After a poor night’s sleep, we woke early, a little bit ragged because of the late arrival and drama of the previous 2 days in trying to resolve the visa problem.
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| In a taxi on the way to Tao Dan Park |
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| In 2006: Practicing with members of the HCMC District 1 Wushu Tai Chi group |
When we were last here in 2006, I found a group practising on the Opera House steps who were happy for me to join them, but I found the area is no longer available.
After arriving at the park, and seeing lots of people doing various types of exercises, but no Tai Chi, I started heading back to the hotel. Fortunately I came across a group practising Tai Chi sword and was able to join them for some practice. Again the group was very friendly and happy for me to join them and invited me to join them at any time in the future.
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| Exercising in the park |
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| Tai Chi group practicing sword |
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| With the Tai Chi group |
Having missed out on the scheduled walking tour, because of my own personal excursion, I walked for about 30 minutes through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City back to the hotel in my own walking tour. It was hot and humid, only relieved by a slight breeze which came up during the walk. Meanwhile, Frances did the official walk, but then had a dip in the pool to refresh herself.
I think the city has changed considerably over the last 18 years as I recognised very little from our earlier trip, however, it was nice to see there were still many small, restaurants, and street stalls selling all the traditional foods.
There are still thousands of motor scooters used for private transport, virtually all using petrol motors, no electric ones, in contrast to China, so the traffic noise is still substantial.