Today we met the other 60 members of our group and our other program manager…should be a fun 15 days! Ut, the 2nd program manager and we are part of his group, gave me a small white marble Happy Buddha for a birthday present. I already packed it so I’ll have to take a pic later and update. Today we had a mini tour of the city…it was nice to see some things we had not seen with Ted on Sunday.
Our first stop of the day was the Central Post Office. The building was built in the late 19th century and you can definitely see the French influence. Today was the day several school groups came so the kids could mail their letters to Santa. They were all so cute and unbelievably well behaved! This is still an operating post office and while the phone booths are not longer used, they still remain as part of history. Of course being a former phone company gal, we had to get LuLu’s pic heading into one!
During our morning briefing, we found out that AO was at the Ho Chi Mihn Opera House and Viking reserved tickets. Of course we jumped in line to purchase after seeing the teaser reel. The show did not disappoint! The director used to work for Cirque du Soleil and the show is a combo of Cirque, Bring in Da Noise Bring in Da Funk and STOMP. The performers we so talented and the music was hypnotic. So glad we had the chance to experience AO! They gave LuLu and me booster seats so we could see over the folks in front…our feet couldn’t touch the ground!
Our first stop of the day was the Central Post Office. The building was built in the late 19th century and you can definitely see the French influence. Today was the day several school groups came so the kids could mail their letters to Santa. They were all so cute and unbelievably well behaved! This is still an operating post office and while the phone booths are not longer used, they still remain as part of history. Of course being a former phone company gal, we had to get LuLu’s pic heading into one!
Next stop was the Reunification Palace…former home and office of the President of South Vietnam. This is where the Fall of Saigon happened April 30, 1975 when North Vietnamese troops crashed gates with tanks.
 |
| Flag on the left is the flag for the Communist Party Flag on the right is the flag for Vietnam Bust is of Ho Chi Minh (you see him everywhere) |
Private Residence
Down in the bunker
 |
| President’s Bedroom |
Vietnam is a communist country politically, however, a capitalist country financially so just like at Disney where every ride ends in a gift shop, the tour of the Reunification Palace ended in a gift shop. LuLu and I had to try out the iconic conical hats of Vietnam. These hats were originally worn by the workers in the rice fields as they provided some protection from the hot sun in the middle of the treeless rice fields.
Last stop of the morning was in Chinatown to see Thien Hau Pagoda. This temple is for the Goddess of the Sea who was originally a little girl named Lin Moniang. She was known for having visions and they saved her brothers during a typhoon.
 |
| Temple Donor Wall |
 |
| Goddess of the Sea |
After the morning tour, we came back to hotel for lunch. We ended up at place nearby for take away so we could relax in our cold room (those of you that know me, know I don’t do well in heat and I always have a cold room/house). We grabbed a banh mi (Vietnamese for the baguette left from the French) which is a sandwich with meat (usually pork), cilantro, cucumber, carrots, pate (again the French influence), mayo and a red chili sauce. Last night at dinner, we saw a man drinking a 333 beer and Ut (on of our Program Managers) told us that is called the Saigon Special. When Daddy was in Vietnam, was part of the 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Battalion and 3rd Platoon. So of course we had to get an iced cold 333 to go with our bahn mi as it was our daily sign from Daddy (we’ve been getting some little sign every day).
The afternoon started with a tour of a local laquerware factory. It was pretty impressive learning about all the steps that go into making each piece by hand.
Today’s final stop was the Ben Trahn Market. Since we spent some time there yesterday, we opted for a ride back to the hotel so we could relax as it was another hot and humid day!
During our morning briefing, we found out that AO was at the Ho Chi Mihn Opera House and Viking reserved tickets. Of course we jumped in line to purchase after seeing the teaser reel. The show did not disappoint! The director used to work for Cirque du Soleil and the show is a combo of Cirque, Bring in Da Noise Bring in Da Funk and STOMP. The performers we so talented and the music was hypnotic. So glad we had the chance to experience AO! They gave LuLu and me booster seats so we could see over the folks in front…our feet couldn’t touch the ground!
After the show, our dinner was as the hotel restaurant. They had an instance seafood display with lobster, crab and every other seafood you could imagine. Then there were all the Asian cuisines. Of course there was desserts and wouldn’t you know it, a gelato station (no as large as the one in Bangkok but still there were 10 flavors)! We had the chance to meet some more of our fellow travelers and then it was off to packing…they pull our luggage at 7AM!
No comments:
Post a Comment