Nov. 3 & 4: Viet Nam



Welcome Upon Arrival in Saigon



Our arrival in Viet Nam was preceded by a rocky and rolling night at sea.  We docked in Ho Chi Minh City after a two hour cruise up the Mikong River.  It was early morning and dark when we entered the river and we watched the fishing boats and the silhouettes of the trees on the forested banks as dawn broke over the country side.  We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City to sunshine and clear skies and a Welcome banner held by 5 Viet Nemeses ladies in full native dress.

Our first event at the port was to take a city orientation tour, and the first thing our tour guide asked everyone on the bus was “Where are you at.”  Most of the passengers said we were in Ho Chi Minh City and the guide told us we were in Saigon.  He was south Viet Nemeses and said that most of the people in the city did not like the name change from Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City and still referred to the city as Saigon.  The sites included on the orientation tour included China Town, the Reunification Building (formerly the Presidential Palace prior to the end of the war), the old Post Office that was built in the late 1800’s, a museum and a water puppet show that has been going on for about 1000 years.   Our guide also pointed out the Rex Hotel where the majority of the news reporters stayed and all the evening news about the Viet Nam war was broadcast.  The building where the U.S. helicopter pulled the last of the U.S. personnel out of Saigon on the last day of the war was also pointed out.  I always thought that last flight was picking up people from the Presidential Palace, but come to find out it was really the CIA building a block or so from the U.S. Embassy.



For dinner we went to the Mandarin restaurant.  It was one recommended by some of the U.S. Embassy folks that came on board to give us an update on traveling in Viet Nam.  The Mandarin provided a delicious meal and the presentation was pure art.  Each course came with a carving.  The first came with a pair of cranes carved from a white radish, the next came with a carrot carved as a parrot, the rice came in a pineapple that was make to look a pheasant.  It was great food and great company for the evening.

The next day we spent exploring Saigon.  Our first stop was at the huge Saigon markets.  Walking through the old market was an adventure with its tiny stalls, narrow passageways and vendors coming at you from all directions.  There were goods of every description plus butchers, vegetables stands and eating stalls.



Rex Hotel - Roof Top Bar on Left Corner



 It did not take long to get enough of the markets and we decided to go to the Roof Top Bar in the Rex Hotel for lunch.  We found a table and then noticed that there must have been a convention of photographers staying in the hotel.  Everyone in the bar was dressed in outfits that you see the best magazine and newspaper photographer’s ware.  It seems that everybody had at least one top end Nikon camera with multiple lenses.  The photography equipment carried by most of the individual were probably worth 10s of thousands of dollars and Julie with here $200 Sony want to get a picture of this professionals.  We laughed at the view of our amateur photographer with her mini Sony photographing the pros.

Our last stop for the day was at an upscale shopping mall that we happened on accidentally.  We saw this new set of buildings where the first floor looked like they have a few shops and I was looking for a short sleeve polo shirt.  We entered and discovered that not only was the first floor a mall, but the mall continued down 6 floors and up at least 2.  It seems that the shops in the highest floor were the very expensive ones and as you moved to the basement levels, the prices got more reasonable the further down you went.  Most of the brands names you can find in any of the major shopping center in the world could be found in this mall.  Not letting high prices deter us we headed for the food court to make sure that what they were serving warranted the prices being charged.  We stopped at Fanny’s Ice Cream, had a latte and went to the grocery store.   Prices were high as was the quality.  We headed back to the ship in time for dinner.

Radish Cranes with Crab Cakes

Pineapple Pheasant for Pineapple Rice Dish