My apologies to all of you who received the email version of this post. I thought I hit PREVIEW, but I clicked PUBLISH instead. It reflects the many mistakes I usually catch when in the preview mode. Sorry!
The Saigon Opera House was our meeting point today. What a lovely building!
In the video clip below, I'm standing across the street from the Opera House, with my eye on the traffic. I want you to see the scooters. Also, although most are driving too fast for you to see, but check out the last guy's face mask. Most folks riding the bikes are wearing some kind of mask. The most prevalent ones were made of cloth, very much like a cloth diaper. I'm guessing so many people wear these is because they have no other protection from the pollution. Interestingly, I've seen many more face masks here, but the smog was far worse in China and India.
We were a larger group of ten today. There was one guy I knew from my tour yesterday. He and I were the only Americans. Everyone else was from Australia, with one person from Japan.
I took tons of videos trying to catch a good shot of the tombs that are sprinkled throughout the countryside. These were absolutely fascinating. They were ornate. Some looked like gazebos, some like altars, some were surrounded by a fence, and many had sitting areas. Their colors varied from white, to pink and blue, gold, and green. The thing that was remarkable was how randomly they appeared. Most were deep in fields, but a few were next to the roads. The ones that were next to streams looked especially peaceful. Our guide told us people are not buried in cemeteries like we're used to. Although there was one area we passed by yesterday that had a cluster of tombs. The assumption is they were all from the same family, and they were buried on their land. Somehow it's comforting to have the opportunity to be laid to rest where you lived.
The Mekong Delta is about 1.5 hours from Saigon. It is a rural area, but since the onset of tourism in that began in earnest about fifteen years ago, there have been shops and things opened to accommodate the visitors.
When we arrived, we got on a kind of cruise boat that holds about 20-25 people. Again, the was only ten of us, so it was very comfortable. Our first stop - to check out coconut candy being made. Let me say right here, if you're concerned about the cleanliness of food preparation, you should probably skip this part. That's because the coconut is shaved by straddling a tool that you sit on, and then you shave the meat out onto a pretty grungy surface. Sugar and the milk from the coconut is boiled on an open fire. Then when it's just right, that mixture is cooled and rolled by hand. No gloves. Then, to make the candy with nuts, it's rolled again, folding the nuts inside. Again, no gloves. This is then cut into thick strips, and layer onto a mold where it is pressed to make long thin strips. No gloves. Those strips are cut into rectangle pieces and wrapped by someone else. Yep. Again, no gloves. For those of us brave enough to taste some, we got a real treat. It was delicious.
From here we left our boat behind and boarded two tuk-tuks. They were makeshift yuk-tuks in that they were a motorcycle that had a flatbed attached, fitted with benches that held six adults each. The roads, really paths, we were on could only accommodate a vehicle going in one direction. We met kids on bikes and other scooters, that we passed, but we were kissing' close. Quite frankly, it looked like we were going in circles, but after about 45 minutes, we arrived at our destination. A hotel(?)/restaurant in the middle of nowhere. We all sat together, minus our guide, and had a terrific meal.
After lunch, we walked another path that led to the water where we boarded three paddle boats, with four folks each. I don't have any pictures from this brief journey because we were all holding on for dear life!
From here we met our original boat, and back to the shore we headed. Thankfully, it was cooler in this area, especially when we were on the water.
On the ride back to Saigon, I asked our guide if many Americans visited, and if so, were they the older folks who were there during the war. She said there were many American visitors, but almost all of them were younger. I then asked if there was any animosity toward Americans (although I have definitely not experienced any) because of the ravages of war. She said people understood that it wasn't the choice of the American or the Vietnamese citizens to go to war, but it happened, and we all live with the consequences of it. A generous attitude, for sure.
The bus ride back was a quiet one. I'm sure I can speak for us all and say it was a full, fun-filled adventure that tuckered us all out.
Two quick side notes -
First, one hundred US dollars = 2,108,000 dongs
I've often wondered why countries do this - have their currency is crazy large denominations?
Secondly, when booking a hotel here, you must show a marriage license to bring someone into your room. I'm sure there are places that ignore this, but it certainly had me looking sideways at all the old white guys on my flight over.
OK.
Just one more thing - I found out about why this place is called Saigon or Ho Chi Minh. It's because the city is Saigon, and the greater area it encompasses it is called Ho Chi Minh.
Well, that's it for today.
Tomorrow I have a city tour, then the next day I depart.
Until then . . .
Good morning to you.
Good night to me.
