Hanging out in Ho Chi Minh City

Well, Airtreks seems to have been down the entire week that we have been in Saigon! So here is a quick update on what we have been doing.....heaps of traffic here and it is mostly motorcycles, bicycles, cyclos (trishaws), etc,....they say just walk across the street and they will miss you....hahaha!!! And the sights, sounds and smells(although not that of the urine that occasionally hits you) are wonderful....the sound of the noodle knockers means that food is close by if you cannot already smell it! Most shopping is on the streets where you can find many books that are not originals but copies at very cheap prices.....should have waited to buy my Lonely Planet for $3 rather than $23!

$1 USA = 15000 vietnamese dong (VND)

1 March - We awoke early at the homestay for great Vietnamese coffee and departed our Delta Homestay at 7am on the small boat out to the Mekong Delta and then down another creek to visit a coconut candy making factory with free samples….then back out to the big river to transfer to the big boat for our return to Ben Tre and two hour drive to the city of Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. We arrived at the Embassy Hotel at 10:30am and said goodbye to Fiona and Chris who were heading back to Australia. We then had lunch near the hotel at a small local restaurant affectionately known as Blue Chairs as they have these plastic blue chairs that appear to be for children at very short tables, now remembering that the Vietnamese are small people and do not need a very big chair. We enjoyed our rice and pork chop lunch with a soda water for only 12000 VND (remember $1 US = 15000 VND vietnamese dong). In the afternoon we did a cyclo trip of all the sites of Saigon.

2 March – After a breakfast omelette at the hotel, we walked down to the Orchid Hotel to suss it out as we depart from there on 11 March with Gecko for our trip through Vietnam. We like the Embassy better so will stay here until next Monday. We then returned to say goodbye Caroline (who may be our leader for the Laos trip), Margaret and Tony. We spent the afternoon walking around the city and then a great foot massage at Rose’s at the hotel for one and one half hours for 150000 VND.

3 March – We walked to what is known as the Backpackers Area…..Pham Ngu Lao and had lunch at Café 333…..I broke down and had a burger as we have had our share of rice and noodles. Jan decided to stop at the Vietnamese Traditional Medicine Institute for a massage from a blind masseuse….I gave it a miss and am glad that I did as it was not that great….she got her $2 worth. I returned to the hotel via the Cong Vien Van Hoa Park and enjoyed watching the young people roller skating in the rink. We then had great chicken noodle soup vietnamese style at the Blue Chairs café. I have been wanting to see a film as our television in the room only has CNN and not Star Movies….and if there is a movie on another station, it is dubbed in Vietnamese but we have been unable to find any cinemas that have english films….supposedly there is one out by the airport but that is too far to go for just a movie!

4 March – Up early to visit the Reunification Palace(previously known as Independence Palace where the first Communist tanks in Saigon rushed on the morning of 30 April 1975…and the tanks still sit in the front yard and a helicopter sits on the roof) for the 7:30 opening. The building, once the symbol of the South Vietnamese government, is preserved almost as it was on that day in April 1975 when the Republic of Vietnam ceased to exist. After the tour (in English with my own private guide), there was a 40 minute film on the history of Vietnam with some great film and photography. The best part of the tour was the basement with its network of tunnels, telecommunications centre(very old equipment….museum pieces) and war room with heaps of great maps showing the war strategy. Back to the hotel for breakfast and then to T&T Travel so extend our 35 day visa….we arrive in Hanoi on the day that it ends so decided to extend it here where we have more time. More walking around the city with great views from level 15 of the Landmark Centre at le Caprice restaurant. Joe and Tim leave tomorrow for KL so we all had a wonderful vietnamese dinner at Mandarine….and very expensive…..about $11 per person!

5 March – Up early again to visit the Ho Chi Minh City Museum (and where heaps of couples have their wedding photos taken). This was formerly known as Gia Long Palace and Revolutionary Museum and is housed in a grey neoclassical structure built in 1886…..great collection of artefacts and photos on the history. There is also a tunnel network beneath this building that connects with the Reunification Palace but it is closed because it is full of water and mosquitos (per the guard at the door). Also some more tanks and airplanes and old cars on display. Returned to the hotel to say goodbye to Joe and Tim and then shopping at the Ben Tranh Market and along Dong Khoi Street.

