Ho Chi Minh City and Old Saigon

 Every port is different!  Although our stateroom is on the port side (called that because historically, it was the side of the ship pulled up to the port so the "steer board", later "starboard", which was on the right side, wouldn't get rammed into the dock) we were away from the dock.  This was the view from our veranda for the 36 hours we were berthed on Thi Vai River adjacent to the Mekong Delta.  The starboard view was nothing to share.



We just had a little "meet and greet" this morning where we had a chance to visit with the captain and his wife who serves as the ship's hostess.  David asked him about the method by which a port berth is reserved.  He said that many of the spots are reserved 5 or 6 years in advance.  Since the fleet of Viking ocean-going ships is only about 5 years old, we are down on the list for the some of the sweet spots where access to the points of interest is less convenient.  Our ship's berth (the gray circle) was about 40 miles from Ho Chi Minh City.  Nevertheless, the predicted long commutes for our forays into Vietnam turned out to be much shorter than expected.

 Our remote location didn't stop this performing group from coming to welcome us when we docked around noon.    

David and I hadn't signed up for an excursion for the first afternoon in port.  A shuttle bus was available to a town called Ba Ria, but we were told there was little more than a big grocery store there.  That didn't interest David, so my quilting friend, Pam, and I decided to go together.  The bus ride was not the 90 minutes that was predicted, but only 30 minutes--time spent absorbing the scenes of local life along the way.  When we arrived, the grocery co-op was somewhat similar to a Walmart with a little of everything.  Pam and I wondered up and down the aisles looking to see what we recognized and what was unfamiliar.  

Same soft drinks, but with a local look to their labels.  Don't you wish our drinks had such pretty designs on them?  

The upper left photo with the fish, was in the ice cream bar freezer.  I was very surprised to find a Gala apple with the Washington state apple logo at the bottom of the barcode--yay Washington!  The bottom right photo is of agave spikes (I think), and the bottom left is dragon fruit.  We've been served dragon fruit in the breakfast fruit cocktail mix on board and I've seen it in Harmon's but I think it looks wonderfully exotic.  

Figure this one out!  Truly lost in translation.

The top picture is of insect larvae and the bottom are chicken feet.  I haven't seen either of these in my local grocery store, have you?

We were curious about what we might find if we ventured away from the co-op.  It only took us a couple of blocks to find this three story open air market.  It was huge and had everything you might want, from the hardware stall next to the sewing machine/lace and embellishment stall, housewares, toys, electronics, dragon costumes, etc.

My nose didn't warn me soon enough to avoid the dried fish market on the top floor.  David and I had talked about all the little fishing boats that we see in the waters around the Viking Sun.  He said they stay at sea for several days at a time.  I wondered how they preserved the fish since I knew they were unlikely to have the refrigeration capabilities that our commercial fishing boats have.  After seeing all the dried fish, I think I understand how they were able to preserve their catch and bring it to market.  

The next day, our full-day included excursion took us to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon until 1975).  Most of the locals still call it Saigon.  Although it was a different road than the one the shuttle bus had taken the day before, it had much the same look to it.   The streets were lined with small shops, many in the open air.  Set back from the shop was a 3-story "tube house" that was very narrow (12-15 ft.wide) and extended back from that.  The shops are narrow to accommodate the growing need for a source of revenue, and the owner's home was built behind it.

There were many coffee shops which were not much more than an open-air thatched roof pavilion.  What can't be seen in this photo taken from a moving bus is the rows of hammocks set beside the chairs.  After the customer has his cup of coffee, he can stretch out in the hammock for a nap.  Throughout our visit, I saw many people napping by their little stall or on the sidewalk.  I thought it was quite different from our culture, but could understand that in a hot and humid place where people do very physical work, it's nice to take a rest in the middle of the day. 

