The flight on Air NZ was ok but the service was a bit slack - one of the main courses was gone by the time they got to us and the entree was pretty average. Then at breakfast, they didn't even offer any cereal to us!
Arrived in Singapore a bit earlier than scheduled and managed to transfer to Terminal 2 without too much hassle. Changi Airport is huge and it took 20 minutes to walk to the gate from which our flight to Vietnam was to leave. The plane left on time and we had a meal which was quite tasty and served very efficiently by the staff on Singapore Airlines.
When we got to HCMC, we were quickly through immigration and customs and met by the guide from the travel company. We then drove through the city to the center where the hotel -Silverland Central Hotel andSpa is located. The thing hat struck us quickly was the huge number of people riding motor bikes or scooters. Not a huge number of cars because there is an 80% tax on cars in Vietnam. Everyone toots their horns and people don't seem to obey the traffic lights much either.
After we checked in at the hotel, we were able to have a rest before venturing out to have a wander around the neighborhood of the hotel.
There is a big market over the road from the hotel and we had a Horst wander through it to see what was on offer. Lots of T shirts and ladies clothing, children's gear and shoes. Quite a few tourist shops with typical tourist products. The food stalls are well stocked and look interesting with lots of different types of fruits and vegetables.
Around the hotel are a lot of different types of shops. Close by are shops just selling luggage. Shoe shops abound in the street behind the hotel, and a couple of blocks along from the hotel are stationery and art shops. Cafes are hidden in between other shops or on the first or second floor of a building.
For dinner, we found a pizza place = Buzza's Pizzas which was reasonably. Inexpensive and quite tasty.
We were very tired by this time so headed back to the hotel for a very early night and a long sleep!
The view from our hotel window! The tall building is one of the newest in Saigon, but the helipad on the side of it is just for decoration as it is not strong enough to take a helicopter!
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