We have been very busy since leaving Langkawi last Sunday. The day started early with a ferry ride to Langkawi from Rebak Island. Then on to the airport and a short flight to Kuala Lumpur. The airport at KL was quite run down (reminded me of Heathrow) and very busy. Then a 2 hour flight to Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City. We got on a local bus to the town center (20cents) and walked to the Marriott about 10 minutes away. Three days of air conditioned luxury and unlimited showers were a welcome relief.
We walked around town in the heat the following day and saw most of the central district's high points. The downtown was all decked out with flags and the like for Liberation Day (April 30, 1975) and May Day a Communist national holiday. Lots of French influenced architecture in District 1 but we thought the high point was the re-unification palace where we took a very good tour of the building with an English speaking guide. It was interesting to hear the events of the 60's and the 70's from the Vietnamese point of view even though I don't think that the guide was even alive in 1975 when South Vietnam fell.
We wandered around the down town area and enjoyed the Liberation Day fireworks from the pool deck of the Marriott. This was not quite Sydney Harbour on New Year's Eve but pretty good anyway. Saigon is an incredibly busy place and traffic is a nightmare. We thought Indonesia and Thailand was bad but this was way worse. Basically, if there is a place that a car or motor cycle to occupy then it will be. Trafic lights, lanes and traffic direction are merely a recommendation but no one takes much notice. The only reason why there aren't terrible accidents is due to the fact that they don't drive very fast.
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| Opera House, Saigon |
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| lady selling refreshments, Saigon |
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| Notre Dame Cathedral, Saigon. Very plain and simple inside |
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| The Reunification Palace with its fascinating contemporary history. Lots of local propaganda inside |
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| Day Market, Saigon teeming with people |
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| View of Saigon from the pool deck of the Marriott district . The city was very clean and tidy. |
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| After the fireworks, Hordes of motor cycles trying to leave |
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Downtown, DaLat
On May 1, the Admiral's 29th birthday we left early on the morning for Da Lat in the Central Highlands and we found ourselves in a different world. Much cooler and a much less hectic place. The airport was brand new and we caught a $2 bus into the center of town very clos to our hotel. We walked about in the relative coolness and took a train ride to a neighboring village to see a famous Pagoda. The train was full of Chinese tourists and just as the train left,the heavens opened with a huge downpour. We bought some raingear (50 cents)and trudged off down the muddy
streets to see the sights. The Pagoda was worth it and back we went on the train.
We went out for dinner to a recommended Lonely Planet restaurant and unfortunately the Admiral got sick with a probable episode of food poisoning which cut the evening short. We aren't sure which eatery this illness was contracted in but she is feeling better now. We took a tour of the Da Lat area with one of the local guides who call themselves Easy Riders. He had pretty good English and showed us some interesting sights but had some strange ideas about how the real world works.Da Lat is a farming community and is quite beautiful with pine forests and lakes and waterfalls
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| Avocados Da Lat market (30 cents each) |
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| Train station Da Lat built by the French |
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| Mullberries Da Lat market |
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| taking a rest in the park Da Lat |
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| local Eifel Tower Da Lat. This town has ben called Le Petit Paris and many French colonials built villas here and developed the farming |
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| Durians Da Lat market |
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| down pour Da Lat. Rivers in the street |
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| Railway line almost under water |
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| Buddha overlooking DaLat |
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| Our Easy Rider guide. He seemed to bear no ill will towards the French or Americans but was exteremely distrustful of the Chinese. Note the gong in the Buddhist temple made out of old US munitions |
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| A very self absorbed, young Chinese tourist who spent 45 minutes taking photos of herself with her smart phone |
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| My new best friend at the Pagoda in the rain |
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