As usual, noodles were on the menu for breakfast. I was excited to see bun bò Huế on the menu, normally the preserve of meatatarians, but this time prepared with mock beef (bò) in a dark and savoury broth pepped up with lemongrass and black pepper. The rice noodles were udon thick and slippery. It came with finely shredded spirals of some vegetables I couldn't recognise (purple cabbage?) and fresh herbs for crunch and flavour respectively. K went for hủ tiếu, which is a borrowed dish from Cambodia, and had a clear and clean flavour with mushrooms and thin rice noodles.
Today was our last day in Ho Chi Minh City, as we catch a bus tomorrow morning to the frontier town of Chau Doc in preparation for the river crossing into Cambodia.
Unfortunately our host has been detained in Hanoi for work until late next week. With no chance to spend time with her, we found ourselves at a bit of a loose end. We have thoroughly enjoyed both the city life in Saigon and our excursions into the South of Vietnam. Having frantically explored the city in the first couple of weeks, we have exhausted the obvious sights and attractions and have settled into a comfortable routine of slow travel, taking things at the pace of those who live here. By far our favourite area of town is District 3 - coincidentally where we are based. It was with this spirit that we sojourned to another of the peaceful cafés that lie hidden down unassuming side alleys.
Sat at a table over a coconut shell filled with fresh fruit and ice cream, we reminisced about our favourite aspects of Vietnam and how we should spend our final day. We concluded that, short of zipping round the city on the back of a motorbike seeing everything for the last time, it was difficult to squeeze the last drops out of Saigon. We tried to quell the feeling in us that we should be doing more with our rapidly dwindling time. I think it is impossible to appropriately mark the occasion of leaving somewhere we have enjoyed so much.
While scanning recommendations of activities in the area on the Internet, we came across The Escape Hunt - a murder mystery in which participants are locked in a room and have to solve clues in order to escape. It was an unusual way to spend a couple of hours and was a perfect puzzle to distract our minds from the thought of leaving.
Once sealed into a room by the game master, the challenge was to solve the mystery of a kidnapping - set in early 20th century Saigon - and to find the key to unlock the exit. Using only our wits and the clues secreted about the room, we found keys to open boxes, containing further clues, and solved a series of challenges. It was tricky and we underestimated the scale of the puzzle, completing it only in a few minutes of 'extra time' after the official 60-minute timescale.
With our brains teased, we returned home to solve another puzzle. This time it was the logistics of repacking our bags. Despite having accrued very few extra things, and used some up, our belongings seemed to have doubled on size. I was glad that we hadn't chosen to move accommodation every second day, as we would spend as long packing as being there.
Our TV producer friend invited us out again this evening. Sunday nights are swing dance at La Habana - a Cuban bar and restaurant in District 1 - and she is an accomplished dancer. Unfortunately, the packing took longer than we anticipated, so we arrived with only enough time to watch the last few couples on the floor. This was probably a blessed relief for them, as we don't yet have the competency to rein in our moves and would have scattered the others with our flailing limbs on the tiny dancefloor.
After the dance, there was acoustic music from two Filipino guys, playing ballads and covers. We sat, listened appreciatively and ate paella. Our friend got up and demonstrated - alongside her ability to produce TV programs and swing dance - an enviable competency at singing. We marvelled both at her confidence and at her ability to carry a tune not in her native language.
Despite needing to take a bus at 6am the next morning, we stayed until late. We couldn't have asked for a nicer way to end our stay in Saigon.
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