more hcmc

we are still in hcmc til the 15th, when we'll depart for phu quoc. we are ready to go, the city is wearing on us a bit! but it has been good to adjust to the time difference, learn about what we need to do to make walker comfortable, and to see the curry's.

yesterday we took a short trip over to pham ngu lao, which is the back packer district. there were tons of street side restaraunts and tourists everywhere, and it made me realize that we have been pretty isolated this week. i wanted to move hotels so we could be in a place with other foreigners we could talk to. but then we talked it over and i realized we will meet people at the beach and in hoi an, so i let go of the idea and we are staying put.

then we went to ben thanh market, which is a huge indoor market. it is full of all kinds of things form clothes to pigs legs. we ate a delicious lunch of some rice noodle wrapped rolls, and some other kind of long noodles with pork and shrimp. the pork was so delicious! i also ordered a fresh mango juice which was like a frozen mango drink, sooo good, and walker learned how to drink from the straw, so he enjoyed it too!

the later we went to the Rex hotel and paid admission to use their pool. walker had a fun time playing humpty dumpty! he really likes the pool and when we say we are going swimming he says something like "dig dig", which is what he does when he paddles. we talked to a really nice australian couple there and heard about their cool adventure down the Meking, something we missed out on.

then we met the curry's for dinner at a mediterranean restaraunt, and it was really neat! the decor was awesome! we sat in a private booth surrounded by all these hanging beads! upstairs in this very old building with stairs that were not all the same height. i had lamb shank, which was like stew with a big ole piece of lamb in it and jamie has the mixed grill. we also had a delightful mint lemonade. yum.

this morning we went to Cholon, which is chinatown, and saw two amazingly detailed pagados. there was so much incense burning, it was awesome. they had tons of those large coils hanging down, every single one lit, and tons more of these gigantic sticks stuck everywhere. the last pagoda had a horse statue, and when you left you were supposed to ring the bells on his harness for luck.

we came back to the hotel and bought more french baby food for walker and jamie and i got thai take out, which was arguably the best food yet. wide noodles with vegetables and pork. the sauces and chilis came in tiny little blown up bags. i have pics but can't post cuz i am on the hotel computer! (i pulled these images from the web.)

now we are chilling in the room for a while so walker can get some exercise. jamie is reading a book about the war form a viet cong nurse's perspective. i am reading the vietnam guide book and also a novel set in india.

this afternoon we are meeting the currys to take a ride down the saigon river on a junk, which is an old boat. not sure what we are doing for dinner. i'll tell you later!