Today we were docked in Phu My, Vietnam by 7:00 am. We had a private tour booked to go to Saigon. We were to meet them on the dock at 7:30 am so this meant getting up early and having room service for breakfast. We got on the dock about 7:25 am and they were there waiting on us. Our tour guide's name was "Near". We also had a driver but I don't think we were ever told his name. There was just the 4 of us and we were in a Mercedes Benz Van that seated around 14 people so we had plenty of room to spread out.
The drive to Saigon was about 2 hours from Phu My. Our guide gave us a lot of information on Vietnam on the drive into town. The traffic seemed to be more regulated than it was in Nha Trang but there were still people going every which direction on scooters on all the streets. It was pretty scary when we had to get out of the van and walk across the street but our guide went ahead of us and tried to stop traffic as well as possible for us.
The first stop was the Jade Emperor Pagoda. He told us lots about it and we went in and he explained things as we went but I didn't even catch 5% of what he said. I do know that they were selling fish and turtles outside the entrance. You could purchase them, say a prayer and put them in the water or something like that. We saw a turtle that had someone's name written on it. I guess you couldn't do that to a fish. He also went through some kind of ritual and gave us red pieces of paper that we were to put near our money and it would bring us luck.
The next stop was a factory where they made lacquer wear. They showed us the process on how it was made. They had some beautiful pieces. We did some shopping and bought a few things to bring back home.
Then it was time to go to the War Museum. Of course the views were slanted and it wasn't very pleasant. With the things that were on display, I don't see how they wouldn't have animosity towards us.
We then went to see Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office. We weren't able to go into the Cathedral because it was only opened certain hours to tourists. We did go in the post office. They were selling trinkets and Mary P and I bought fans to help with the heat.
They took us to see a Water Puppet show. It was quite entertaining and I am not sure how they did some of it. Of course it was all in Vietnamese so we didn't know what they were saying. It lasted about 30 minutes so at least it was a chance to get a little rest in a semi-cool place.
For lunch they had recommended Pho 2000. This is a noodle place where Bill Clinton had eaten in 2000. We decided that we really didn't want any Vietnamese food. We asked them to take us to the Rex Hotel Rooftop Restaurant where they had both Vietnamese and Western food. It wasn't too hot outside in the shade and it was nice and relaxing. Of course we ordered way more food than was necessary. The billing was only $140 this time but they did take USD. In fact, everyplace that we went to took USD.
After lunch they had planned for us to go to the Ben Thanh Market. We had seen about enough markets but we agreed to go in. There were 2 different kinds of stores -- stores where the prices were set by the government and you couldn't bargain and stores where you could bargain. We just went in the stores where the prices were set and bought a few things. We were supposed to be there an hour but we finished up in about 30 minutes so we asked them to take us to the only Starbucks in Saigon for coffee to go on the way back to the port.
The trip didn't seem like it took as long to get back but the traffic going back into Saigon was terrible and our guide was going to have to go back into Saigon after he dropped us off at the port. He said his day starts at 3;00 am and it is over around 7:00 pm. He was a very good guide and thoroughly enjoyed the tour.
One thing that he told us was that in Northern Vietnam, they eat dogs. In Southern Vietnam, they eat clean rats. Terry asked him if the rats tasted like chicken. He said they were better. I will just have to believe him because I am not going to try either one. He was from a small town in Southern Vietnam near Cambodia.
After we got back to the ship we rested up a bit until time to go eat dinner. They were extremely fast tonight -- probably because there weren't many people there. All about time was 7:00 pm. We were supposed to have left earlier but because of the tides they were giving us longer in port. Pat and I went to the show and saw the violinist. He was just ok.
Tomorrow is a sea day so we can rest up for our day that we will have in Singapore on Sunday.
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