Saigon - Final Report
Today was a wonderful way to end our tour of this beautiful country. Saigon is a city of 8 million people, and has 3.2 million motor bikes, and less than half a million cars. Traffic is unreal. We left early, mostly to avoid rush hour, on our way to our exploration of the Mekong Delta. As usual traffic cost us about 45 minutes to get out of Saigon, and then another hour or so before we stop at the Cao Dai Temple. This religion is based in Vietnam, boasts about 5 million adherents worldwide, and is an attempt to merge the best of the world’s major religious beliefs into a single religion which respects the values of each as well as the significant important persona, ie., Muhammed for Islam, Christ for Christianity, Buddha for Buddhism, etc. Interesting place Then we board our boat to explore the Delta. The Mekong is the 10th longest river in the world and has an extensive delta. We pass hundreds of fishing trawlers that go out to the ocean for three weeks at a time, and return with their catch to provide for the local markets. There are three significant islands in the area we are exploring. We can take a canoe in to visit Monkey Island to see a bee farm and local coconut products before traveling across the delta arm we are located on for lunch. We then return to land and head back to Saigon Our final dinner is very nice, and different from previous meals. Our guide gives each of us a group photo that he has taken and printed.
To all those of you who have followed our blog, we say thanks. We learned in the last few days that some of you may have posted comments on our blog. Unfortunately those comments were not posted so that we could read them. Don’t know why, but we do appreciate your interest in our trip.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Saigon - Day 14
As you may have presumed, much of our visit to Vietnam has had undertones of the Vietnam War. Today, then, is probably the culmination of that experience as we travel to the Cu Chi tunnels northwest of Saigon. To get to the entrances to the various tunnels we had to walk through the jungle for several hundred yards, and along the way we gained a new understanding of the difficulty presented by the terrain and the local farmers whose normal daily apparel was identical to the uniform of the VC These tunnels were very influential in the fall of Saigon as they provided cover as well as movement for the Viet Cong. The tunnels covered large portions of territory which on the surface was controlled by the Joint Forces, but underground was in the control of the VC. The mass of tunnels were at least three levels deep, as long as 250 km (150 miles) long with numerous offshoots, some of which were booby trapped, and no overall map of the whole, so no one person could be able to show another how the whole was designed. An amazing maze underground. As described to us today, by our guide, the Cu Chi villagers were for the South in the daytime, but at night, in many cases because of intimidation, they joined the VC. I have been probing our guide for the whole time here in Vietnam as to the state of the South Vietnamese people regarding whether they wanted the US “advisors” and later, our troops. His response is absolutely we were wanted, not just by the political leadership, but by the people as well. He also told us that the South was way ahead of Korea, Taiwan, and other SE Asian countries in 1974, and since reunification has fallen way behind, thanks to the policies of the current communist regime. However, since the end of the US embargo, and resumption of diplomatic relations in the 1990s, the economic conditions have improved dramatically.
We also visited a small rubber plantation where we saw how the trees are tapped for raw latex. This tree was originally imported by the French during colonial times, and is now a minor contributor to the local economy as synthetic rubber has replaced the natural as the desired product. We learn, as the salt water of our sweat drips into our eyes, that we are back in the land of heat (95F) and humidity (92%).
For a little on the light side, the Vietnamese dollar is known as the Dong. Of our group of ten, only two are male. Wanna guess what we can joke about when discussing any purchases using the local currency?
As you may have presumed, much of our visit to Vietnam has had undertones of the Vietnam War. Today, then, is probably the culmination of that experience as we travel to the Cu Chi tunnels northwest of Saigon. To get to the entrances to the various tunnels we had to walk through the jungle for several hundred yards, and along the way we gained a new understanding of the difficulty presented by the terrain and the local farmers whose normal daily apparel was identical to the uniform of the VC These tunnels were very influential in the fall of Saigon as they provided cover as well as movement for the Viet Cong. The tunnels covered large portions of territory which on the surface was controlled by the Joint Forces, but underground was in the control of the VC. The mass of tunnels were at least three levels deep, as long as 250 km (150 miles) long with numerous offshoots, some of which were booby trapped, and no overall map of the whole, so no one person could be able to show another how the whole was designed. An amazing maze underground. As described to us today, by our guide, the Cu Chi villagers were for the South in the daytime, but at night, in many cases because of intimidation, they joined the VC. I have been probing our guide for the whole time here in Vietnam as to the state of the South Vietnamese people regarding whether they wanted the US “advisors” and later, our troops. His response is absolutely we were wanted, not just by the political leadership, but by the people as well. He also told us that the South was way ahead of Korea, Taiwan, and other SE Asian countries in 1974, and since reunification has fallen way behind, thanks to the policies of the current communist regime. However, since the end of the US embargo, and resumption of diplomatic relations in the 1990s, the economic conditions have improved dramatically.
