Day 20 - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Saturday, May 25, 2013

A whole day in Ho Chi Minh City.

Up by 5:30; wide awake.  First thing is to look out over the Saigon River.  Showers.  News.  Breakfast on 18th floor.  They put their donuts on a pole!  Looked at our guide book and "organized" ourselves for the day.   
   

They taste better this way!

table centerpiece

our hotel, Renaissance Riverside

looks out over the Saigon River

The Atrium

The Atrium

orchid display at the front entrance

We crossed the (very busy) road to take a closer look at the boats and docks.  A man "invited" us to take a 45-minute boat ride up and down the Saigon River.  So, we bargained for a price, the boat and a driver docked and we hopped in.  My husband thought that this was going to be a great adventure.  Such a little boat on such a big river!  I was looking for the life preservers and was at least comforted that there was no water in the bottom of the boat.  It really was a very enjoyable, peaceful ride.  We saw boats, barges, people's homes, docks, bridges, old buildings and new construction.  This is the way that people live and make a living.  And, whenever a large boat passed us, he was kind enough to turn the boat into the waves!  

 

My husband agreed to a "little" boat trip; a one-hour ride down the Saigon River.  

He said, "C'mon, we've never done this before!"  

I said, "Where are the life preservers?"

There is so much new construction in the cities that we have visited.

we are going to do a search and find out what this is and what it is called....

angry bird!

there are many of these, transporting goods

many people live in these homes, up on pilings over the water

no anchoring

notice the white, yellow and pink Playtex gloves on poles 

The boats are named

Nuhm Long, Nam Long 1 and Thanh Long 1

much foliage like this floats on the Saigon River

oh no, another checkpoint!

am I smiling?

Bitexco Financial Tower stands 262 meters and is 68 floors tall.  

It is inspired by a lotus bud.  The lotus is Vietnam's national flower.

Billboards along the Saigon River

I could not figure out why we were not going back to the dock where we started.

Then I realized that this is where he was going to let us off.

So we had to "jump" and climb these stairs.

After our little adventure, we needed to walk back across the busy multi-lane street, which was another adventure in itself.  We think that we can handle things like this, because we have been to India and it was an everyday occurrence.  But, two tuk tuk drivers were not confident at all and they "protected" us on both sides and guided us across the street.  They kept on saying, "slowly, slowly". 

bamboo, decoratively growing along a sidewalk

Our next stop was the Saigon Sky Deck.  It is located on the 49th floor so I decided that this was no big thing since the Singapore Observation Deck is much higher.  It was open, but they suggested that we come back at sunset.  We thought that was a good idea, but we forgot that they always have a "mango shower" in the late afternoon...

www.saigonskydeck.com

The Skydeck is located on the 49th floor and has 360 degree views.

Saigon Skydeck and Bitexco Financial Tower from the sidewalk

We went back to the hotel for a pit stop and a little snack upstairs on the 18th floor.  We then took a taxi to Independence Palace.  The nice thing I like about getting a taxi at your hotel, is that when you don't speak each other's language very well, you just tell the doormen where you want to go and they tell the taxi driver.  The taxis in Saigon are all metered, which is great; no haggling.

At the Independence Palace we decided to take the self-tour using a map identifying the rooms on each floor.  There are four floors, a ground floor and a basement.  The building is not air conditioned so my fan came in handy.  Actually, many of the rooms are not enclosed by walls, there are wide hallways and tall ceilings, and many of the outside walls are not actually solid walls, but have a second layer; rows of windows which open vertically for circulation.  

The Independence Palace

During the 19th century it was the site of the Norodom Palace and where the French governor general resided.  It was later occupied by South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem and named the Presidential Palace.  It was bombed by Diem's own air force in a failed assassination attempt.  The building was rebuilt soon after.

The stern and imposing facade of Reunification Hall, is a unique example of 1960's Vietnamese architecture.  It was in this former palace's International Reception Room that succeeding President Van Thieu received potentates and presidents, until he boarded a chopper from the rooftop helipad and fled before North Vietnamese troops took over Saigon.  In 1975, the South surrendered to the North, and the palace gates were knocked down by a North Vietnamese Army tank.  The photograph of this event has become emblematic of the reunification of Vietnam.  

