Had a close miss with some form of 'explosion' here in Saigon last night. The layout of Saigon won't mean much to many of you I know but I'll explain anyway.
I walked from the Sheraton to an Indian Restaurant on Hai Ba Trung called Tandoor. This meant leaving the side entrance of the Sheraton on Dong Khoi St, turn right past Mojo cafe and right at the corner to go past the front of the Caravelle Hotel. You then have a couple of options to get across to Tandoor which is diagonally across the square were all the taxis park in front of the Hyatt.
Shortly after 9.30pm I was then sat in Tandoor at a table on ground level right next to the huge window when there was an almighty BANG !!!!...followed by all the huge plate glass windows in Tandoor shaking like hell. I looked out and saw a mass of smoke coming from the entance of the Caravelle Hotel. People in the square in front of the Hyatt were running around, all the Hyatt staff were out and there was general panic and chaos. Minutes later all the Police and Ambulances start arriving.
By this point, people were saying it was a bomb, and it certainly did sound, look and feel like one, especially with the shockwaves carrying all the way over to Tandoor and shaking the windows. I settled my bill and walked up a few doors to O'Briens where I was meeting friends to watch the football at 10pm. One of the guys in there is an ex Northern Ireland Policeman, who was walking nearby and heard it and said it sounded like a bomb, and he's heard a few over the years !!.
An hour or so later we walked past going to another bar and the area around the Caravelle was all cordoned off and the front was an absolute mess. There was debris all over the floor, right where I had walked around 10 minutes before it happened.
In the next couple of bars the bush telegraph was full of conflicting reports, theories and ideas, the most elaborate of which was a terrorist attack. I wasn't having this, not in Vietnam. I know those f*ckwits could attack anywhere, but it would be pointless here and there is not enough 'western value', for want of a better desciption. Later reports suggested some form of gas explosion, which seems much more plausible to me. It was quite big whatever it was, and the girls in the lounge at the Sheraton have told me they have got guests from the Caravelle checking in here today.
There is nothing on any news channels about it, (although being a communist country that's not surprising - I nearly got nicked trying to take a picture last night ) so it can't have been too serious after all. I am moving to the Hyatt shortly so I will see what it's like there now.
Just glad I went past when I did rather than ten minutes later. Good old Premier League Football kick-off times eh.
I walked from the Sheraton to an Indian Restaurant on Hai Ba Trung called Tandoor. This meant leaving the side entrance of the Sheraton on Dong Khoi St, turn right past Mojo cafe and right at the corner to go past the front of the Caravelle Hotel. You then have a couple of options to get across to Tandoor which is diagonally across the square were all the taxis park in front of the Hyatt.
Shortly after 9.30pm I was then sat in Tandoor at a table on ground level right next to the huge window when there was an almighty BANG !!!!...followed by all the huge plate glass windows in Tandoor shaking like hell. I looked out and saw a mass of smoke coming from the entance of the Caravelle Hotel. People in the square in front of the Hyatt were running around, all the Hyatt staff were out and there was general panic and chaos. Minutes later all the Police and Ambulances start arriving.
By this point, people were saying it was a bomb, and it certainly did sound, look and feel like one, especially with the shockwaves carrying all the way over to Tandoor and shaking the windows. I settled my bill and walked up a few doors to O'Briens where I was meeting friends to watch the football at 10pm. One of the guys in there is an ex Northern Ireland Policeman, who was walking nearby and heard it and said it sounded like a bomb, and he's heard a few over the years !!.
An hour or so later we walked past going to another bar and the area around the Caravelle was all cordoned off and the front was an absolute mess. There was debris all over the floor, right where I had walked around 10 minutes before it happened.
In the next couple of bars the bush telegraph was full of conflicting reports, theories and ideas, the most elaborate of which was a terrorist attack. I wasn't having this, not in Vietnam. I know those f*ckwits could attack anywhere, but it would be pointless here and there is not enough 'western value', for want of a better desciption. Later reports suggested some form of gas explosion, which seems much more plausible to me. It was quite big whatever it was, and the girls in the lounge at the Sheraton have told me they have got guests from the Caravelle checking in here today.
There is nothing on any news channels about it, (although being a communist country that's not surprising - I nearly got nicked trying to take a picture last night ) so it can't have been too serious after all. I am moving to the Hyatt shortly so I will see what it's like there now.
Just glad I went past when I did rather than ten minutes later. Good old Premier League Football kick-off times eh.
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