ITE HCMC 2012 - Day 1 - Tuesday 11 Septermber 2012

Legend Hotel

I awake and found a lovely Vietnamese French bakery fro breakfast, then returned to the hotel to check out. With a wheelies suitcase, backpack and laptop bag I then walked to my new hotel on the other side of the city. It was quite a journey on foot, as I dodged the broken or non-existent pavements, the parked motor bikes and market stalls.

After settling into the Legend Hotel I ventured down to the lobby, our meeting point for our afternoon River Tour. I was met by our volunteer guides and the other 2 people staying at our hotel, then drove to pick up another 3 people from a nearby hotel and driven to the wharf on the Saigon River. The boat took us a short distance down the river and we disembarked for a walking tour of a traditional Vietnamese craft village where we saw paintings, pottery, statues and laquerware.  The bus then picked us up and drove us to several artists residences/studios where we met the internationally famous artists and enjoyed refreshments..

Continental Hotel

It was then back to the hotel for a quick change before pick-up for the Welcome Dinner at the Continental Hotel. The buffet style meal was a good introduction to Vietnamese Cuisine that I was to enjoy in the coming days.

A late night function was organised, however I decided to go back to the Legend Hotel for an early night.