Fred was going to be in Bangladesh and the girls had 2 days off from school. I decided this was a great weekend to go somewhere. We zoned in on Ho Chi Minh since it was only a 2 hour flight, a city (Fred likes beach vacations), and has lots of shopping.
The Majestic Saigon Hotel, built in 1925, has an old colonial feel. It's been through many renovations and is now getting ready to add a glass high rise addition, but to me the historic look of the hotel was really appealing, it will be sad to see it someday turned into a more modern hotel.
Venturing out the first time, I wanted to see the Saigon river right across the street, but we needed to cross the street you see in the photo above. There are very few lights in the city but lots of Vespas and cars that seem to continually move even if there is traffic. Isn't that what sidewalks are for- to get around traffic? A friend gave us some advice before heading to Ho Chi Minh- just cross the street don't look and definitely don't stop, the vespas and cars will work around you. This street looks harmless, but let me tell you stepping out and walking was incredibly scary. We decided after that we'd find less busy streets to venture across. Within 3 days we were quite comfortable stepping out and throwing caution to the wind.
We made our way to Ben Thanh Market. Lots of shopping and good prices, but really HOT- which eventually ended even the most dedicated shoppers adventure.
As I mentioned there are Vespas everywhere, below are a few photos to get the gist. They park them on the sidewalks. People ride in the evenings and just meet up with friends to hang out by their Vespas. Many tourists opt for a ride on one of them to see the city. We opted not. Another interesting thing we came across was people just bringing out plastic stools and making a meal on the sidewalk then eating with your friends. The best, cheapest, and most exclusive way of eating out.
Manicures and pedicures were really inexpensive here, $10.50 for both per person. WOW. So off to the salon we went. Another day Katie and Jen hit the fish spa and got all their dead skin eaten away by the tiny fish. I had this experience in Bangkok and felt once in a lifetime was enough so, my friend, Kate and I enjoyed a relaxing foot massage instead.
The highlight of the trip was taking a Vietnamese cooking class at the Saigon Cooking School. We picked a good day and made Summer Rolls, Beef Salad, and Squid Vegetable soup. The food was fantastic, fairly simple ingredients that I think I can even get in the U.S. Can't wait to make these dishes for family and friends.
My overall impression of the city was really nice, the touristy area was safe- there were security or police on most corners. It's pretty clean- hard to compare to Singapore and Tokyo, but I never thought it was dirty. The pollution was quite bad and most Vespa riders wore surgical masks to keep out the pollution. Stores even sold these in many fancy designs- Hello Kitty or even Burberry print. The people were nice and most spoke English. The food was terrific- some great steaks and French food from earlier influences. The city is developing and is transforming into a modern city. There were a few high rise buildings and some remodeled colonial style building. It is a nice comparison of old and new- both buildings and even the people there. I'm glad I went and hope to visit some of the other areas in Vietnam also. Below are some more photos to give you more a sense of the city.
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