Rewind to Ho Chi

It's a crazy place and we wanted it again - oh yes ..
We decided the best way into Cambodia would be via the Mekong Delta and that meant re-entry to our initial crazy hub of Ho Chi.
Arriving with the confidence of knowing your old town - we decided to venture into the city from the airport with a public bus for $0.45 each.. Hurrah. It so happened that we arrived just in time for 'rush hour' .. .. I would like to mention as a side note that it is a 1.5 hour journey via plane - but yet it took us all day to get there. That is the way this country/continent rolls.

The view from the bus. So hard to capture 12million tiny people through a lens.

Ho Chi had a hard job ahead of it. It had to host our 1 year anniversary!
Of course for this serving we would have to play the facade of the rich and famous. The place to start this role is the roof top bar at the Sheraton. We sip excitedly on our happy hour 2 for 1 Singapore Slippers and admire the view 23 storeys above the crazed streets littered with traffic ants. We considered dinner here, but the $110USD Australian steak wasn't good enough for our kiwi taste buds.


After the drinks at our dream hotel - we ventured to a hidden gem of a restaurant called ' The Temple Club '. Tiny little Elephants lit the entrance, and once inside the wooden decor and glowing lanterns served to enhance the romantic evening.



To tell the honest truth here - our anniversary was the following day - but a 8am start to a 3 day tour stuck on buses and boats all day didn't sound like the kind of romance gig we were after.

On the walk home from dinner we stopped to admire the magic that was in front of us in the central park. As this was a Saturday night, we got to witness the hundreds of teenagers that come to hang out and meet a new love. It is sooooo cute, they come on scooters - some couples and some singles and just hang out and chat/cuddle. The single girls gather in groups and wait for the boys to approach..
As a note - Surprisingly the city does actually sleep - unlike Bangkok that has traffic with no rest.


We were out for a walk when we spotted this shirt. Some of you may remember my tsubi tshirt that has a picture of a nuclear family and the bold statement "sniffing glue wont keep families together". This innocent Vietnamese girl has the same statement printed on the back of her shirt, and on the front was a love heart stitched on... It seems a strange place to put a statement like that eh??

Lastly. throughout the country we have been spotting propaganda posters everywhere. It is how the government spreads their messages - although most of them are Communist statements going along the lines of; cops keep families safe etc.. (mmm, or do they extort cash??) . One striker is their aids campaign. My favourite so far, which I haven't spotted again for the kodak moment.. was a poster laid out like this;
2 teenagers sitting inside a giant condom. These kids are floating on a surfboard at sea with sharks all about them ready to strike.. Brilliant.
This one is far more direct - and screams wear protection!
p.s - check out the cute graffiti to the left side.. kinda puts a smile on for the grim site.

Until next time, buckle up and stay safe.