Red Means Go!

This morning was free to explore on our own. Cindy wanted to go back to a local shop to buy a ceramic sculpture. The shop was near a park with a particular sculpture.

The Park

The Sculpture

Cindy showed the photo to Sonny but he didn't recognize it. She showed it to the reception desk, no luck. We knew it was near the market so we started walking. She spotted an Uber Motorbike driver and stopped to ask him. He thought he knew where it was so he gave us directions. Then he called us back to give us new directions. We started walking. He drove up to us on his bike and told us to stay where we were, he was going to drive to where he thought it was. A few minutes later he came back. No luck. He thought a moment, said again, wait. He drove off and after about ten minutes he came back. In the meantime, we were feeling a bit awful for putting him through it. Cindy was talking to herself about perhaps it's not meant to be, etc., etc. He drove up again, showed us the picture above and viola! We had our park and thus the shop. He absolutely refused to take any money, not even something for his time or his gas. What a generous sweet young man!
And yes, we have the ceramic piece!

The Ballet of Traffic

Rules of the Road in Saigon for the few traffic lights: green means go, yellow means go, red still means go! Even knowing this we jumped at the chance to do a cyclo tour of the city. It is so hard to describe how busy the streets are and with few stop lights and many round abouts you are fair game even on the sidewalks to be a target for a motorbike. Think driving down Michigan Avenue in Chicago with the intersections minus stoplights. Nevertheless we started out full of optimism. The drivers could weave in and out of the motorbikes, cars, and buses, through traffic lights, and always manage to stay together, with ease.

Our Rides Through the City

Just Move into the Traffic

Our first stop was the wholesale flower market. Imagine every color in the rainbow bursting out of buckets, baskets, and arrangements. Dennis wants to know how they can sell thousands and thousands of flowers in a few days and still make money but then there are 11 million buyers in HCMC.

The Flower Market

The Flower Market

The Flower Market

On this trip we learned that most Vietnamese prefer to call HCMC, Saigon. And because of how the language is constructed the name of the country is actually Viet Nam and each syllable has a meaning. Viet means people and Nam means south of China so people who came from China.
After the flower market we rode through the wholesale market where they sold everything from audio equipment to zithers. Each area specialized--electronics, motorcycle equipment, appliances, metal hardware, puppies, fighting cocks, chickens, and on it went.

Audio Section of the Market

Need Hardware?

Finally we ended at one of the major pagodas in the city. We can't keep all of the Buddhas straight--fat, thin, happy, male, female. Some aren't actually buddhas but what we would think of as saints, just like home, there's a god for everyone to worship.

The Pagoda

In the Pagoda

Darling Sisters

Mekong Delta

Onto the boat we go. The seats are rush benches, more or less bolted down. The aisle is a bit dicey as some benches are closer together than others. Getting this American butt through requires a twist and a turn. Eventually figuring out that the two benches in front don't require squeezing, we sat there.

Onto the Boat

Twist Through That Aisle

The delta furnishes the country with rice, honey, fruit, and fish products. We got to sample most of them. If the rest of the country is green and lush this part of the country is emerald and (I asked Dennis for another word for lush, he heard lust and he's dying to know what we're writing about). Emerald and verdant!

Jack Fruit

Pineapple

We started with the fruit, tasting bananas, mango, longan, a fruit that was a bit like a loganberry, jack fruit, and pineapple. Very sweet and delicious. Going down the path along the irrigation ditches we sampled water apples right off the tree.

Clockwise: mango, loganberry, Jack fruit, pineapple. banana

Fresh Water Apple

Dennis met the boa constrictor, an immediate relationship began but ended too soon when the snake began to caress and slither up his arm trying to give him a hug. After meeting the snake we went on to meet the bees who seemed properly trained after Mr. Boa. The honey lime tea, banana chips and coconut candy were a tasty little snack.

Honey, hold still!

Snacks made from Honey

Cindy learned to balance and carry a basket, it's supposed to be useful for carrying a man home whose had too much drink. Swear to Buddha, that's what she said!

Get in this basket right now!

Next a trip to the candy factory for a taste and then a rice "wine" tasting--coconut, banana, rice brandy, and several types of snake rice wine. Yum!

Yummy Snake Wine

Tasty!

Dennis is thinking of gifts for the neighbors who watered his plants and picked up the mail--something unique but great for a party? Down to the canal we went and onto to a four person boat for a trip down the river. The most dangerous part of the trip was getting on and off the craft.

Row, row, row your boat...

Load up!

Cindy bought a "non" hat, a conical hat which gave her great shade but limited vision. She kept bumping into people and getting into pictures where she wasn't meant to be though it was perfect revenge for those tourists who had no idea what a que/line is.

Watch out, Sonny is everywhere!

