Feb 18th: Con Dao

The ride through HCMC in rush hour is fun when you’re in a big safe taxi-cab. It’s hard to believe that there are not thousands of accidents every morning when you are in the mass of humanity that drive left, right, and straight ahead with no clear cut rules. However we have seen no accidents and the drivers seem calm cool and collected at all times. The traffic tempo is slow, bur there are few traffic jams, just slow spots around construction sights.
We headed back to the airport and flew to Con Dao Island this morning. After a brief flight of 45 min and a bus to the hotel we were swimming in the ocean by 11:30. The island is a delight with warm water, sandy beaches and old spacious French architecture everywhere. We have a room overlooking the ocean and the seafront is full of small fishing boats. The island is reknown for the prisons it has hosted during the French colonial times and the civil war. The prisons are now closed and Con Dao and the surrounding islands are a national park and the prisons are attractions for visitors. The island is relatively undeveloped and quiet. Joan and I walked into town this afternoon and toured the local market. We bought some fruit and a knife and sat on the seawall eating something that looked like a big apple. I cut off a piece, peeled it, and started to eat it. It tasted a bit like glue and looked a lot like glue. It was awful. Then I tried to wipe my hands and the serviette struck to my finger and shredded when I wiped my face. Then a young girl on a bicycle rode up to us and described in sign language how to cut it and eat it. It 15 seconds she had us sorted out. You cut it in 4 and eat the centre, not the glue on the outside. It did taste a lot better like that.