Let's Call it Saigon

While officially the city we toured is call Ho Chi Minh City these days, some of the locals still call it Saigon, and I've titled this post this way for a reason that I'll share later on.

As we came into port at Phu My  (Foo Me) there were many empty container ships awaiting cargo along the route, not surprising since this is Vietnam's largest container port with ships plying not only the waters here of the South China Sea but the Saigon River as well.  Economic gains have steadily increased in Vietnam since the turn of the 21st century.

There were also lots of small fishing boats out on this Monday morning.  I couldn't figure out what the wooden structure these boats were next to was used for, unless it held some kind of fish traps.

Smaller cruise ships can go up the Saigon River to dock right in Ho Chi Minh City but Serenade was too large thus we needed to make an hour and half drive into the metropolis from the port to see the sights for a few hours.  With an all aboard at 4:30 this didn't leave a whole lot of time in the city but we felt like our time there was optimum thanks to Xuan's planning.  Shortly after leaving the port we saw this brand new Catholic cathedral, just completed the end of 2023.  It was surprising to see, remembering that such a small percentage of the Vietnamese are Catholic.  It was also another indication that Communism continues to change in Vietnam.

Being further south than we were in Nha Trang the rice growing season is different here.  These paddies are flooded to get the new rice stalks rooted for the beginning of the second crop.  With warm temps and flat lands this part of Vietnam is able to produce three crops of rice per year rather than the two that are grown in the more hilly lands to the north.  Rain here also totals about two meters, 79 inches per year during the monsoon season.  These fields will be drained after a few days when the new stalks take root.

There were scooters and motorcycles everywhere around us on the roads.  They even have their own dedicated lanes on the right on the highways.  Most people ride these rather than driving cars because the latter are too expensive to purchase, taxes on them are incredibly high, especially makes that are imported from Japan or Germany.  Tax on those brands can be 200% of the cost of the car.  Xuan is in his 30's and he has never learned how to drive a car, he gets around on his scooter and hires a car and driver for his tours.

Most people will live in high rise apartments like these that we saw along the way into the city.  Vietnam's population is almost 100 million people, and of that around 13 million live near Ho Chi Minh City.  As in most large cities, housing is in short supply here.  We saw some beautiful new places that had been built but they were much to expensive for the average family to buy.  Many families struggle just to pay fees to send their children to school.

Once we got into the city our first stop was a Chinese-style temple.  This visit was partially because of scenic value,  plus it also had a "happy spot", those useful restrooms with actual toilets.  With the crazy traffic in Ho Chi Minh City we were told to cross the road like "sticky rice", clumping together and moving quickly to get safely across.  Mark wasn't quite sticky enough here.

Hoi Quan Tue Thanh was built in 1760 for the Chinese Goddess of the Sea. 

The details on the building are quite incredible.

You can definitely see the Chinese influence in the looks of the figures.

These pink slips that hang along the wall have the names of this year's donors on them.  They will change each year.

These unusual spiral incense cones can burn for up to two days and each have wishes, or prayers, on the attached paper.

Here are some more the the spirals ready for purchase and wishes.

Lots of incense being burned near the goddess, hanging from above and in the pots below.

Here's the goddess with offerings of flowers and fruit that have been brought to her from those seeking blessings.

These lovely bronze bells were between the incense and the idol.

Directions to the "happy spot", another new design.

Many of the usual instructions inside the stall, "no smoking" is a new one though.

Hopefully the Sea Goddess was able to keep these little imps, or devils, away from those who came to ask blessings of her.

There are going to be multiple motorcycle photos in this post, just to show the kinds of crazy things people would load on them for transport.  We even saw one guy holding on to a large sheet of glass on the side of his.

Oh my goodness, our next activity was just the best!  We each had our own trishaw to be pedaled around in through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City.  It felt like a total tourist thing to do but was also something we would never have been able to do with a larger group.  Good times dodging, cars, scooter, motorcycles, pedestrians and buses, I never felt unsafe though, these cyclists knew what they were doing and a lot of people smiled and waved as we rolled past. 

These next few photos should give you an idea of the types of things we saw as we rode around.  Almost every street focused on a different kind of thing to sell.  This one had different kinds o f masks.

Another loaded scooter, so many different bags on one bike!

Jane's trishaw was usually right behind mine.  She said it felt like riding in a baby buggy.

Another street was decorative artwork, then there was another with all kinds of aquariums containing tropical fish.

Next street was selling shoes and slippers.

I think there were actually about three streets with every type of motorcycle part that you could imagine.  You could probably build one from scratch with all the variety.

Two more different loads, one with ice, I hope this guy wasn't going far because that ice wasn't going to last long in the day's heat, and then there was this one with rolls and rolls of fabric.

We zipped past cages and cages of colorful birds.

A greenhouse on wheels here.

I really wanted to jump out when we starting past a couple of streets with shop after shop of beautiful fabrics.  I think most of them were also tailors.  It would have been fun to have had a dress made.

You can see how Karl's driver is waiting here to merge into the traffic.  No fear!  The buildings and shops on the right were typical of what we saw on the main streets.

Noodles anyone?

Or a pretty kite?

