March 29 2012

Last night, our last in Hong Kong, we wandered up to the Temple Road night market. Frankly, we didn't think it was up to much. It was bright and lively, but was selling the usual tourist tat. The guide books told us that we could find fortune tellers there, which we quite fancied for a laugh, but we couldn't find a single one. It was just the tourist rubbish and a few dodgy-looking massage parlours (which weren't mentioned in the guide book!).

We then strolled back down Nathan Road and turned into Kimberley. We found the Mongolian Restaurant that Kelvyn and Dave had both mentioned, but didn't feel especially adventurous after our earlier experience with the uncooked prawns, so walked up the steps to Knutsford and ended up in an Autralian joint where we enjoyed some wagyu beef!

Here's one for Ethan - on the way back to the hotel after supper, we bumped into this 10-feet tall robot on a street corner...

This morning we had a couple of hours to fill before needing to leave for the airport, so we visited the Hong Kong History Museum, which we both thought was really interesting. Actually, we could have used more time there, but never mind. Here's a dragon's head from one of the halls...

In the afternoon we caught a Cathay Pacific flight to Saigon (officially Ho Chi Minh city, but our guide quickly explained that people who hail from below the 17th parallel - i.e. the old South Vietnam - still call it Saigon, and only the northerners use the official name).

Our guide, by the way, is a lovely chap named Hai (pronounced 'high') and he told us quite a bit about the city on the way in from the airport. This place is mad! The roads are jammed with manic traffic, but hardly any of it has four wheels. It's mostly motorbikes, mopeds and scooters - THOUSANDS of them! Hai explained that this is gradually changing as people become more affluent, but because two wheels are cheaper than four, most people still have only two!

Our hotel is gorgeous (the "swankiest"in town, according to Hai) but we are tired, so off to bed soon. Tomorrow morning Hai is taking us out to see the tunnels that the Vietcong used to outwit the Americans, and then we are haveing a city tour of Siagon in the afternoon. Haven't had a chance to take many photos yet, but grabbed this one with the phone on a brief venture into the night.

It's very hot here - 33 degrees C after dark!