burn it off.
We had a tedious five hour bus ride to Saigon, during which, I was intermittently spooned by a hairy Russian guy.
We got into the big city as the sun went down and the bus station is a convenient two blocks from our hotel. Nevertheless, the first taxi driver to fill his car with our bags tried to rip us off for more than ten times what we paid to the next guy who was a little less crooked.
We checked in, had a quick swim in the roof top pool and ate dinner (surrounded by a posse of Lily admirers) before coming to this park. At nearly 9pm, it's teaming with kids, not surprising considering it was 34 degrees all day!
The kids are burning off energy and we're enjoying a nice cold beer in a park with a nice tropical feel. We're looking forward to exploring the city tomorrow.
In the past 10 weeks we've eaten a wonderful range of fish and shellfish, various crickets (the larger the better), frogs legs, various grubs / maggots (silk worm were the best) and our beloved crocodile, ask standard fare in these parts of course. However, tonight whilst ordering dinner we saw something I had not expected;
After baulking at extortionate fees to rent a windsurfer for a couple of hours (they wanted more than we pay for a week's rent at our apartment!) we found a last minute deal to stay at a new four star resort for 24 hours. Naturally, we got here at the crack of dawn and will leave kicking and screaming when they finally have enough of us tomorrow evening! We initially felt a little out of place after living on a relative shoestring, but I'm sure we'll get used to it!
We're still living the beach and pool life for another 4 days and can't wait to see our families in south Africa, but we will definitely miss this existence and these fabulous sunsets!
From riding a moped with your entire family on it (plus shopping!) or a large cooking gas cylinder, or fridge (full size!) this country has quite a relaxed attitude towards safety. This extends to leaving machetes (used to open coconuts) on the side of the street!
