Ho Chi Minh CIty/Saigon, Vietnam

After a day at sea (following our departure in Thailand), we entered the waterways of Vietnam. It was a peaceful sail into the port where we docked and the Immigration authorities came aboard ship to check our individual Visas before we could disembark. Because this is a Communist country we needed a special Visa to enter. Visas were stamped again as we re-boarded the ship. This process was repeated on all three days of our visit.

Our first shore excursion was called Highlights of Ho Chi Minh City and it was definitely eye-opening. Like Singapore and Thailand, the city was crowded, noisy, and full of motorcycles. Everything seemed chaotic. There are nearly 10 million people in this city...the largest city in Vietnam and all of Indochina.

Our first stop was the Reunification Hall that was the Presidential Palace where tanks from the North Vietnamese army crashed through the gates in April1975, which ended our involvement in Vietnam. On the lawn of the building are the two tanks and this is one of them. Inside the Hall on the top level were all of the rooms were they had cabinet meetings and entertained dignitaries. But down below underground were the bunkers/tunnels that housed the "war rooms." Today you can still see planning maps, teletype machines, and other communication equipment as a part of the "museum".

Just down the road is the the US Embassy where the helicopters landed on the rooftop to fly the last Americans out of the country. We also stopped at a cathedral and large post office that looked just like the old LA train depot. As we drove and walked through the streets there was a fairly descent size police presence. Ugly green uniforms and no friendly smiles.

On this day we also went to a very interesting lacquer factor and went to a water puppet theater where a variety of traditional folktales were told. It was actually kind of cool and nothing like we have here in the US. My overall impression was that his is a dirty, busy, city and not one I would like to return to. The 4 hour tour was long enough and I was glad to get back to the ship. It was in this country that I got the only 4 mosquito bites of the trip. They have mosquitoes on steroids there who have no qualms about zapping you through your clothes.