Binh and his family made a fabulous Vietnamese breakfast for me of noodles, spinach and pork soup, ginger tea and mango. After pictures, hugs, and my many thank yous, Binh lead me out to the main road. For the next twenty-one miles, the motorbike traffic was intense to the point there were thousands of them in front of me and thousands of them behind me with only a few feet between each bike. The closer I got to Saigon, the more intense it became. Bikes ride up sidewalks, trucks and cars trying to merge in. It kept me on my toes. Finally, off in the distance the city high rises appeared, enshrouded in a yellow haze of smog. Other than a few wrong turns in the city proper, I arrived at my Warmshowers.org host. Victor came out of his open front bicycle shop and spotted me first. He set me up on the third floor followed by his eight-one year old mother making a superb lunch for us.
After hanging out at the shop for the afternoon, due to the heat, I took a Grab ride (same as Uber and Lyft) over to meet Peter, his wife and son for dinner. The restaurant clientele was loaded with westerners, the most I had seen since being in Vietnam. Peter’s nine year old son was amazingly good in English. Afterwards we strolled the city center mall where there were no motor vehicles. The buildings were lit up with colorful lighting designs and fountains sprayed up from the sidewalks. Apparently, after the subway is complete, motorbikes will be banned from the city. Good luck with that. After an-after-dinner smoothie at a second floor cafe. I took a Grab ride back to Victor’s place.
With a flight planned for early Friday morning back to Hanoi, I will spend tomorrow and the next checking out the city.
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