Keeping Cool in the Pool

Finally had a whole night's sleep and woke up feeling a bit more human than the last couple of days.  At breakfast, we met 3 people who are on our bike tour - a couple and the man's sister. They are from New Zealand and are very friendly. We will have lots to talk about since we spent some time in their country.  We will be meeting the others tonight at dinner.

Had time to kill before going over to the pool, so we walked back down to the "Made in Vietnam" outlet so that Geoff could get a pair of 3/4 pants -  his first ever. I love the one's I bought yesterday - they are loaded with pockets, which is great for travel. While there, I looked around for a t-shirt that would fit. Ha!! No problem with pants, but there was no way I was squeezing into those teeny tiny shirts. Even the xl size is petite. Oh well.  More great people shots walking the streets of Saigon. We passed the local barber and some dudes playing a game we cannot pronounce.

It was after 10am by the time we got to the Sheraton pool. Found a couple of chaises and camped out for the day.  It was heaven not having to do to nothing more than dunk in the water and come out again. Wonderfully refreshing. Plus, for the next 17 days, we don't have to think or plan anything. It is all taken care of.  Ahhhh....

Ordered a spicy seafood pizza for lunch poolside. Really good. At about 3ish I decided to check out the spa that was right there. I opted for a reflexology massage since my feet were killing me from trekking around for the past 2 weeks.  This place was heaven. I was in heaven and my feet especially were in heaven. By the time I got out, it was time to wrap it up and head out.  On the way out of the lobby there was some local entertainment.

When we got back to the hotel, there was a big bus outside with a sign "Overseas Adventure Travel". That was the company we used in South America. Guess all these companies use the same hotels. Our guides, Zang and Bing, greeted us in the lobby. Went to our room to get ready for the 5:30 orientation meeting. There were 10 out of the 11 present for the meeting. Apparently, there is another woman (much younger - 35) who is meeting us on Saturday in Da Lat. At present, there are 5 Canadians, 3 Kiwis, and us.  Our guide explained what to expect from the trip and handed out the swag - bag, bottle, and shirt.



Dinner at the Temple Club was excellent. They prepared non-meat dishes for us when meat was served. The Vietnamese eat several course meals. Either served all at once or  one at a time. Tonight's menu was four courses. Khong said that there could be as many as ten.

Tomorrow we take the bus out of town and prepare the bikes. We then bike over to the Cu Chi Tunnels - more on that tomorrow - about 15 miles or so as a bike warm-up. Bus back to the city with an option of going to the War Remnants Museum. We took pictures there yesterday but we didn't go inside. Guess we will probably go. Goodnight for now.

Next time:  Biking to Cu Chi Tunnels