Liberation Day Saigon

Well, I'm going to have to work backwards for a little while. Today is Liberation Day here in Ho Chi Minh (aka Saigon) and we've had a great day! The AMA Lotus arrived in port around 9 AM and we disembarked our home for the past week. The experiences we've had in Cambodia and Vietnam to date have been awesome and I'll get them updated shortly. I'm sorry for the delay, but the ship internet was intermittent and I couldn't use my computer with the pictures on it....

However, today we saw another part of Vietnam and another face of the people. The fields we passed by were lush and green and well irrigated. We were told that the rice grown in this region is particularly special - coming from seeds with 300 year old pedigree. It takes 200 days to grow rather than the newer versions used in the north which can be cultivated and harvested in 90-100 days. The variety we were seeing today is much more expensive that the other type and apparently particularly fragrant and a delicacy even for the the Vietnamese.

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh after approximately 60 minutes and were taken first to a Chinese temple and then to the former palace, now Reunification building. The tour there was interesting with many rooms furnished with ornate furniture, famous agreements having been signed there, and ending off with a walk through the lower levels designed and built for protection during a nuclear bomb. The rooms had radio gear, living and working quarters, and long, narrow, hot hallways. There was a strategy room and individual offices for important people such as the president. The whole thing reminded me of the underground tunnels and bunkers under the Dover Castle in England, from which a lot of the 2nd World War was watched and commanded.

It was a bit of a madhouse there today with hundreds of people out for the celebrations. We even got held up because of a cycle race, blocking off certain road approaches.

We came along to the Notre Dame Cathedral and the old post office originally built as a train station and of beautiful French architecture. Then on to a lacquer-ware production centre. We learned that true quality lacquer-ware, with mother of pearl or duck egg shell embedded can take up to 9 months to produce. Such a small workshop, but truly lovely products made.

We then enjoyed another extremely busy local market with hundreds and hundreds of vendors selling anything from embroidered shoes to pots and pans, from Hong Kong silk to tailor made suits and dresses. All vendors are keen to sell and can be a little pushy, but then the competition is great. A little bargaining goes a long way and most people were successful in getting a little something for their friends or grandchildren.

We enjoyed a typical Vietnamese lunch at a lovely restaurant, including another birthday celebration for one of our group. The food included shrimp, vegetables, stewed beef, fragrant rice and....the inevitable beer - this time Saigon beer - another winner in the long list of local beers we've tried!

The rest of the day was left to ourselves and we headed to first, the post office for more stamps and second, to the pool to cool off! After a nice, simple dinner in the hotel we retired to our room to awake the piece de resistance of the day - fireworks!

At the appointed time, we headed to the rooftop pool and our superb vantage point ready for the show. It started exactly on time and we saw many old favourite types of colours and shapes. It was a great night to be in Saigon and we enjoyed the show very much.