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Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), VietnamMay 26, 2005
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MMM Tasty (Not) bird fungus drink
Natalya at the Canadian Counsulate in HCMC
At the Reunification Palace
May 25-28, 2005
Ho Chi Minh City
Natalya
We flew in to Ho Chi Ming city from Nha Trang. It was a short one hour flight and before we knew it we were in a taxi making our way downtown during Saigon's evening rush hour. Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City looked quite modern, and more upscale than the capital Hanoi. We checked into the Sheraton Saigon and were stunned with the phenomenal view from our room.
The next morning we met up with the Canadian Council General for Vietnam, Sanjeev Chowdhury. He was kind enough to give us a tour of the consulate and invite us to join him and his friends and colleagues for dinner and bar hopping that same evening. Being with someone who new the city as well as Sanjeev was great! He took us to one bar that is famous for having some of Vietnam's top performers come and sing at, and it was very interesting to see the Vietnamese take on Brittany Spears! We also visited another nightclub that was built underground and featured great Spanish music.
In the afternoon we visited the Reunification Palace, the former residence of the South Vietnamese president, and the place where the Vietnam War was effectively ended. We went on a guided tour and it was very interesting. We toured many rooms that were used by Vietnamese presidents. The most interesting fact I learned visiting this museum was that it was bombed many years ago in the attempt to kill the president, by a pilot in the South Korean air force who was actually a spy for the North. The bomb destroyed the grand staircase, but failed to kill anyone. The pilot who flew the plane and dropped the bomb was considered a hero by the North and now works for Vietnam Airlines.
The next day we booked our airplane tickets to Phuket, Thailand on Thai Airlines. Later that day we visited one of the busiest markets in HCMC and were overwhelmed by vendors trying to pull us into their shop stalls. I was determined to purchase a black pearl necklace that I have now tried to buy in at least 3 places - Halong Bay, Nha Trang and now Saigon. It had to be a combination of the right price and quality and I ended up finding a whole row of vendors selling pearls. Dave helped me get prices from 2 vendors about 3 stalls away from each other. The vendors started competing fiercely and dropped their prices faster than I have seen anywhere in Vietnam. I checked strings of pearls at both vendors - burning the necklace with a lighter (plastic beads would melt) and rubbing them against each other. Finally I bought one for 170,000 Dong, which is about $15CND!