There were multiple options for toys and games along this street.

And then we were into the fruit market!  This one was a little tight to negotiate as you can kind of tell from this photo.  So much delicious looking fruit on both sides, familiar and unfamiliar types, all beautiful.

I only shared a few of the photos that I took as I looked right and left, it was all such eye candy.

I've never been in a market with piles of dragon fruit like this!

Meat street wasn't as lovely as the fruit row but it was unique.  Not sure I'd want to eat something that had been hanging out in the heat all day.  

Vegetables were pretty too, so many great things here to make fresh dishes.

We saw several of these ladies pushing carts through the traffic along the streets.

One final trishaw photo of us all lined up, every one of us with a big smile on their face.  It was "Brilliant!" according to Mark and we couldn't have agreed more.

Time now to grab a quick bite before our last stop on the tour.  A little street art for Year of the Dragon on our way,

and this little guy sure looked like another Billiken to me!

Xuan had purchased some sandwiches for us, then we drove to this coffee shop for drinks and to eat in air conditioning...plus they had a "happy spot".  That latter was actually in the bathroom showroom store next door, appropriate.

We had hoped to have a Banh Mi sandwich while in Vietnam and these combination ones were scrumptious.  They had paté, pork, and vegetables on a crispy, flaky French bread roll.  That bread was really heavenly.

I had a watermelon, strawberry, lemon combo called a Hawaiian to drink here, so refreshing.  Karl enjoyed some passionfruit juice.  Jane and Shari tried the special coffee this shop is known for, hey cook egg yolk into it to give it a richer taste.  It came iced with a creamy foam on top.  They were both a little leery about trying it but after one sip their eyes lit up and they gave a little gasp of "OH!"  I guess it was quite yummy, Jane said it tasted liked tiramisu in a cup.  Might have to try it with my Dandyblend when I get home!

We knew our final stop was going to be a view of the old CIA Headquarters, the former Pittman Apartments, where the final American helicopter departed from before the fall of Saigon in April of 1975.

Here's the heart wrenching iconic photo that shows that last helicopter on the roof with dozens hoping to get aboard.  There had been thousands evacuated before then but there were still hundreds of South Vietnamese who were at risk from the North Vietnamese because they had worked for the U.S. who had to be left behind.

You can't imagine my surprise as we left the elevator on the ninth floor, then walked up some outdoor metal stairs to see the actual rooftop structure of the above photo standing before me.  I could feel the goosebumps rising on my arms knowing we were standing on an actual piece of history.  It's because of our stop here that I titled this post the way I did.

It's not the same ladder but it's in the same place as that one from 49 years ago.

I didn't climb up but I wanted a photo nearby the ladder anyway.

Besides the history at this spot there were sweeping views of Ho Chi Minh City

for 360 degrees.  The skyline has changed over the years, the building the 1975 photo was taken from is now blocked from view by taller buildings,

plus there is just so much of the city that has been rebuilt after the war years.

It was an incredibly moving experience to be up here and to contemplate what it must have been like on those late April days of 1975.

Xuan got a group photo for us there at the top.

He had to shoot the photo from this angle to make it work.  Many thanks to him for making this experience happen for us.  Others we talked to said they drove by the building on their tours but they were told ever since the pandemic you could no longer go to the top.  We know a little money changed hands with Xuan's friend, the security guard, to make it possible for us to quietly enter and exit the building.

Pre-Covid this spot was supposed to be an up and coming bar, it never quite took off.

Just a couple more views from the top, the large yellow building in the righthand photo is the famous Saigon Post Office that was designed by our friend, Gustave Eiffel.

The four of us had taken the modern elevator up so Xuan put us in the building's original elevator to make the trip back down. to street level.  It was squeaky and creaky.

We all made it safely back down and were waiting here at the entrance to the Construction Investment Joint Stock Company, a government building, for our van to arrive.

On the way out of the city we passed the beautiful old Opera House which had been built during the French Colonial days and during the war was a government assembly house.

This statue of Ho Chi Minh stands proudly in the square near the Rex Hotel, which was the headquarters of the U.S. forces while they were in country.  Today, according to Xuan, there are few, if any, who revere this man.  Vietnam is another of those weird mixes of Communist Capitalism, somewhat like China, only more open.  It's no problem here to have Google and Facebook.

The Rex Hotel still takes up one whole side of this lovely square.

This roundabout leads into and out of the square.

On our way out of town we drove over the Saigon River, 

near the Financial District, where you find the tallest building in Vietnam, the Landmark 81 Building.  The name is pretty self explanatory.

When Xuan picked up our Banh Mi sandwiches Mark went in as well and picked out some goodies for dessert.  We didn't have time to try them until in the van on our way back to Phu My.  This one was sticky sweet rice filled with banana.  I thought it was pretty good but Karl didn't like it.  There was another one that looked like green slime, well sort of, it was a flat square of lime green rice something, everyone liked that one.  We also had some tapioca cakes that were good.  Vietnamese don't like their sweets too sweet.

I really hated saying goodbye to Xuan, he felt like one of the kids by the time we had spent a couple of days learning from him and laughing with him.  If you are ever in this part of the world and need a most excellent guide, this is your man!