We are on vacation from our vacation!
We left the hotel quite early this morning - for some reason Tyndalls like to get to the airport at least four hours in advance... It's in our combined DNA! Beth was lucky enough to have a mobile spa in the car.
We've used the same company for all of our car transfers - two drivers had Jesus statues on the dash, two had Buddha status. This may not be scientific, but based on this huge statistical sample size, the Buddhists are better drivers! These two just didn't take as many risks (passing in the opposite lane, blind, around a corner!) and that was our preference!
Coming right through Saigon, I was really feeling that what I liked the most in Vietnam was the action - the scooters, the street activity, the people, the sidewalks and action therein. We kind of missed that in Southern Vietnam. We talked about our highlights and what we would recommend to people, and for shits and giggles, here it is:
Two week trip to Vietnam (not enough to time!) - Ho Chi Minh 2 days, Hoi An 4 days, Sapa 3 days, Ha Long Bay 2 days, Hanoi 3 days. For three weeks, add 2-3 days in the Mekong Delta and 3-4 days in Phong Nha National Park. There you have it people - skip most of the south!
Ho Chi Minh airport is nothing to write home about really - I am assuming there is a revitalization or expansion project coming up, the way this city continues to grow. The girls are getting some cool looking pages in their passports...
We were all pretty ready for Singapore and it felt like we were kind of beginning a new chapter of our six month trip. Today, we are a couple of days into our second trimester (hmmm... Does that term apply?) and while the last 5 weeks or so has been a great taste of Indochina, were ready for something else.
The girls could tell the difference between Singapore and Vietnam almost immediately upon getting off the plane. It's clean, it's organized, everything is well decorated/manicured - it's kind of perfect. I remember when we were here last, we thought it was a little too perfect - almost lacking in culture. I wonder if we'll feel that way this time.
We only have a very short stay in Singapore (just 3 nights) - it's just how the flights worked out as we have to get to Borneo to meet the Versly (that's plural for the Versluis family! Alex, Kim, Jeffrey and Matt).
Our hotel, the V Hotel in Bencoolen seems very centrally located. We got in close to 7pm so we quickly unpacked and found an outdoor food court nearby that caters to the 3 main locals here - Chinese, Indian,and Malay. I went for food that caters to the 4th kind of local I didn't mention - Expats. Apparently, there are 4,000,000 Singaporeans living here, and an additional 4,000,000 expats - which is an astonishing number. It's really the place to be for an expat working in Asia - they speak English very well here, they have every creature comfort you could want in a big city and they have something for everyone in terms of food and entertainment. Back to my meal, I had a great Bibimbap - not as good as the one from Mr. Yummy back home, but nevertheless, delicious.
Our hotel is partially blocked by construction (Singapore has a crazy number of new and extended Subway projects on the go - as a Torontonian, I'm completely jealous), so it led us to the back alley entrance where we can see what is probably the only example of graffiti you'll see in Singspore. Under a different lens, 18 years later, I'm seeing a city rich in culture with a nicely diverse population. Pretty cool really.
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