We were fortunate enough to have been booked at the Majestic Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City. It's a French Colonialist-designed hotel built in 1925 across the street from the Saigon River. Upon arriving, I put on a hotel robe and called the front desk to arrange a massage. My husband left to shoot photos in the street and to ward off what became an alarming number of propositions from young women offering services. Our room was on the first floor, above the ground entrance and adjacent to the spa. When I returned from my massage, my key would not work, which meant I had to go to the registration desk in the lobby, dressed in my robe to get help. Unlike our stay in Kauai last year, at least my hair wasn't a mess and I had all my teeth. There is more traffic in Saigon than in Ha Noi:
On our first day, we went to the Cho Binh Tay Market and wandered the streets of Saigon. Here is a view of the marketplace:
There are a lot of knockoffs in Viet Nam, just like in Hong Kong.
Although you may find this hard to believe, the central post office in Saigon is a tourist attraction. I didn't understand why until we entered this Gothic structure and I spotted the ceiling, shown below:
No trip to Saigon is complete, I suppose, unless one also tours the Cu Chi Underground Tunnels. These are a historic relic, which were a base of Cu Chi District Party leadership in the war. Villagers dug out a series of tunnels where they lived and fought against the opposition. You can see below the small entry. I mean, I'm not very big, but I could not fit in that hole. The guy below is demonstrating how a person would hold the cover above his head before descending into the tunnel.
Some of the tourists from our group decided to enter one of the larger tunnels and navigate their way to come out another hole. I started to go into it, but with people in front of me and people behind me, crawling through a two-foot high tunnel was too uncomfortable, almost a bit claustrophobic, so I backed out, deciding my vacation was complete enough without this experience.
They say these incense can burn for months. You'll find these at many of the temples in Saigon. Worshipers buy them for relatives who have passed on and light them in their honor.
We toured another factory. The Tay Son company produces lacquer-ware, embedded with many different types of material, from eggshell chips to pearls. Each piece has 17 to 20 steps to produce the shining finished product. As with many Viet Nam factories, some of the workers are disabled.
Photos: Elizabeth Weintraub
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
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Just amazing story with the words and photos Elizabeth. I would definitely get claustrophobic with those tunnels and tough with my 6 ft 4 inch frame. Very good writing and photo journalism Elizabeth!
Thanks for sharing your vacation with us Elizabeth! I hope it was good way for you to get rejuvenated for 2010. By the way, I wonder how the average home there compares to similar homes here.
Hi Elizabeth... it seems like you had quite an adventure on this trip. The two foot high tunnel description sounds like a group rate MRI experience. No thanks for me either! I love the pics!
Elizabeth- how fascinating! Thanks for all the pictures and the stories with them. I'm with you about going into the hole- no way! I'd probably get stuck, as I'm a bit bigger than 2 feet I think.
I see all the people in traffic with surgical masks is that for the Smog or fear of H1N1. Thanks again for sharing your trip.
Looks like a great vacation full of memories for a lifetime....nothing short on the scenery there ...have a very merry !
Wow. You must have taken so many great pictures! Thanks for sharing a few with us!