Day 20 Saigon

Bored with the area our hotel is in (OK if you like Gucci and expensive souvenirs), Stray went looking for another hotel with Hieu, a taxi bike rider. The power went out where our current hotel was, which made packing our bags really uncomfortable and poor Stray had already spent the morning running up and down stairs in about six different hotels.

We decided on Madame Cuc's 3 Hotel which is located in the same district, but in a more interesting area not far from the Ben Thanh Markets...and we saved a massive US$14.00 per night :) The hotel had no elevator, but it did have an electric winch to upload and download luggage.
The staff where wonderful, even sharing their cooked duck embryos with Stray. The room came with a free modest breakfast, dinner, and all day bananas, tea, coffee and juice. It was by no means the Ritz, but a lot more entertaining and personal.

People watching from the hotel entrance was always a good time passer...like why are Vietnamese people walking into the police station next door with pink books in the evening, or why are young men riding around on bicycles at night shaking rattles as they go?

The pink books turned out to be records of foreigners staying at the local hotels, passport details etc. Their way of keeping track of who is where. We probably do the same, but in a computerised version.

We were told that the young boys were offering massages and I think the person who told us this, really believed it. After Googling it, I found that they are actually male prostitutes.