Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City

Our day in Ho Chi Minh City was such an exhausting day that it took us many days to be able to talk about it. Our ship’s tour, Ho Chi Minh City on Your Own, was supposed to leave at 8 a.m., right after breakfast. We were scheduled to drive to the city with a comfort stop on the way, have a brief tour on the bus of the most important buildings, and then be on our own until time to board the bus for the return ride to Vung Tau, where the ship was docked. In fact, the ship never received clearance from the Vietnamese government for passengers to disembark until 10 a.m. Because of the 2 ½ hour ride from the port of Vung Tau to the city it was at best going to be a very, very long day and now we had a 2 hour delay before we even boarded the bus.

The bus was nearly new and very comfortable and we had an English speaking guide on the bus to provide commentary along the route. One nerve-racking part of the ride was the large number of bicycles and motorbikes competing with the buses and cars for the same spaces on the highway. They did not use a bike lane because there was no bike lane. The driver drove with one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand on the horn and sometimes one foot on the brake. You cannot imagine the traffic on a narrow highway and the stress of the constant horn blowing and breaking unless you have been there. At any rate, we did pass through typical third world country landscape and housing. When we reached the comfort stop, the driver at first drove past the entrance to the small shopping center. He then had to go to a roundabout, reverse directions, travel on a limited access side road to make a u-turn in too narrow a space to get to the entrance again, dodging bikes, people, cars, scooters as he went.

The shopping center consisted of little stores, a McDonald’s and a grocery store with a turnstyle to limit entrance even though no one was in the store. The toilet facilities were adequate as long as you didn’t have trouble using the Asian toilet on the floor. As we returned to the bus, we were beset by local peddlers and beggars who tenaciously tried to separate us from our dollars. Postcards, t-shirts, and other tourist trash didn’t tempt us.

The closer we got to the city, the heavier the traffic became and the more Vietnamese we saw wearing face- masks and scarves to cover as much of their faces as they could because of the dust and air pollution. By the time we arrived it was way past lunchtime. Oh,oh! You know who needed a meal. We drove by the former US Embassy famous for the night-time helicopter removal of the last of the personnel at the end of the war. The guide showed us their other important sights. And then, we were on our own and searching for a restaurant. We found one the guide recommended in a small upscale hotel with a quaint dining room where we sat at a table for two by the front window. We had a tasty typical Vietnamese meal of noodles and vegetables and set off again on foot to see the city. First stop, a market that covered one square block with 3 foot aisles and merchandise displayed on 3-foot wide tables on both sides of the aisle. The air was humid, filled with the exhaust of the thousands of vehicles, and there were awful smells. It was a very short visit through the market.

Walking back to one of the main streets over flat sidewalks, we were both very short of breath. All along the way, there were shops and street hawkers trying to sell us something. In retrospect, there were a couple of things we might have bought, but we were so much overwhelmed by the mass of humanity, we just said no, no, no to everything.

We returned to an area near our drop-off point, stopping at the famous Rex Hotel, from which the US press corps made all of their broadcasts during the war. It is still a very prestigious hotel with hostesses greeting people at the door, a gambling casino on the mezzanine, elegant stores beyond the lobby, including Cartier. We sat in seats by window watching for a while with others waiting like us to leave. We strolled through a park to the other hotel where we once again joined our guide and fellow passengers to wait to board the bus.

On the trip back we would both have liked nothing better than to sleep, but no luck with rush hour traffic now added to the misery. Did my head ever ache. We did have another comfort stop at the side of the road, but we passed this time and stayed on the bus. Beggars and hawkers did their best to sell us some of their junk without their even boarding the bus. Finally back at the ship, we said been there, done that and were on to find a dinner in the Lido since we were too late for the dining room. What a day!