Vietnam 2024, December 07

The last full day of the holiday already. I didn't have much left on the plan since I didn't want to commit hours travelling to Cu Chi Tunnels and back on a nearly full day tour with a long bus ride. The Singapore Zoo also got mostly bad reviews and said the animals weren't in good condition, which some photos seemed to agree with.

After the same breakfast and running I started off the morning for a quick visit to the closest Nike Factory a bit under two kilometres away.

I didn't expect much for shoes, and that was confirmed as they didn't really go past size ten. The clothing range was a bit limited, I thought I might find something a bit unique to Vietnam or at least different to the usual stuff online.

After that I headed back towards and city with a detour via Bui Vien walking street. Despite the name the street was also quite full of motorcycles in the morning. There wasn't much happening at 11:00am but there was several huge restaurants with bars that must get busy and loud in the evenings, since this is the main backpacker area.

Next was a stop to rest in the September 23rd park, not far from the hotel. It wasn't the most amazing park but still good to see some green grass and trees in between the crowded streets.

After a bit of a rest I returned to that hidden underground food court from yesterday that was also within the park boundary. I ordered two red bean taiyaki and an ice cream tub from the Japanese store. It took quite a while to make, and the taiyaki were a bit small and not very well shaped, but otherwise not bad.

That was already everything on my short list that was within reasonable walking distance, the next closest options were two or more kilometres away in other directions. Instead I just went for a walk along the rest of Nguyen Hue street I hadn't been to yet, and another trip to the busy Saigon Center for some bakery items. I also returned to the eco souvenir place on the way back to the hotel, and got to use up some small Vietnam notes on a few more magnets. It was getting towards late afternoon so I decided to head back towards the hotel so drop everything off and pack up for tomorrow.

Steps = 25,248 with 11km running

Good

• Avoided the rain again
• Everything was cheap
• Found a quiet area for running
• Lots of convenience stores around

Bad

• Less activities within the city area
• More walking required
• Slow and dangerous crossing busy roads
• Train lines still not open yet

Missed Out

• Cu Chi Tunnels
• Mekong Delta
• Some other pagodas and temples
• Starlight Bridge
• Tan Dinh Church