I don't have a picture of the many modern catholic churches I saw in about a 2:1 ratio to the Buddhist temples.  Apparently about 75% of the 95 million residents of Vietnam either practice their folk religion, or are atheistic.  Contrary to my observations, Buddhists outweigh Catholics by 2:1.  I saw several outdoor sculpture yards with Madonnas next to Buddhas.

In a rural area, we saw a few water buffalo.  I know it's hard to see them in the photo, but I didn't want to crop it because I like the contrast with the power poles in the background.  We saw a farmer, his conical "non la" on his head, using an hand plow pulled by a water buffalo.  We couldn't unlock our phones fast enough to catch that shot.  

This is a little hard to see too, but was very interesting to me.  These are "nipa palms", also called "water coconuts".  They have no trunk and the fronds, which are used for thatching, come straight out of the water.  The fruit is not like the regular coconut, but is edible.  Standing water in the front of the picture was covered with lotus flowers, like the water lilies we are used to seeing.

We saw several acres of rice paddies on the drive.  

Our guide warned us about the traffic in Saigon, but said that it would be lighter on Sunday.  The motorbikes have a clearly dedicated lane to themselves, but there is not always unity in the direction of the flow.  The lanes serve no purpose when it comes to turning at an intersection--we gasped several times as a motorbike swerved right in front of the bus, missing it by inches.  The bus driver kept one hand on his horn warning any who were encroaching that he was coming through.

Many of the motorbike riders and passengers wore the hood of their jacket or a separate head covering under the helmet--to keep the hair from blowing everywhere, or to keep it clean?  Don't know.   Motorbikes are used to transport whole families, with mothers holding small children in their arms, or a bigger child sandwiched between her parents.  One of my quilt group ladies reported seeing four on a bike--the parent and three children.  Another lady saw a mother holding her baby in one arm and driving with the other.  Traffic stops are a chance for a cold drink vender to wander among the bikes and sell some refreshment.

The French controlled Vietnam and neighboring Laos and Cambodia as French Indochina for somewhere around 85 years until the revolution led by Ho Chi Minh expelled them in 1954.  They left behind many beautiful buildings in the center of the city.  The top left photo is the Opera House, built in 1897.  To the right of it is the cathedral built entirely from materials imported from France.  The bottom right photo is the City Hall built in the early 1900s.  The Hotel Continental was originally built in the 1880s.  During the Vietnam war, this was a very popular hangout for the journalists covering the war.

The Post Office was also built by the French in the late 1880s.  It has become a tourist attraction and the central lobby and both wings are filled with souvenirs for sale.  The map in the lower left shows historic Saigon and it is found opposite a map of southern Vietnam.  "Uncle Ho" smiles down from the end of the central hall, which continues to function as a post office despite the press of tourists.

We visited the Reunification Palace, also called Independence Palace.  It was the home and workplace of the president of South Vietnam during the war.  When the North Vietnam army tank 843 crashed through the gates on April 30, 1975, the war came to an end with the Fall of Saigon.

 The palace is now a museum where you can step back in time to that era.  We saw all five floors from the Huey on the roof, to the President's office, the reception rooms and the bunker in the basement with the war command and communication center.

Throughout the center of the city, especially in parks, were these giant flowers to add color and beauty.

We spent just a few minutes at the Ben Thanh market  It was similar in many ways to the Filipino market in Kota Kinabalu.  I managed to get out without buying anything, but there were many items that tempted me sorely...

especially in this fabric stall.  Drool!!

There is a Chinatown in Saigon and in the midst of it is the Ba Then Hau Pagoda.  The sea goddess Mazu is appealed to by burning incense along with prayers offered.  Porcelain dioramas decorate the interior opening of the central courtyard.  Conical coils of incense can burn for 7 days--standing under them is a little dangerous as the ashes fall to the ground.  The pink strips of paper have the names of donors and the amount of their donations.  

We had another destination performance at the end of our day in Vietnam.  It was fascinating and colorful, but I wished I had a better background into eastern folk traditions and music.