My Mum and Joan (close family friend) made the trip to come and see me in Vietnam.  They started in Hanoi and did the same Intrepid trip that Niels and I had done almost 4 years to the day.  I caught up with with them in the Backpacker District centered around Bùi Viện Street for dinner and the next day they were off to Cu Chi Tunnels.  Now when Mum says Cu Chi Tunnels, it sounds like a train, Chu Chu, very funny.

After the tunnel tour I went to their hotel and we caught up then got a taxi to my place and had a quick look around the neighbourhood and then headed to work so they could meet the Habitat Team.  We had wanted to go out for snails, however because of the Lunar Calendar, the restaurant was closed, so we found another one.

We had clams, octopus and goats udder.

Joan and Mum had their first taste of the motorbikes and a friend (Huy) and I drove them home to their hotel.

The next day was a sleep in and I picked them up at their hotel along with one of their tour group members, Rachel from Switzerland and we took the local bus to my house.  From their we wandered through the Pink Catholic Church, the local market and then hit one of my favourite restaurants, Bun Cha:

I noticed the new sign that they had just put up.  We then went to get our nails done which cost 35,000 VND ($2 AUD), it was Joan’s first time.

The one thing that made me laugh was the time it took for them to choose the colour! Well as you can see it was a very tough day so we went to one of my favourite cafes, Sonate and we had hot chocolates to rev us up again.  We then headed back to the hotel via one of my favorite shops here, Ginko and I got this cool toy made out of rice paste, like play-dough.

This is made by hand and is one of the most-loved traditional toys of Vietnam, especially in the mid-Autumn season which is now.  It is hand-made from glutinous rice powder into colourful animals, flowers or fictional characters.  The artist, Pham Tien Hien, who was born in the craft village of Xuan La – where the art of making To He originated 300 years ago and is still preserved now.  He has 30 years experience.

I met a lovely Japanese lady, Masako at Network Girls and we have kept in contact and she has introduced me to much of the Japanese cuisine.  We met Masako and we went out for a Japanese meal in an area of HCM that is known for all things Japanese, Le Thánh Tôn Street.  To keep in the tradition of eating weird things, we ate cow tongue

Can’t you hear what it is saying?

I then made sure the “girls” were home early as they had a big day ahead of them…

MOTORBIKES IN HO CHI MINH.

If you have ever been to Vietnam, you will know what I mean.  You don’t truly appreciate the definition of chaos until you have experienced it here.

I organised one of the local Xe Ôm to drive Joan as I had Mum.  A Xe Ôm is a motorbike taxi.  Departure was at 8am and off we went in search of views of the city.

You wouldn’t believe me but the city is to the right.  Our Xe Ôm driver may need some instructions next time.  From there we headed to Cat Lai, a port and we used a ferry to cross the Siagon River to get to the other side.

We drove around in the rice fields and stopped for a coffee and had a great view of a Lotus Pond

This is not a normal stop for foreigners so we were a bit of an entertainment for the locals.  From there we went back to the city via a large bridge.  We clocked 50km, used 1.2 litres of fuel at a cost of 20,000 VND ($1.20 AUD).

I left them to rest at the hotel and then I met them at the base of the Bitexco Tower.  We went up to level 52 and had a couple of drinks and enjoyed the views and seeing where we had traveled that day.

We then had a delicious dinner and I said my farewells.  They had one more day in Ho Chi Minh and then Sunday morning they were off to Cambodia.

I had a great time with them and showing off Ho Chi Minh City and all it has to offer.