Today, the interior remains largely unchanged, with high and wide corridors that open onto cavernous lobbies and reception rooms.  In the basement is a bunker and military operations center, with radio transmitters and maps.  There is also a gambling room, a movie theatre, and dancing floor.

a reception room

the fountain

carpet on 2nd floor hallway

courtyard garden

old movie projectors

large woks in the kitchen

mixing bowl in the kitchen

backside of the Independence Palace

These young ladies were having their picture taken.

It is customary for them to wear all white to school.

The Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon

This tall, late 19th century cathedral is built of locally quarried stone and 

covered with red ceramic tiles shipped in from France.  

A bride and groom were willing to let us take their picture

in front of The Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon.

General Post Office

Designed by French architect Gustave Eiffel between 1886 and 1891.  It looks like the inside of a railway station with a vaulted ceiling and an intricate tile floor.  Huge antique maps are illuminated by chandeliers which show the city and the region.  It is still serving the public.

A large portrait of Ho Chi Minh presides over 

the hallway of the General Post Office.

This would be a good place to write some things about Ho Chi Minh.  Believe me, it is directly out of a guide book.  "Acclaimed as the leader and primary force behind Vietnam's struggle for independence, Ho Chi Minh was born in 1890 at Hoang Tru village, near Kim Lien.  After studying in Hue, Ho Chi Minh, then known as Nguyen Tat Thanh, left Vietnam in 1911 to travel the world.  Influenced by socialist ideologies during his stay in Europe, he founded communist organizations in Paris, Moscow, and China.  He returned to Vietnam in 1941, where he took the name Ho Chi Minh (Bringer of Enlightenment) and formed the Vietnamese Independence League, or Viet Minh.  In 1955, he became president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, leading long and bitter wars against France and the United States.  Though he died six years before reunification, Vietnam's independence is considered his greatest achievement."

He lead military campaigns against the French from 1946 until their defeat in 1954.  He camped in secret tunnels and caverns, spending hours perfecting military strategies.  Ho was much loved by children and adults alike.  He could also speak several languages fluently, including Chinese, Russian, French and English.  He was revered and loved as the father of modern Vietnam.  He was committed to the unity of the country and always shunned the trappings of power.

woman selling "waffles"

she has her griddles and batter next to her

Next stop was the U. S. Embassy.  We found it but never saw it.  The walls are a light yellow and are about 12 feet high.  Then there is a tall wrought iron fence on top of the wall.  The gates are not "gates" but massive steel doors and do not not allow the visitor to even peek in.  There are manned kiosks all around and cameras peering at you.  Besides, it was Saturday and it was closed.  Very disappointing.  They do post an emergency number, which is comforting.  But just a block away we discovered....    

Yea! Kentucky Fried Chicken

chicken strips, rice, gravy, tomatoes and onion

Our next stop on our agenda, was the Jade Emperor Pagoda, which was within walking distance.  No problem.  Except we couldn't find it.  There was a lovely two-page spread in our DK guidebook.  We went up one street and over another. We had a city street map.  We even stopped at a Domino's Pizza-- surely they would know the street and location -- 72 Mai Thi Luu Street.  We even showed people the picture from the book and they pointed, "just down there".  

The only thing that we found was a store selling bags.  Kent decided that he needed a carry-on bag.  I asked him why.  He said that he needed a bag for his dirty clothes.  Why is he so privileged that he gets "another" bag?  

Jade Emperor Pagoda

(picture from the internet)

So we gave up on the pagoda-thing and with Kent's black $10 carry-on bag we hailed a taxi and went to the Ben Thanh Market.

Ben Thanh Market

This shopping center was built in 1914 by the French and now houses several hundred shopkeepers and offers a varied selection of merchandise, ranging from food and leather goods to household items and clothing, hardware and livestock.

Next, trusting our street map, we started heading back to the hotel and came upon other sites, buildings and shops.  About one block from the hotel, it started to rain, as predicted.  

Ho Chi Minh's People's Committee Building

Once known as the Hotel de Ville, completed in 1908, it now houses the office of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.  It is one of the most photogenic colonial buildings in the city.

Opera House

This French-colonial style building, the Municipal Theater, was built in 1899 as a concert hall for the French.  It is still referred to as the Opera House.

Vincom Center

A new luxury shopping venue in French colonial style

at the corner of Dong Khoi and Le Loi Streets

 dinner boats gliding down the Saigon River

The rest of the evening was devoted to cleaning up (showers) and eating (18th floor buffet), then p.j.'s, loading pics in blog, watching some news and lights out by 9pm.