Ha! I have always wanted to say that. Big love to the late
great Robin Williams.
We arrived in our Vietnamese port of Phu My before breakfast
and were on our coach heading to Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) by 9 a.m. for a
really well thought out highlights tour. We like ti here. We had a really knowledgeable and experienced guide with a lovely sense
of humour, who never stopped filling our minds with fascinating information
about everything Vietnamese, Buddhist and Cambodian.
The drive from Phu My to Ho Chi Minh City took around 1.5
hours and our first stop was to an absolutely mesmerising museum of Vietnam’s
culture and history, we were here for about an hour, and were able to take as
many photos as we wanted (these are already on Facebook courtesy of the Grand
Hotel’s wi-fi). The next stop was a
lacquer factory where we watched a demonstration of wood being inlaid with
particles of duck egg shells and mother of pearl, then smoothed and
re-varnished over and over again (17 times, no more no less, we were advised)
using finer and finer grade sand paper until it was like a mirror. It was here that Khachik’s only went and bought
a T-shirt with “Good Morning Vietnam” on it, not only because it was $3 (US),
of course not.
Next came lunch at the very grand Grand Hotel. An appropriately grand and diverse buffet
with that gelatinous chicken and sweetcorn soup and several choices of rice and
noodle dishes with fresh chillis and sweet sauces that also pleasantly warm the
pallet (and forehead). Thanks to free wi-fi here 40 photos are up on Facebook, this
was followed by shopping at the Butterfly.
One of the nuggets of information our guide gave us was about Vietnamese
coffee and step by step how to make good coffee. Who knew Vietnam grew excellent coffee (and
grapes)? In the Butterfly shopping
centre we found both coffee and the tiny yet magical filtering device. I can’t wait to make Vietnamese coffee with
this. I mentioned grapes because one of
Khachik’s port rituals is to look at the availability, quality and price of the
wine, especially if it has had to be imported, obviously not expecting to find Vietnamese
red (only $5 (US)). Just as an aside I
am beginning to prepare Khachik for the middle east, when his practice might
have to take a respectful break.
How does the US dollar come to be unofficial but widespread currency
all over the world? How does it work?
How does it affect the economies of all the countries from the Caribbean to the
far east? In the absence of an on-board world
economics training course, these are questions I need to ask the internet when
it’s more freely available.
Anyway, back to the highlights of Ho Chi Minh City. Our next
photostop was the Rex Hotel to photograph the rooftop gardens, the Opera House,
a very yellow Post Office, a very French Notre Dame Cathedral with a statue of
the Virgin Mary before our final stop in a very Chinese China Town and a visit
to the Chinese Temple. We were able to go in and managed to see through the fog
created by the practice of burning incense and take as many photos as we
wanted, and still we are learning so
much.
Back to our ship by 6 p.m. for another banquet and an after
dinner stroll around the deck as we sailed off again out of the Saigon river
into the sea. Tomorrow is a sea day on
the way to Thailand, and then it’s Laem Chabang, where we will be spending a relaxing
day in Pattaya, using the shuttle service.
Laem Chabang is the official port for the cruise, but not our only
visit. We will be sailing on to
Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia before we take a week out in Bangkok, so we
are not going to Bangkok on this port stop, having a beach day instead. Back again tomorrow, Bye for now. xx
