Ho Chi Minh City is called Saigon by everyone here. The signs say so, the businesses say so, the carefully word mastering tour guide says so, but the tourists call it Ho Chi Minh City. Even the welcome sign (complete with lovely women and a sad looking immigration shack) said Saigon. With us back on Bangkok time instead of the permanent daylight savings Singapore time, the dawn found us much of the way up the Mekong River delta system in the Saigon (!) River. The approach through the delta is spectacularly beautiful, full of weird looking ship traffic (including a boat with shark teeth, a set of synchronized ferry twins just like in Theodore Tugboat, and the curiously named So What Company boat. I could have saved $69 per person on the "Saigon Highlights" tour by just watching the fantastic Saigon River traffic, but we took the tour. It was pretty nifty if more expensive than staying on the ship. We visited the market, the Eiffel (yes, that Eiffel) designed post office, had a tri-shaw ride through the "1/10th normal Sunday traffic" (remind me not to take a tri-shaw ride during weekday traffic), visited a museum where the guide gave us the history of all the Vietnam people's victories--with particular mention of the 1000 year ago repulsing of the Mongol invaders by putting sharp poles just under the water line and getting the Mongol ships to chase them only to be punctured on the sticks.
The history of the sticking it to occupiers and invaders continued for some time. Gee, was that fun. We then were taken to the bomb shelter in the basement of the presidential palace (now "The Palace of Reconciliation") where the "secret war rooms" were preserved with modern Thai made telephones and radio equipment including an authentic 1960s Hammerlund HQ-110A ham receiver. Whoops.
It's about 95 degrees and quite humid here. So I think we'll pass up on getting a ferry ride across the river to a lovely Pho restaurant and instead have a spectacular steak dinner on deck here on the ship tonight and watch the boat traffic. May take the ship's shuttle bus to the Rex Hotel tomorrow and have a drink on the roof where all the reporters had done during the war as we imagine the events of 1965. Maybe not.
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