We were surprised to learn that people can buy and sell their own property. They can also own their own businesses. On our first day in town Bob and I decided to explore the city on our own for a few hours. We walked down one of the main streets and through the major shopping areas. There were a couple of high end stores, like Dior, undoubtedly for tourists. There were a number of large department stores with a heavy emphasis on beauty products, such as makeup and fragrances. We found all of the major brands here. However, there were also hundreds of tiny little shops selling everything from souvenirs to household products. Not sure how all of these tiny shops survive. There are sooooo many of them.
We had heard about a market that sold a variety of goods so we decided to check it out. It was the Ben Tanh Market and it certainly met, even exceeded, our expectations. There were rows and rows of vendors, with very narrow aisles crowded with masses of people pushing and shoving as they moved along. The vendors were sitting in chairs or standing in the aisles in strategic locations, making it nearly impossible to pass them without at least looking at their wares. "Lady, one dolla" and "special cheap price for you" echoed throughout the passageways. We did manage to haggle and get a couple of bargains, which was fun. Bob can really hold his own. I'm just a sissy, who they can see coming a mile away so I always make Bob do the negotiating.
This is obviously a major city in Vietnam. There were thousands of people on the streets, as pedestrians and motor scooters weaved between each other. It is absolutely bizarre to see so many motor scooters on the roads! They are everywhere. In fact, we were told that there is one motor scooter for every two people in the country. They completely surround the cars and buses as they somehow manage to navigate around them without getting hit. They seem to drive without an ounce of fear. They cut in front of huge buses and cars when there's only a space of a few inches. They wander all over the road, maneuvering their way through the traffic. We saw couples on their scooters with their child squeezed between them. Young women wearing short, tight skirts and high heels would sit "side saddle" behind the driver without wearing a helmet. Looks so dangerous but we did not see one accident while were were here - absolutely amazing.
After exploring the city, we decided to stop for lunch at the Rex Hotel, which is famous for being the locatiion where journalists and reporters from all over the world stayed during the Vietnam War. The US. military did their broadcasts from the rooftop restaurant. It is a magnificent and beautiful building and an elegant setting to have a meal. They served us a lunch for two that would have easily served four people, possibly even six! There were fresh spring rolls, fried spring rolls, and a club sandwich. YUM!!! After lunch we rolled our way back to the shuttle bus to return to the ship.
In the evening we joined a large group of other passengers and enjoyed a night out on the town. We began the evening with a stop at the legendary Majestic Hotel which opened in 1925 and occupies a prime location in Saigon. The hotel mixes old world boutique charm with the elegance of a columned and arched classical French-colonial design We were escorted to the rooftop deck where we enjoyed a sweeping view of the city as well as the harbor and a view of our beautiful ship with all of its night lights. So pretty. We sipped cocktails and were entertained by a group of musicians and dancers wearing costumes from the northern and southern regions of Vietnam. They played traditional Vietnamese instruments while performing a mix of old and modern music. Very interesting to hear the tune "Diana" played on an instrument with two strings!! Quite unique.
Next, we were transported to one of the top restaurants in Saigon for a delicious Vietnamese dinner. The Mandarin Restaurant was a lovely setting for our group dinner. We had the entire wine cellar to ourselves and were served a full seven-course dinner. Such a beautiful setting. Racks and racks of aged wine in a room filled with a mix of brick accents, beautiful paintings, and greenery made this a perfect place to relax and enjoy an evening with friends from the ship. We had an opportunity to savor a feast of local specialties The presentation of each dish was absolutely exquisite. Even the rice was beautifully wrapped in leaves which formed a lotus flower. Upon serving, the servers carefully opened each petal of the flower to reveal the rice which they then offered to each of us. It was an absolutely lovely and delicious experience. Each course was presented after all of us were finished with the previous course. If there was any food left on the serving plate the servers would go to each of us and put a little extra food on our plates. It seemed to be necessary for them to return to the kitchen ONLY after each serving tray was empty!! Once again, were were absolutely stuffed when we waddled back to the bus for our return to the ship. Since it was now wayyyy past my bedtime, I jumped into bed as fast as possible on our return to the ship. It was an early wake up call the next morning at 5:45a.m. and I wanted to get a few hours rest before our next adventure.
The next morning we toured the highlights of Saigon. We were blessed with a fabulous tour guide who gave us a historical perspective of all the sites we were visiting. Our first stop was at the History Museum which was housed in a building from the early 1900's. The museum displays artifacts from the Bronze Age to the early communist presence in Vietnam. In addition, there displays of traditional art, ceramics and costumes.
Once we completed our tour of the museum our guide led us outside where there was a "trishaw" waiting for each of us. A trishaw is a bit like a large tricycle with a big seat on the front where the passenger sits. The cyclist sits behind you and powers the bike. We did have the option of riding the bus if we weren't interested or able to ride in the trishaw Although I really debated whether or not I wanted to be subjected to riding through the massive confusion of traffic on the streets riding on the front of a tricycle, I finally decided to give it a try. I guess I'm glad I can say that I did it, but I'm even happier to say that it's over!!! This was NOT my favorite activity I think we passed some well-known sites such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, Reunification Palace and the city hall, but I really didn't see them because I was frozen in fear with my hands glued to the sides of the basket. Every time the bike went out in the middle of traffic I closed my eyes and said a quick prayers that we would get across the intersection without being hit by at least a dozen cars, buses and scooters. Finally, after a ride that seemed to last for an eternity, but really was only about 15 minutes, we arrived at our next stop, which was a lacquer factory. I was sooooo relieved to get out of that basket, but my knees were so shaky I could hardly stand up. I can now cross riding a trishaw off my bucket list and feel no need to repeat the experience.
The lacquer factory was fabulous. We learned how egg shells and mother of pearl were broken into tiny pieces then glued to a prepared wooden surface before the varnishing and sanding process is begun. Each product gets 17 coats of varnish/sealer. The end results were gorgeous. There were lacquered jewelry boxes, serving platters, etc. Once again, I was lucky that Bob had the credit card, otherwise I might have spent our entire trip budget in that factory!!!
Next we visited another temple. Now, don't get me wrong. Temples are ornate and beautiful, but at some point we have seen enough temples. All of them have altars decorated with large pots filled with sand and incense sticks. This temple had large spiral sticks of incense hanging from the ceiling. We had to be careful where we stood otherwise the ashes from the hanging incense would land on our head or clothes!!!
Our next stop was at the biggest marketplace in the city. The Binh Tay Market was in Chinatown and consisted of hundreds of vendors displaying their wares. Our guide led us through the narrow, crowded aisles to get a sampling of the goods being sold. Evidently, this market is for wholesalers so each vendor had goods stacked up in MASSIVE piles, while they sat there with their calculators in hand, tallying up the cost of the items being bought by the local retailers. Quite an impressive setting. We were told that to buy a small (and I do mean small) space in the market it costs $250,000. Evidently the dealers in this market are among the wealthiest citizens in Saigon.
Our time in Vietnam had come to an end and we hopped back on the bus to return to the ship. I'm so thankful to have visited this amazing country. It gives me an entirely different perspective of Vietnam. It was such a powerful learning experience and gave us an opportunity to hear about a communist country from the perspective of some of its citizens. Again, this is absolutely the best part of the world cruise. Now, it's on to Thailand.
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