The Saigon Opera House was our meeting point today. What a lovely building!
 |
| Saigon Opera House |
 |
| Garden next to Opera House |
 |
| Fountain in the same area |
In the video clip below, I'm standing across the street from the Opera House, with my eye on the traffic. I want you to see the scooters. Also, although most are driving too fast for you to see, but check out the last guy's face mask. Most folks riding the bikes are wearing some kind of mask. The most prevalent ones were made of cloth, very much like a cloth diaper. I'm guessing so many people wear these is because they have no other protection from the pollution. Interestingly, I've seen many more face masks here, but the smog was far worse in China and India.
We were a larger group of ten today. There was one guy I knew from my tour yesterday. He and I were the only Americans. Everyone else was from Australia, with one person from Japan.
I took tons of videos trying to catch a good shot of the tombs that are sprinkled throughout the countryside. These were absolutely fascinating. They were ornate. Some looked like gazebos, some like altars, some were surrounded by a fence, and many had sitting areas. Their colors varied from white, to pink and blue, gold, and green. The thing that was remarkable was how randomly they appeared. Most were deep in fields, but a few were next to the roads. The ones that were next to streams looked especially peaceful. Our guide told us people are not buried in cemeteries like we're used to. Although there was one area we passed by yesterday that had a cluster of tombs. The assumption is they were all from the same family, and they were buried on their land. Somehow it's comforting to have the opportunity to be laid to rest where you lived.
The Mekong Delta is about 1.5 hours from Saigon. It is a rural area, but since the onset of tourism in that began in earnest about fifteen years ago, there have been shops and things opened to accommodate the visitors.
When we arrived, we got on a kind of cruise boat that holds about 20-25 people. Again, the was only ten of us, so it was very comfortable. Our first stop - to check out coconut candy being made. Let me say right here, if you're concerned about the cleanliness of food preparation, you should probably skip this part. That's because the coconut is shaved by straddling a tool that you sit on, and then you shave the meat out onto a pretty grungy surface. Sugar and the milk from the coconut is boiled on an open fire. Then when it's just right, that mixture is cooled and rolled by hand. No gloves. Then, to make the candy with nuts, it's rolled again, folding the nuts inside. Again, no gloves. This is then cut into thick strips, and layer onto a mold where it is pressed to make long thin strips. No gloves. Those strips are cut into rectangle pieces and wrapped by someone else. Yep. Again, no gloves. For those of us brave enough to taste some, we got a real treat. It was delicious.
 |
| Young man tending to boiling coconut candy mix. |
 |
| This lady is mashing the candy into a mold where they are shaped and then cut into bite size pieces. |
From here we left our boat behind and boarded two tuk-tuks. They were makeshift yuk-tuks in that they were a motorcycle that had a flatbed attached, fitted with benches that held six adults each. The roads, really paths, we were on could only accommodate a vehicle going in one direction. We met kids on bikes and other scooters, that we passed, but we were kissing' close. Quite frankly, it looked like we were going in circles, but after about 45 minutes, we arrived at our destination. A hotel(?)/restaurant in the middle of nowhere. We all sat together, minus our guide, and had a terrific meal.
 |
| Foliage along the path |
 |
| Another view of the path |
 |
| This fish was delicious. We never to eat something that is staring back you, but we ignored the eyes and dug in. |
After lunch, we walked another path that led to the water where we boarded three paddle boats, with four folks each. I don't have any pictures from this brief journey because we were all holding on for dear life!
From here we met our original boat, and back to the shore we headed. Thankfully, it was cooler in this area, especially when we were on the water.
On the ride back to Saigon, I asked our guide if many Americans visited, and if so, were they the older folks who were there during the war. She said there were many American visitors, but almost all of them were younger. I then asked if there was any animosity toward Americans (although I have definitely not experienced any) because of the ravages of war. She said people understood that it wasn't the choice of the American or the Vietnamese citizens to go to war, but it happened, and we all live with the consequences of it. A generous attitude, for sure.
The bus ride back was a quiet one. I'm sure I can speak for us all and say it was a full, fun-filled adventure that tuckered us all out.
Two quick side notes -
First, one hundred US dollars = 2,108,000 dongs
I've often wondered why countries do this - have their currency is crazy large denominations?
Secondly, when booking a hotel here, you must show a marriage license to bring someone into your room. I'm sure there are places that ignore this, but it certainly had me looking sideways at all the old white guys on my flight over.
OK.
Just one more thing - I found out about why this place is called Saigon or Ho Chi Minh. It's because the city is Saigon, and the greater area it encompasses it is called Ho Chi Minh.
Well, that's it for today.
Tomorrow I have a city tour, then the next day I depart.
Until then . . .
Good morning to you.
Good night to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment