South East Asia, South Vietnam

We arrived at our hotel the evening of Jan 31st. This is our view the next morning from our outdoor rooftop breakfast area at the Huong Sen Hotel Saigon. 7:01am

Boarding a bus headed to the Mekong Delta, we meet Shirley our very friendly South Vietnam local guide. We learn a bit about her - she's 36, single and lives at home with her parents and her sister. She commutes about an hour(?) on her scooter to join us. 8:15am

We stop for coffee. There are many places in South Vietnam like this one, where hammocks are provided for the patrons to enjoy their beverage. Emerson occupied a hammock close to this guy and his wife for awhile - they were a lot of fun! 9:49am

How to keep your tea pot hot. 9:58am

The Linda's enjoying their tea. 10:08am

Hammock time for Roni, LaDonna and Judy! 10:16am

We get a lesson from Shiley about all the different pronounciations that go with the different meanings of the word "ma"!10:36.

We arrive at My Tho and Shirley explains our route. 11:00am

Video of her explanation. 11:00.

Our Mekong Delta guide shows us how to tie a scarf. Feb 1 10:59

Emerson drinking from a coconut on our excursion boat. 11:13am

Shirley explains local dress. 11:25

We board sampans 11:46

We are in a very narrow channel at low tide. 12:00

12:13.

We walk by a pretty home. 12:20

Above ground graves in this low lying river delta. 12:21

Cobra in whiskey bottle. Not something we wanted to try. 12:24

Lambro is the local transportation.

We're taken to this coconut candy workshop to learn about making sweet keo dua.

Nop poses with the lovely presentation of tilapia fish we're having for lunch!

Quite a spread of food. 1:27

Not much left over.

After lunch we stop to visit the home of a local family, see their farm and sample some of the fruit they grow.

Fruit we sampled included longon, pomelo and jackfruit. Shirley has made a hat from some of the fruit.

Jackfruit growing.

We snap a photo of the family before we leave. 2:41

Saying goodbye to our hosts. 2:43.

Bridge. 2:58

Navigating the traffic on the way back to our hotel. 5:10.

An evening stroll. 7:12

That evening some in our group stop for a pizza dinner together. 7:44

Breakfast spread our second morning served buffet style. In Vietnam very strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk is often provided and we very much enjoyed this at breakfast. 7:35

Our hotel lobby.

We start the day taking a morning walking tour of Saigon (officially Ho Chi Minh City) from our hotel. This is the famous Hotel Continental Saigon, built in 1880 during the French Colonial period. It features prominently in Graham Green's novel, The Quiet American. 8:41

Shirley tells us that the top right hand corner structure was where CIA officers helped evacuees onto an Air America helicopter. The last US evacuation helicopters left from here on April 29 1975. Saigon was captured by North Vietnam on April 30.

As Shirley shows us this famous historic photo for reference, a women joins our group to hear how this history is being presented to us. When our guide notices, the woman quickly rushes away. Shirley says she was likely a plainclothes police officer checking that nothing unfavorable was being said about the communist government!

Ho Chi Minh City Hall. Roni and Tom pictured.

Statue of Ho Chi Minh. 8:54

We OAT travelers were fortunate to be in Vietnam for the 2025 Tet (New Year). It's the year of the snake.

Lotus flowers surround the snake.

Not only is 2025 50 years since the unification of Vietnam, but it also marks 30 years of good relations with the US.

We take a stroll down Book Street which is a pedestrian street that has over 20 (mostly used) bookshops.

A stall with English language books.

The greenery department marks these trees with numbers to keep track of watering, fertilizer, disease and treatment. However, young people like Shirley also use the trees to meet up for appointments or dates with friends. So they're known as appointment trees! 9:46.

We stop to sample a street food treat - banana pizza - yummy.

They can do a lot with a simple charcoal grill.

The Ho Chi Minh Post Office.

Interior of the Post Office. There were a lot of shops set up inside as well as a place to mail letters.

Post Office phone booths where foreign correspondents used to call in the latest news of the Vietnam war. In SE Asia it is known as the American war.

Independence Palace. Where the South ran a lot of the war from.

Cabinet Room. 11:01

Rug in palace. 11:21

Ambassador chamber. 11:25

Communications Room. 11:41

War Room. 11:43

Bunker hallway. 11:43

Kitchen. 11:46

Narrow condominium homes. 12:03

Statue of Monk (Quang Duc) who self-immolated himself on June 11 1963 to protest persecution of Buddhists by the government of Ngo Dinh Diem. 12:05

A house with a secret bunker where 20 tons of munitions were hidden and used in the 1968 Tet offense during the Vietnam War. 12:09

We go inside the house and descend through a hidden entrance. Cut outs in the door behind Linda are for weapons that were smuggled inside the doors.

The bunker hidden below the first floor was actually discovered recently. It was one of several hidden bunkers throughout Saigon.

LaDonna and Tom check out the hidden arsenal. 12:17

Now blocked, there once was a tunnel here that lead out of the basement. Feb 2 12:17

Some people can catch a nap anywhere! 12:32

We stop here for lunch... 12:34

...and enjoy some delicious Pho! 1:01

We did some shopping at the enormous indoor Ben Thanh market.

Linda replaced a hat lost earlier on the trip and also purchased this "Prada" purse complete with authenticity certificates. Sensing it's inauthenticity, Linda bargained down from $200 to $25! Emerson bought a nice leather belt.

Our hotel room. 2:54

Unusual light fixture. 2:54

Another view 2:55

View from our window to across the street hotel and corner. 2:55

Looking down the street from our window towards Nguyen Hue the main avenue where the Tet festivities are taking place. 2:55

We sign up for an optional scooter tour. Shirley and Linda have on Saigon Traffic tee shirts.

We take a scooter tour. Our drivers were college students.

Shirley on back of bike. 5:33

Our group heading out on the motor bikes. 6:04

In Saigon traffic.

We stop in a less affluent neighborhood. 6:09

The ramp in the middle of the steps is for pushing your scooter up to your apartment. Some people rent spaces on the ground level for their scooter storage. 6:11

Another neighborhood - we're told these are likely 300 square foot apartments.

The refuse is picked up each night. 6:09

We stopped and talked a bit with some ladies along the street while the evening meal was being prepared. The women in white with long hair had lived in Dallas and learned English very good. 6:20

Linda with gal from Dallas. 6:21

Emerson on bike. 6:41

Crossing the bridge. 6:48

Crossing bridge. 6:49

Saying goodbye to our drivers. 6:59

Right across from our hotel is a restaurant recommended by a former co-worker of Emerson's who used to live in Saigon. Turns out it is Michelin rated, the food was wonderful and the price very reasonable! Thanks Tri!

Inside Vietnam House Restaurant.

Emerson and Linda pose outside the restaurant to send our photo to Tri!

Our picture in front of Saigon City Hall. 9:52

Our hotel with Emerson waving from our room on the 4th floor.

Good morning from hotel. 7:45

We head out for the day stopping first for a rest break at Son Mai Shop where we learn about a special art form. 9:13.

After the demonstration we go inside the retail shop here and several of us are so impressed with the work we buy several pieces each including Linda and Emerson who brought home two small pieces. 9:15.

We visit the Cu Chi tunnels on our last full day in South Vietnam. The tunnels are noted for hiding lots of Vietcong.

US military equipment on display.

A plaque about the C130.

A typical tunnel that has been made a bit bigger to accomodate tourists. It is part of 125 miles of an underground maze where thousands of fighters hid, worked and fought from during the Vietnam War (referred to by the Vietnamese as the American War).

Various deadly traps used against US servicemen.

Old US ammunition. 11:00

Air vent hidden as an ant mound. 11:05

Representations of Viet Cong. 11:07

An underground dining area.

We're given a demonstration of 1) how difficult it was to locate underground tunnels due to camouflaging and 2) how difficult it was to decend into these tunnels! 11:16.

A deadly booby trap. 11:28.

A stairway from a tunnel.

Shoes made from tires. 12:08

It felt surreal to be in Vietnam for Emerson. So many of the place names were still familiar from watching Walter Cronkite's nightly updates on the Vietnam war. Emerson had draft deferrals to go to school and a high draft number. He has feelings of guilt and is also greatful to not have gone. Some of his high school classmates who went were very different when they came back and one, Bill Campbell was killed in Vietnam.

Lunch at a stop on the way back 12:50.

Our hostess has this small restaurant in front of her home. This is her kitchen.

We enjoyed a lovely meal. 1:04.

Our meal hostess and Shirley. 1:24.

Our hostess talks about some of her experiences in the "American War".

We say goodby to our hostess. 2:00.

The Aqua colored Vinfast cars and scooters are electric taxi's owned by the richest man in Vietnam. There were a lot of them operating.

As we walk to dinner at the Amigo Steakhouse grill restaurant for our farewell dinner with the main trip group we pass this landmark building along Nguyen Hue street. Tomorrow we fly to North Viet Nam for our post trip. 5:37

Our last dinner. 6:46

One last look at the TET snake. 7:48

One of the modern buildings complete with a heliport sticking out of its side. 7:41

An evening view from the hotel rooftop restaurant. 8:06

Before we leave our hotel, we tour the first few floors and stairway of the hotel that are filled with paintings for sale. We particularly liked this one. In North Vietnam we would realize that this is a Hmoung woman and child. 8:23

Our last group picture before Doug, Johannes and LaDonna head home and the rest of us head to Hanoi for our optional post trip.

Vietnam Dong (VND) to the USD 25,500:1