Eric educated us on cruising. They have been on numerous cruises and manage to shop around for crazy cheap deals. Richard and Lucy just got engaged and both left their jobs to travel for 7 months before they settle down to do the family thing. Fritz and Susie gave us some insight into the northern part of Vietnam. They loved Sapa and after showing us pictures they took we can understand why. Claudia is heading up to Chang Mai, Thailand for a months stay in a guest house at only $180US for the month.
Marie and I strolled around the block and decided it was time for soup (Pho). We stopped in at a corner restaurant which we assumed was their equivalent of a fast food place, and tried the chicken and rice noodle soup. It was ok except we were back to having chicken parts, mostly boiled skin pieces, instead of the meat from the chicken. We decided it was time to avoid these types of restaurants.
I convinced Marie to go with me to find the Get Fit Gym. We left the tourist area by crossing the bridge and found ourselves amidst only locals. It really wasn't that far but outside of Marie's comfort level. We found the gym and it was quite modern, similar to ours at home. They wanted $10 for a single visit which I felt was a bit steep for this city, after all the last gym was a buck. While showing me around the gym and a lot of charm and negotiating on my part (yes whining) the girl offered me a free pass for one visit.
Off we went to explore more of the city. To Marie's delight there was another major intersection for us to cross. We waited, stepped out into traffic, and then for the first time had to step back on to the curb. Yikes! Lucky for Marie there was a policeman on the corner as well and with a quick gesture from me he walked us through the traffic across the intersection. I didn't win any brownie points from Marie for walking her into traffic. Oops. In my defence it is customary here to walk across the traffic in order to cross the street. Attempting to wait for a break would only be an act of futility. It would never happen!
We walked onto the bridge and encountered a lot of uniformed personnel, all gazing down upon the rivers water watching a dragon boat competition. The bridge was the start and finish line. The fire department was on hand in their boats.
After a short pause to watch the rowers we continued on down the side streets passing by a lot of small hardware shops. We weren't sure where the road would take us other than we would come out by the main river. At that point we arrived at the Bitexco Financial Tower. Turns out that for ten bucks we could go to the observation deck on the 49th floor. The view was spectacular! Well worth the visit. Sixty eight floors reaching 262.5 meters up to the sky. A helipad on the 50th floor. It is the 5th tallest building in the world. The elevators are super sonic speed travellers at 7 meters per second.
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