Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) lacquerware, pho & the War Museum

Two OAT identical buses leaving the hotel within minutes of one another - ours to the airport for our flight to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), and the other to northern village for an optional trip. Unfortunately Rodney & Amy's small bag with their passports & flight itinerary and Sunny's backpack were put on the wrong bus by the porter. So about 30 minutes into our ride we detoured away from the airport to a spot where the other bus dropped off their bags. We were already cutting it close with regard to our flight, and there was a major traffic jam on the highway to the airport, but thank God it was very small airport and we made it with about 1/2 hour to spare.

After our short flight landed and we were aboard our next bus, we meandered back to our hotel with stops at the lacquerware workshop, cathedral, post office before heading to lunch at the "Vietnamese McDonald's" for pho - in this particular case, Pho Hung Pho (Pho 24). These people have mastered the art of restaurants with one dish only & it is amazing how quickly they get people in and out the door. Most of the time you just hold up you finger(s) to indicate how many bowls you want, pick your beer, and prepare for an amazing, inexpensive meal.

 

Egg shell is added to the lacquerware.

 

 

 Our workshop guide demonstrates

 how 17 layers of wood

come together in the making

of lacquerware.

 

 

 Saigon Cathedral.

 

French architecture style is illustrated

in the absolutely gorgeous post office

of all places.

 

Vietnamese McDonald's - pho at its best

(only $3 for this very large bowl).

Now that we are in the cosmopolitan city of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), we have an interesting opportunity (some would call it a misfortune) to tour the War Museum, which pretty much centers around the Vietnam War (or American War, as the Vietnamese refer to it. Very weird to be an American walking though the exhibits of photographs depicting the horrors of war from the enemy viewpoint. Some of the Time and Life magazine covers were enlarged and framed, with huge headlines about the war. I could remember those covers, as well as the photos of the My Lai massacre and the naked young girl & other children walking down the street in sheer agony - the first victims of Agent Orage - as if it were yesterday. One section of the museum contained photo after photo of the children & adults mutilated and scarred with tumors, missing limbs & other birth defects resulting from Agent Orange & napalm. The chemicals even remain in the soil today, almost 40 years later. Not our proudest moment. We only stayed in the museum for 1/2 hour, but that was more than enough time for me.

Our last activity was a 1 hour cyclo-rickshaw ride at the height of afternoon rush hour - so we could experience the craziness up close and personal.  The ride was definitely up close - I could almost reach out and touch a motor scooter constantly.  The ride was fantastic! There seemed to be younger adults everywhere, from many nationalities, especially in the youth hostel area.  People waved to us, took photos & laughed when they saw the look of horror on our faces.

 

 Where's my driver?

 

 

 Ho hum, another batch of silly tourists...

 

 

And we're off......

 

 

 

During a short walk around our hotel neighborhood, while Iris, Gloria & I were waiting for the rest of the group to finish buying some things in a shop, we were approached by a 10-yr. old little girl who asked us if we'd like to buy a fan. Since we were quickly getting tired of being bombarded by these people at every turn, we just automatically said, "no thank you." The little girl did not miss a beat when she quickly replied, "why not?" (in perfect English, by the way). She quickly gave us her spiel, which was highly entertaining - complete with bulk purchase discounts, how certain colors & designs matched our eyes or brought us good luck. She was so entertaining I asked her if she worked on commission and she said yes. Then I asked her if she even knew what commission was. Again, not missing a beat, she quickly said "yes, it means tips!" I told her I wanted to take her back to the US with me so she could work for Herff Jones as a yearbook sales rep, but the concept of printing yearbooks is lost on anyone who is not an American. I couldn't resist giving her $4 for a fan I really didn't want or need (plus a $1 tip or commission) - well worth the price for having such fun.