Yesterday was another travel day – Brenda and I got up at 5am to head for the airport to take a Cathay Pacific flight to Saigon, Vietnam – our first time here.
Officially called “Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh” – that’s too many syllables. The city was renamed in 1976 from Saigon to Ho Chi Minh after the last helicopter left the embassy here in 1975 and the north completed their sweep south.
But the airport, the river, our hotel and the local beer are all called “Saigon” and that’s what I’ll stick with.

We got into our hotel around noon and gratefully they had an available room so that we could drop off our luggage, take quick bath and a nap and be refreshed to start our adventures here. We have the next day off before Brenda and I tour a couple of factories in the area that are making some components and finished fixtures that we are purchasing for the US market.

Phuong will surely laugh at every stupid/naive observation we will make, but here goes… It’s hot and muggy and chaotic and noise and a bit smelly in spots. It does remind me a bit of my China visits 20 years ago – where there were fewer cars and armies of folks on scooters. We are staying in “District 1” which is the oldest and nicest part of the city, right along the river.

Brenda and I just walked around the general vicinity to get our bearings and to allow me to build my mental map for the next couple of days. Phuong supplied us with a list of “Must See” spots and so we intend to hit as many of those as possible. I needed to find an ATM since we arrived without any of the Vietnamese “đồng” (local currency) we would need to get shopping.

The view from our hotel room.

Ho Chi Minh City Book Street – a pedestrian street with book shops, cafes and related vendors. Brenda is picking through hand-made-paper sheets that have wood block and hand painted artwork added.

Saigon Central Post Office. The building was constructed when Vietnam was part of French Indochina in the late 19th century. It counts with Gothic, Renaissance and French influences. Construction was complete 1891 and is now mostly a tourist attraction, but they do conduct shipments of letters and parcels in the back.

Looking for treasures to bring home for the kids.

There’s a sucker born every minute.

Uncle Ho portrait in the background. His image is everywhere.

Scooters everywhere and they go where they damn well please. Side walks and traffic lights are not only optional, but largely ignored.

Brenda trying to cross the street, dodging scooters to and fro.

As the sun began to set, we headed back to our hotel for some free eaties and drinks at the Executive lounge and then turned in to watch some tv, get our bags organized and get to sleep early. We had been running on 4-5 hours of sleep each night for the past week and B was beginning to feel the first signs of fatigue illness. After a fantastic 9+ hour sleep night, I’m happy to report we’re in fine fettle and ready to hit the street again today.