Saigon, Vietnam Week 7

Dear Ethel, Family and friends,

We have had another pleasant weekend, starting with a spontaneous lunch on Friday afternoon. We went to a local restaurant with a group of students. After lunch we were invited back to Mr Home’s (one of the students) Bakery and Coffee shop where his family makes a big range of French style pastries and cakes. We sampled nearly all of them... just to be polite you understand and had to leave with bags of them!

Saturday we set off on Twee’s bike again to do our shopping, have coffee and get lunch in District 1. We are getting around like locals now and can find our way around reasonably well. On the journey home I felt the telltale drop in air pressure, an increase in the wind and a sweet smell in the air. Then, 75 motorbikes pulled off the road up under awnings simultaneously as the sky fell in. It rained solid for about 5 minutes then stopped and we were able to continue our trip with the other 75 bikes. A lot of locals only stop to don their raincoats, some of which are especially designed to take two people and has a see through panel that goes over the headlight.

The traffic itself is a bit daunting at first, but I have figured it out. The rules are simple, never look back, you are only responsible for what goes on in front of you. When going through big intersections, stick to the middle of the pack or try to cross in the shadow of a car or larger vehicle. Being able to ride slowly, and go up and down gutters with extra weight on the bike is probably the only thing I learnt during my time with Australia Post as a Postie, it’s funny, but I never thought it would come in handy but it’s an essential skill here. I often think that Louise & I are too large for these little bikes, but then I look around and see that we are probably only the same weight as a typical Vietnamese family of four and they seem to manage OK.

We were invited to another Students house for a traditional Sunday Lunch today. Vun and her family live in a suburb outside Saigon, a bit like going to Parramatta from Sydney. It was another interesting interlude. Getting there as half the fun, But I don’t thing Louise enjoys it as much as I do. Vun lives with her family of 5 and has relatives stay on the weekends and big lunches on Sundays. We were treated to a 5 course feast, that nobody could finish. Vun is a Chef so the food was spectacular Vietnamese fare, we finished with Chocolate and Orange crepes and fruit of course. We are having leftover crepes for dinner as you can’t leave someone’s house here without taking something with you. So with Crepes and French pastries, It’s going to be hard to lose weight here if this keeps up.

We are going to a Vietnamese Wedding next week, so will let you know all about it. All the best until next time.

Ric & Louise