The ride to Ho Chi Minh City is very scenic as is cuts across rice fields and over several picturesque bridges and overpasses, I brought my Ipod loaded with shows to pass the time but did not even take it out of my pack, so this was a pleasant experience. We did have a guide on board, Thin (pronounced, Tin) who loved to talk about his country and city, so we were well entertained with his broken english. Oh, did I mention that he loves to sing, yes, we were entertained.
Ho Chi Minh City is alive with a plethora of local flavour with its colours, aromas, sights and people living fully at the street level. With 6 million scooters in this city, the streets are a buzz as you dodge your way across the intersections with people on the curbs cooking food for both themselves as well as to purchase. Today we saw just about everything happening right at the street level, some un-photographable and in poor taste to comment about, so lets just say here people are not shy.
The French called their colonial capital the Pearl of the Orient and the triumphant Communists renamed it Ho Chi Minh City. But this former Cambodian port town is still called Saigon by almost everyone who lives here. HCMC is rich in cultural attractions and appreciates it past as much as it does to its future. Lovely balconied buildings lining wide boulevards are an elegant memento of Saigon's French colonial influence. Other reminders of the French colonial era include delectable baguettes and croissants and the many bistro cafes. The city's character remains French, yet resolutely Asian.
We left the drop off zone (Financial District) and headed to the Ben Thanh Market which is HCMC's most lively market selling everything from food (fresh, alive and/or cooked) to clothing and everything souvenir. Jan purchased a few items here which quickly depleted our funds for the day - we needed to hit an ATM. We quickly found out that the prices at this market were probably the best from any of the other ports visited so far on this journey. Barbara (our travel consultant on board) did give us the heads up that the shopping here in this market will probably be the best for this entire voyage. So before going to crazy here at the market, we took in a few sites. Well not so fast, on the way to the Reunification Palace we did pass a very nice (Spa Utopia grade) Spa, offering 30 minute foot reflexology for about ten dollars, so we stopped for 30 minutes of bliss, ah. Then it was to the Palace for a photo stop then across a nice park area on the way for another photo stop at the Notre Dame Cathedral built back in 1880. After more dodging of traffic we had a nice visit to the Central Post Office, you ask why? This was built in 1886 and has been perfectly kept including the old phone boxes, newerish phones that work perfectly, in fact Jan placed a call to her mom as it is her Birthday tomorrow, Happy Birthday Doris. Back to this amazing building, it was built by the renowned architect Gustave Eiffel (now I don't need to tell anyone what building on this planet carries his name). So pretty interesting when we learned this. Oh yes, then it was to the ATM and back to the market for more "deals". With all our cash once again depleted and with a bit of time on our hands we found ourselves back at the Indochine Spa for full body sixty minute messages, with our choice of oils, nice - now how did that happen. They take Visa so no problem putting the $25 each on the card. Back to bus at 2:29 for the 2:30 pick up and we were back to the ship by 4pm. Nice Day here in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).
Hope you enjoy our day in photos...
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