We also visited a small rubber plantation where we saw how the trees are tapped for raw latex. This tree was originally imported by the French during colonial times, and is now a minor contributor to the local economy as synthetic rubber has replaced the natural as the desired product. We learn, as the salt water of our sweat drips into our eyes, that we are back in the land of heat (95F) and humidity (92%).
For a little on the light side, the Vietnamese dollar is known as the Dong. Of our group of ten, only two are male. Wanna guess what we can joke about when discussing any purchases using the local currency?
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Dalat to HoChiMinhCity (Saigon) - Day 13
Today proves to be an interesting one, as we encounter the vagaries of small time airlines (Vietnam Airlines) masquerading as one of the big guys. We rise at 4:45 a.m., put our bags out at 5:15, head for breakfast in anticipation of our transfer to the airport for an 8:05 flight. Upon arriving at the airport our guide does a group checkin, gets our bags checked, hands us our boarding pass and sends us to the Boarding Lounge. Not 15 minutes later the PA announces that our flight to Saigon will not board until 10:20 a.m., a full 2+ hours late! Needless to say Tano is visibly upset as this is not the first time this has happened to him even though he has called in advance to confirm the flight times. Finally at 10:35 we begin boarding for our takeoff at 11:00. About 10 minutes into the flight we are told to return to seats, fasten seatbelts, etc., for landing! We waited all this time for a 30 minute gate-to-gate flight!!
Following lunch we take a city tour of Saigon. It is a very beautiful city with lots of French architectural influences remaining from the colonial days. We take in the War Remnants Museum. As you might expect it portrays a very one-sided view of the Vietnam War, but even so, it helps us to understand how many Vietnamese felt about our involvement at that time. We have very mixed feelings after this stop. Our next stop is yet another lacquerware factory, but because this one is Vietnamese the designs and processes are somewhat different from the Thai shop we visited. Quite interesting. Our final stop includes the Notre Dame Cathedral, built by the French and completed in 1880, and the main Post Office across the street, built with leftover materials from the cathedral construction. Both are very beautiful though quite different in design. On our way to our hotel we convince Tano that we need an ice cream stop, so he has the bus take us to a nearby shop where we purchase some of the best ice cream in Southeast Asia. Great way to end an otherwise challenging day.
Today proves to be an interesting one, as we encounter the vagaries of small time airlines (Vietnam Airlines) masquerading as one of the big guys. We rise at 4:45 a.m., put our bags out at 5:15, head for breakfast in anticipation of our transfer to the airport for an 8:05 flight. Upon arriving at the airport our guide does a group checkin, gets our bags checked, hands us our boarding pass and sends us to the Boarding Lounge. Not 15 minutes later the PA announces that our flight to Saigon will not board until 10:20 a.m., a full 2+ hours late! Needless to say Tano is visibly upset as this is not the first time this has happened to him even though he has called in advance to confirm the flight times. Finally at 10:35 we begin boarding for our takeoff at 11:00. About 10 minutes into the flight we are told to return to seats, fasten seatbelts, etc., for landing! We waited all this time for a 30 minute gate-to-gate flight!!
Following lunch we take a city tour of Saigon. It is a very beautiful city with lots of French architectural influences remaining from the colonial days. We take in the War Remnants Museum. As you might expect it portrays a very one-sided view of the Vietnam War, but even so, it helps us to understand how many Vietnamese felt about our involvement at that time. We have very mixed feelings after this stop. Our next stop is yet another lacquerware factory, but because this one is Vietnamese the designs and processes are somewhat different from the Thai shop we visited. Quite interesting. Our final stop includes the Notre Dame Cathedral, built by the French and completed in 1880, and the main Post Office across the street, built with leftover materials from the cathedral construction. Both are very beautiful though quite different in design. On our way to our hotel we convince Tano that we need an ice cream stop, so he has the bus take us to a nearby shop where we purchase some of the best ice cream in Southeast Asia. Great way to end an otherwise challenging day.
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