Saigon, Vietnam

We entered the harbor this morning at Phu My, Vietnam just as the sun was coming up, and it looked exactly the way we expected Vietnam to look from every movie we'd ever seen.











We headed to Ho Chi Minh City, passing through many villages along the way. Hardly anyone has a car in this country, as they are too expensive, but nearly everyone has a motorbike. We noticed that the women tend to cover their arms and legs fully, even wearing gloves and socks – and surgical masks – as well as hats, to protect their skin from the sun. They want to minimize wrinkles and damage from the sun; plus, fair skin is considered more beautiful since tanned skin implies that you are a farmer and work a lot outside. We couldn't believe they could stand to wear so much clothing – even gloves – in such heat!

We reached Saigon and went to the Thien Hau Temple, which dates back to the 18th century.

We noticed the many interesting fruits they had for sale – this one is jackfruit. We tried it, and it is sort-of like kiwi fruit, but not as sweet. Instead of green, it is white inside.


We had lunch at a modern hotel in the heart of Saigon's version of 5th Avenue. There were many designer stores in this area, but as our guide said, most people in Vietnam cannot afford to shop there. This is a communist country, but is slowly moving toward capitalism.

We headed to the Vietnamese history museum, with collections of artefacts from the bronze age. While we were there, we saw a water puppet show, which was once a form of entertainment for kings and queens. This was really fun, because the puppeteers did a great job of telling the stories with the puppets. We took some videos, as the pictures do not really give you a good idea.

On the drive back to the port, we saw many people riding their motorbikes and carrying all kinds of incredible things, including furniture! One woman even had a ladder on the motorbike. Another was carrying baskets filled with ducks!

We also saw people working in the rice paddies on our way back to the ship.

Our guide told us that many Americans worry about how they will be received by the Vietnamese. In truth, most of the men and women who were around during the war either were killed or fled the country. The elderly who remembered it have mostly passed on, and everyone in their 20s or 30s now would not have any memory of the war. So, the guide said that 70-80% of the people do not even remember the war. However, I am glad we did not do any of the tours with a military focus. All in all, we are glad we had the chance to visit Vietnam.