And on Tuesday last week, about 50 yards downstream, sure enough, the river spilled its banks.
If you really want to go swimming, a better alternative is one of the fantastic Olympic size pools around town, especially at lunch times. Open at 5am, the mornings are busy. From 11am-2pm (the lunch time session) the pool is deserted. Swim a few unobstructed laps and then lounge around in the shade with a book before going home for a nap - who said a day in HCM involves becoming covered in grit and horn-deaf? The evenings are also not a bad time to go - from 5-8. I go to the Hai Quan swimming pool which is just 2 mins drive from the Sheraton Hotel and the heart of D1 -- all the slobby office expats up there could do with taking a longer lunch and making use of this great facility. It costs 18,000 dong for a swim. Off hand I can think of four other such pools all within easy reach of the city, I'm sure plenty more exist. Apologies for the wonky photo.
3 comments:
I was in Thu Duc to visit my uncle and as I was taking the bus back home (to Phu My Hung), I witnessed everyone riding through the water, astrogliding with grace, no fright. Beautiful.
Regarding the subject of swimming, is it unusual to see a native VNmese woman or girl who knows how to swim at the pools you visit? The reason i ask is because as a VNmese girl growing up in 70s VN, passersby often stared or made comments when they see me swimming in the ocean. As I recalled, back then the culture considered it not feminine for a female to know how to swim. Is this still true in today's VN?
VG:
I'm not sure about the cultural reasons behind it. There are plenty of school girls who go to the pools at the weekends, and I've seen girls in swimming clubs as well. It seems like teenagers use the pool at weekends as a date venue or a fun day out. As for adult women, I can't say I've seen that many, maybe they all go in the mornings!
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