March 23 Saigon

We chose the Good Morning Vietnam excursion which would visit/drive by a number of Vietnam war places.  Since we are of that age, we thought it would be interesting.

Lots of building taking place in HCMC.  This building is complete and occupied.  I have no idea what that deck is.  Helipad wouldn't work.  Just an open area?  I thought a swimming pool would be cool.  I just noticed that the picture makes it look tilted, but it's a flat surface.

Street vendor

Notre Dame cathedral, from the French

 First stop, War Remembrances Museum.  A number of former US buildings have been repurposed into museums about the war or the country.  Others have converted to Vietnam government or military uses.

 A big exhibit on Agent Orange, suitably lit

Iconic element of the Vietnam War, the Huey

 Driving toward Cu Chi, a 1.5 hour drive.  Another neat but I don't know building

 Street vendor of jeans.  Interesting display of goods

 

Rice fields

 Rubber plantation

 

Cu Chi tunnels.  You enter the area through a tunnel -- very cute.

 A firing pit connected by tunnel to the rest of the complex.  In the real event, all of this would have been camouflaged and invisible. And there certainly wouldn't have been a tour group going by.

 

Demonstrating the camouflage of the hiding holes

Sandals made from old tires, very emblematic of the Viet Cong

 Cynthia was willing to go into the short tunnel section.  It had been widened to fit Western tourists.  Still dark and confining.

 Real Vietnamese lunch

 Back in HCMC

Presidential Palace

 CIA building, where the last helicopter left -- the famous picture

 The rooftop garden of the Caravelle Hotel, where much of the reporting from Saigon was done

 Hotel Continental, around the corner and another gathering spot

 

On the outskirts of the city there are lots of highrises appearing.  They look very similar, in the communist way.

 River dredging continues up to the port where we berthed.  Probably where the loads of dirt come from.  Why you need a trench through it....?

Hydrofoil ferry passing us along the river.  Our departure was interesting.  River traffic stops, the tugboats come alongside, the ship turns 180 deg from the berth to point down the river.  The river isn't much wider than the boat is long, so precise handling is required.