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March 9-11 – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
We arrived at our dock on the afternoon of the 8th. We are at an industrial dock so there are no facilities like you would find at a cruise terminal. However, that did not stop the vendors from setting up shop. The busses started arriving before we were even fully docked. The timing for this port changed. We got in a ½ day early and will be leaving a littler earlier than originally planned. The ship has shifted any tours that were scheduled for Saturday to the Wednesday, the 8th.
Our tour here
is an overnight stay in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). We left soon after breakfast
and headed into the City. We know that much of the old Saigon was damaged/destroyed
during the Vietnam War. The city sat as it was for many years after the war was
over. But in the last 20 years (app) it has rebuilt itself. It is now a city of
14 million with extensive massive high-rise apartment blocks. There are also
about 11 million motor bikes. Depending on the size of the engine determines
how much the license costs, so most of them are of the smaller variety.
Needless to say traffic was intense.
Our first stop
was at a museum. Our guide is quite knowledgeable and enjoyed educating us
about numerous pieces of art and the significance of that to their history and
culture.
Then we went to
the Reunification Palace. It was built after the war on the site of a prior “palace”
of the Vietnam government. There are lovely rooms of state that continue to be
utilized for meetings with dignitaries, etc. There is also a bunker in the
basement that was very interesting. It reminded us of the Churchill bunker in
London that we visited many years ago.
After a lovely
lunch we went to check into our hotel for the night. We are at the Sheraton
Saigon, right in the heart of the old City. Our room is about twice the size of
what we have on the ship, so we felt as though we were in the lap of luxury.
After a brief
rest, we headed for a lacquer studio. We received an orientation on the steps
that are taken in making a piece of lacquerware. Then we were allowed to watch
a couple of the artisans at their work. Then, of course, we were allowed to
shop. I must admit, it was all very impressive and a good many of our group
walked out with purchases. (Including me)
Next came another meal. It seems as though we just ate lunch, how are we supposed to eat dinner. But the food was very good and we all managed to clean our plates. The facility was quite lovely.
Our last stop
for the day was the Water Puppet Show. I’m not sure what we expected to see.
But that wasn’t it. We were fascinated and thoroughly enjoyed it. We still don’t
have a clue how they actually handle the puppets. So much movement! So much
color! The music was very traditional and not something I would choose to
listen to, (it is very shrill) but was perfect with the actions of the puppets.
The entire theatre was filled with Viking passengers. We had no idea how many
puppeteers there were until the end of the show. There were 8 standing in waist
deep water. (See below)
We got back to
the hotel a bit after 9:00 p.m.
The next morning,
we were up around our normal time. An extensive buffet breakfast is included,
so we enjoyed that, just the way we do every morning on the ship. We need to be
in the lobby with our packed bag at 9:00 a.m. Everybody gathered, baggage was
loaded on our bus and then our first event of the day was a ped-i-cab ride
around the old City. A bit comical to see 28 ped-i-cabs trying to stick
together through the city streets. The pics won’t show the amount of traffic
the bikes were having to compete with, but it was a lot. It never seemed to
bother the peddeler; and we never felt unsafe. And you do get to see things
from a totally different perspective.
After the ped-i-cab
ride, we explored the old Post Office built in the late 1800’s by the French.
It reminded us of many of the old train stations we’ve visited in France. The
next stop was at a coffee shop preferred by our guide. He wanted to introduce
us to Vietnam Coffee. It took a while for it to be delivered, but it was well
worth the wait. A mixture of very strong coffee (past espresso) and sweetened
condensed milk that has been steamed and frothed. It was like a hot coffee
milkshake on steroids. But really yummy.
We made a stop at a temple in Saigon’s Chinatown. It is a Chinese-style temple of the Chinese Goddess of Sea, Mazu. It was first built in the mid-1700s and is heavily
decorated.
We also visited two large markets. On the first day we stopped at one near our hotel. It reminds us of central markets we have seen all over the world. 1,500 stalls I think all crammed together, all trying to get your attention to shop at their stall. We did get lucky and were able to buy a suitcase for a reasonable amount. We don’t expect it to hold up too long, but hopefully it will get us home as one of our bags was pretty well destroyed on the trip to Fort Lauderdale.
A second market was visited on the second day of our excursion. It caters to shop owners who resell what they buy, so everything is in bulk. We chose to not explore that one.
We
were back to the ship around 2:00 after a grand adventure.
Happy to see this pop up in my email this morning...Vietnam has been on my "wish to see" list and I was curious how you would find it. Also, for some unknown reason I am quite drawn to buddhas. Miss your actual voice but can "hear" it through your blogs, and loving it. Have no clue as to whether you see my comments but will continue to "post" once in a while just so you know your sister is sending love through the clouds.
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