Then after the candy tasting, wine tasting, sitting in the boat, we had worked up an appetite and it was time for lunch. Emily had a riceball, which was a kind of a rice crepe--a large air filled ball of rice with a pool of sweet coconut custard at the bottom. Yum! Yum!

Beach Ball

Surprise!

After lunch, back on the boat, sit in the front, those aisles have gotten narrower. The trip ends with a bang when the pilot of the boat comes into fast, doesn't reverse and slams into the dock!

Back at the hotel, a quick change and back down to the lobby to go to the performance at the Opera House.

Saigon Opera House

The Beautiful Cast

The Performance was astounding. The young performers were so talented and athletic, a combination of gymanastics, dance, story, and music. It was Cirque du Soliel without the technology, pure beauty.

Our Last Night in Saigon

Cu Chi Tunnels

The tunnels are small, very small. Now, this is the breadbasket of the country with beautiful crops of fruit and rice. At the time the tunnels were dug the countryside was devastated by bombing and the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army (men and women) lived on cassava root.

Diorama of the tunnels

Sonny demonstrating how to enter & camouflage an entrance.

Making new weapons out of old

Quarters were very cramped and booby trapped to keep out the Americans who were searching for them. The engineering of the tunnels was outstanding. They could cook underground and observers wouldn't be able to see the smoke. The tunnels were cut by 90 degree angles so that if a grenade was dropped in it would be stopped by a wall.

The back of the sandal is curved, the front straight.

The sandals of the soldiers were made so that the tracks left were the opposite of the direction in which they were actually walking.

An American tank destroyed in 1970

Inside a tunnel about to duck and go deeper.

The tunnels are so small that only two of our group could make it through much of the system. Every 20 meters, there's an exit and most of us took the first exit and the rest took the second exit. Once in, you can't turn around, you must continue to the next exit. We can't even imagine living down there for any amount of time. The tunnels contained workshops for making sandals, weapons, clothing, living quarters, and a hospital. To move through them you had to crawl or duck walk. Can you imagine living down there for years and only coming out at night?

Dennis at Cu Chi

A UNESCO world village: Hoi An

A beautiful village nestled beside a river, filled with colorful lanterns, gorgeous shops, fabulous restaurants, all surrounded by rice paddies. Did I mention lanterns? We stayed at the Lantern Hotel and it was lovely.

Lanterns, lanterns, lanterns

Did I mention tailors? Oh yeah, fantastic tailors...they really do have fantastic tailors and great selections but you have to know what you want.

Maybe I should get the "Top Banana"?

Decisions, Decisions

You'll have to wait until we get home to see which suit he chose, either one will be a hit, right?

And though this was all good, the best day was getting into the countryside on the back of motorbikes. We met a couple who are 14th generation farmers and very revered because of their age--he's 87! And I think she's about the same. We've experienced so much it's really hard to keep all the facts straight.

The oldest farmer in the village

The oldest farmers with the oldest people on the tour

The countryside is so green, it has to be seen to be believed. We rode along the canals of the rice paddies. It was very serene but then we could appreciate the beauty, we weren't doing the work.

Not just any old John Deer

The farmer who makes banana wine

There is a movement to retrain farmers to work in manufacturing because Viet Nam wants to move in that direction. And they want to mechanize farming. I think though it will be very difficult to convince these farmers that their lives will be better if they work in a factory. It was a beautiful day but the smell of change is in the air.

We're Not In Rome...

So it's not the Colosseum but it is a ruin, and it's not a church it's a pagoda, and it's not the tomb of a saint, it's that of a king! We're in Hue. This will be a short as we're trying to catch up to where we actually are which is in Saigon. The blog is two stops behind but we'll get up to speed eventually.

We got to Hue on the overnight train. Dennis really liked that part of the trip because he got to see the sun come up over the countryside. That is the part of Viet Nam that he remembers. It is an amazing countryside full of small villages and rice paddies and farms.

All Aboard!

Our Compartment shared with "the Brits"-Stephanie & Andrew

Going through the countryside

So in Hue we spent time at the Emperor's Palace which had to be very large with many buildings as he had many wives (I believe 500). You do the math, we're still doing it to figure out the dong. Some of these women he never saw, some he apparently did as he had 142 children.

Dennis imagining the life of the Emperor

We also went to the pagoda of the Buddhist monk who set himself on fire to protest the treatment of monks in Viet Nam by Diem who was Catholic. He is very revered.

Entering the Pagoda

Inside the Pagoda

Dennis was considering the monastic life until he read the rules

Finally we saw the tomb of one of the kings though there seems to be some doubt if he's actually buried there. He did design the tomb and died at the age of 26. It is a very impressive structure. So there you have it and we're on to Hoi An.

Come on, get that leg over.

At the tomb

The Tomb