6 March – A long walk this morning to visit areas north of here. We took photos of the Binh Soup Shop which was the secret headquarters of the VC in Saigon; it was from here that the VC planned its attack on the US embassy and other places within Saigon during the Tet Offensive in 1968….were those American soldiers that ate there aware that the staff were all VC infiltrators? Stopped at the Tan Dinh Church and a fruit shake at TIB and a bit of news at the British Council and looksee at the Sofitel and shopping at Nguyen Freres and a great lunch at the Sushi Bar (you can guess what the lunch was). Ventured to visit another supermarket at the Diamond Mall and found the IBM office in the Metropolitan Building nearby which is also near the Post Office and the Notre Dame.

7 March – Another early morning and long walk to the Ho Chi Minh Museum which opened at 7:30am….this museum is housed in the old customs house and nicknamed the Dragon House and built in 1863. The museum houses many of Uncle Ho’s personal effects, including some of his clothing(his dress was very informal), sandals (rubber tires) and other memorabilia…..great history of his life and his many names/aliases. We then went on to the Fine Arts Museum which is in a beautiful classic yellow building with a bit of Chinese influence…..a bit of mish mash of art and historical pieces such as sculptures from the early period. We then visited the Phung Son Tu Pagoda (of which there are heaps here) with its huge incense spirals that burn for hours (and drop ashes on your head as you walk underneath).). Another break from rice and noodles for italian ravioli at Santa Lucia and then to the Beauty Emporium for a haircut from Billy for 20000 VND after a half hour shampoo massage for another 20000 VND…..over $2 US!

8 March – We posted our many purchases today at the Main Post Office…..8kgs for me for 580000 VND…the weight is mostly the books with which I cannot part! And then a facial at Rose’s at the hotel for one and one half hours at 150000VND. I forgot to mention that the upper floors of our hotel advertise Karaoke but when you arrive on level 7, you are greeted by about 20 young girls eagerly awaiting to take you to the private numbered rooms…..needless to say they were not that happy to see me arrive on the lift so I promptly turned around and went back down.

We then hired our cyclo drivers for the afternoon (three hours for 50000 vnd) to take us to China Town for chicken chow mein lunch at Tiem An Nam Long and then shopping at the Cholon/Binh Tay Market. We returned with a stop at the Thien Hau Pagoda (more incense spirals and beautiful carvings) and at the An Dong Market. We walked to T&T Travel to retrieve our visas which were not ready (of course) but they did deliver them to the hotel later in the evening. Even though we do not depart until Monday, we had told them that we were departing on Saturday so we are glad to have our passports back…another $25 US for another 30 days in Vietnam!

9 March – After brekkie at the hotel, I retrieved a roll of film that I had developed…only 15000 vnd for developing and index sheet….I should have done all of my film but I have now posted it all to the USA. And then for some internet which is a bit faster on a Saturday! Great squid and garlic lunch at Restaurant 13 and then exploring a new street (Hai Ba Trung) for more shops before a rest at the hotel and a read of Grahame Greene's A Quiet American (which was just recently filmed here starring Michael Caine...maybe it is out in America soon?). We perused the outdoor bookstalls to purchase a few more books for our journey north....very cheap books as they are all copies! Two that I purchased are Hitchhiking in Vietnam by Karen Muller(1998 travelogue detailing a woman's tumultuous seven month journey through Vietnam...homepage is on www.pbs.org) and A Dragon Apparent by Norman Lewis (his journeys thru Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia in the 1930's). Also have been retrieving cash from the ATM at either ANZ or HSBC....max allowed is 2 million vietnamese dong which is about $133 USA....we are millionaires!

10 March - Getting close to the end of our stay in Saigon although we leave with Gecko on Tuesday for a Mekong Delta stay overnite on Wednesday, we return on Thursday before heading north on Friday. Leisurely brekkie at the hotel and talking with other Intrepid folks that have either arrived or are leaving for a trip and then to Internet. I think that I will do a pool today at one of the posh hotels to get a bit of colour before we start 21 days of driving....which we did at the Rex Hotel...got a bit of sun and a snooze at the roof top pool and then a pasta lunch at Givraly Cafe across from the Continental Hotel (made famous by Graham Greene's Quiet American). A stop at the Russian market to buy a couple of dollar DVD movies (will have to wait til I get home to see if they really work although when we were at Ken's in Bangkok we did watch a few and they did work) and a dark chocolate ice cream at Fanny's before another foot massage before we leave Saigon.

11 March - An early brekkie and then a 12000 vnd taxi to the Orchid Hotel to meet our Gecko tour tonite at 6pm.