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I left Heathrow in the late afternoon and
arrived at my hometown Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City,
next day mid-afternoon. The airport is in the city and is
only about 20 minutes from the centre of Saigon by
car/minibus depending on the traffic. The very first thing
you will notice in Saigon are the hundreds and hundreds of
people with motorbikes on the road. There seems no right of
way in driving, so the motorbikes ride around freely like a
mass of fish in the ocean. Like the fish they swim around
you to miss you altogether. The sound of hooting is
continuous and repeating in your ears. It's the life and
people of Vietnam.
We checked in at the 2-3* Vietnamese run
Mondial Hotel at the centre of Saigon. A 5- storey small
hotel with 40 rooms designed tastefully. The hotel is
decorated in Vietnamese style. The rooms are clean and
comfortable. The location of the hotel is at the heart of
all the beautiful shops and restaurants but the peaceful and
restful of the hotel interior remains uninterrupted.
Our first excursion was a day trip to the
Mekong Delta. It takes 2 to 3 hours to drive from HCM to My
Tho, the usual first stop in the Delta. The rural unspoiled
daily life of the river comes into view, the Stilt houses,
the floating vegetable market for local trading, the dishes
being washed in the river, the women washing clothing along
the river bank, the children bathing on the waterway canals,
these are all to be seen on your boat trip on the river. A
delightful lunch of prawns and fish is included in the
flower garden restaurant along one of the waterway canals.
The green and lush scenery along the river and canal
waterways gives you a profound sense of calm and relaxing
enjoyment. A longer stay of 2 to 3 days in the Delta can be
arranged for your itinerary. A very pleasant way to see the
Vietnamese country river life as I remembered it unchanged
for the last thirty years.
An evening Saigon River Cruise ended the
first day tour most enjoyably. Two hours gently cruising
along the famous Saigon River with dinner served and
traditional musical entertainment. The fried squid with
chilli sauce was particularly good and memorable, washed
down with cool and refreshing Tiger beer. The scenery
changes from the light and sounds of Saigon city to the dark
sleepy river along the way passing several naval ships on
the outskirts of the city. The other side of the river was
quiet and dark sleeping into the night.
On the second day, the HCM city tour
covers most of the famous sights, Notre Dame Cathedral, Lam
Son Square, The Reunification Palace, Ben Thanh Market, the
Chinese district in Cholon and Binh Tay Market. The best
bargains to buy are shirts, t-shirts, shorts or trousers in
the Ben Thanh Market. I bought two Vietnamese style short
sleeve shirts for $ 8 US and some shorts for $2 US. Please
remember to bargain down the opening prices from the very
charming and pretty Vietnamese girls on the stalls. The food
stalls in the market were full of mouth watering Vietnamese
dishes but remember only to eat anything cooked and very hot
outside the hotel and only drink from bottles or cans
without ice. Do not try the Vietnamese way of drinking beer
with ice in the glass. I had a delicious boiling hot beef
noodle soup in the market like I used to eat in my childhood
days. If you want to see the famous American War history in
Vietnam, the Museum of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign is well
worth a visit. Beware that some images and recreations of
the war prison are brutal and frank. Another museum is the
Revolutionary Museum.
We took the afternoon flight to Nha Trang.
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