Viking anchored our ship off Koh Samui, an island which means "Safe Haven" in Malay. Koh Samui is Thailand's second largest island after Phuket. This is a one day stop. We decided to snorkle and saw large coral, some geen and purple. Tonite we cruise the Gulf of Thailand and will reach our last stop, Singapore on the 31st of March. Today is Taste of Thailand on the boat with many dishes of Thailand to sample.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Monday, March 27, 2023
Vung Tau
Vung Tau Today I (Joanne) opted for an excursion to Vung Tau, a beautiful beach resort town on the East Sea. The attraction is the largest Jesus statue in southeast Asia. There is a small Catholic population in this area and the statue did not disappoint. It reminded me of the one in Rio, and the outstretched arms seemed to welcome our group. We also had a glimpse of a modern Catholic Church called Song Vinh built about 2011. It was very impressive and seemed to be done in French architecture. Later, our guide took us to a reclining Buddha where we saw many altars with incense burning. There was a monk in prayer close by and pretty works of art on the sides of buildings on the walk up to the temple.
Jesus spreads his arms outt to embrace us. Reminded me of Christ the Redeemer in Rio.
Song Vinh Catholic Church built 2011
It's the year of the CAT in Vietnam, different than the year of the rabbit, going on in China. There are cat signs all over and I posed in front of one of them on the way to visit a Vietnamese palace later used by the French. Of course, I love kitties and this was a bonus. It was a fun day that concluded at the local fish market, where we were amazed by the variety of fish caught in the muddy waters around here. We admired the upscale beach resorts and even stopped by one of them to put our feet in the warm water and have a drink. It was a long tour - 11-1/2 hours! It took 2-1/2 hours each way to reach Vung Tau from the boat, a long ride, but worth it!
Reclining Budda
This guy sticks his tongue out to ward off evil.
Work of Art on Building Along the Way
Our Guide, Trang
It is the Year of the Cat in Vietnam. Cat pictures are everywhere! China is different; this year in China its Rabbit. I am all for the year of the cat. Miss Bleu Kitty.
Beautiful view of East Sea AKA South China Sea. Vietnam doesn't want the sea to have China in its name. So the sea is the East Sea.
Me posing in a shady spot; it is near 90 F today.
Palace Reception Room
We stopped at this beach resort for a drink on the way home.
What's for dinner in Vietnam?
Fish Market
I asked the tour guide why the Vietnamese throw their trash all along the roadways. He told me that there are not trash bins easily available in country towns and there is no trash pickup trucks. He also speculated that some throw trash to protest their government. It reminded me of visiting San Paulo in Brazil. So much garbage everywhere that blights the beauty of the seashore. Hopefully, the Communist government will someday provide the infrastructure to fix this big problem. There are also "rat nests" of electric wires hanging in many intersections. I wonder how any repair person could begin to deal with it all!
As we came back, the sun had set and Saigon was lit up. Their largest skyscraper was bathed in pink light and was very pretty. The lights twinkled as we boarded the Viking Orion. Such a great way to tour Vietnam!
Mekong Delta
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| Freeway & Field Work |
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| Tour Boat |
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| Catholic Church |
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| Boats on the River |
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| Puffed Rice & Rice Paper |
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| Thuyen doc Moc = Dugout Canoe |
Ho Chi Minh City By Night
We took a night time tour of Saigon that was a lot of fun. We particularly enjoyed the authentic Vietnamese food that we enjoyed in an upscale restaurant. After that, we saw a terrific Water Puppet Show that was darling. The puppeteers somehow propelled the puppets in a large body of water that was part of the stage. Dragons spewed fire, fish and little kids jumped in joy - what a fun experience!
Saigon at Night
Restaurant
Water Puppets
Ho Chi Minh City by Day
Viking offers free tours in every destination and today we took the tour that gave us the "lay of the land." We started at the Reunification Palace, built for $50 million by the U.S. for the government of Vietnam. Today it is a tourist spot with the Communist flag flying - red for the blood of the Vietnamese and a star for the Communists. Across from this building was a tall yellow structure where the CIA had its headquarters during the Vietnam War. It is auspicious because it is where the last American helicopter flew out from the top right black balcony at the end of our involvement there. We saw lots of people on motorbikes. It is the way the people get around since owning cars is out of reach for the average person with an income of only $4,000 annually. There were lots of businesses with signs in English and Vietnamese. How about Texas Chicken? McDonalds?
We visited a beautiful historic post office built by the French architect, Eiffel (of tower fame), during their occupation. The City Hall and Opera House were also beautiful buildings, French architecture, of course. There was even a Time Square, Saigon style with a beautiful roundabout nearby with a pretty Lily-pad sculpture. Afterwards, we visited a famous Chinese temple, that President Obama visited during one of his trips to this part of the world. There were many buildings with elaborate altars and you could pray there to a goddess for prosperity, for health, and to even to have a baby. We enjoyed our glimpse of Vietnam and were amazed by the look of prosperity.
Traffic
Reunification Palace
Post Office
1976 - Last American Left from Yellow CIA Building
Year of the Cat in Vietnam
City Hall
City Hall
Buddhist Temple
Sunday, March 26, 2023
Some Random Facts & Thoughts on Vietnam
I (Joanne) found Vietnam to be surreal. It brought back memories of the War. -I remember throughout high school, there were daily stories on TV giving the grim war statistics and fatalities of the day. There was a lot of anti-war sentiment, demonstrations, and wonderment of whether this conflict was one that we should be involved in: Should we stop the spread of communism in Southeast Asia? Would there be a domino effect of nations being toppled by Communism? I was dating my future husband, Bob, at the time who was in a Photographic Army Unit. For 2 years he kept getting orders to be ready to ship out. Then the orders were cancelled. It was nerve wracking! He was scared and talked about fleeing to Canada. I didn't know what to think. I believe Bob would have gone over there, but his enlistment time of 3 years ran out and he was discharged on the day his unit finally shipped out! Ross Applegate, who grew up in my neighborhood, was killed as his plane landed in Vietnam. Barry Mangels, our friend's boyfriend and later husband, came back talking of terrible stories of torture of the Viet Cong. I think his experience effected him greatly, NOT in a good way.
Fast forward 56 years later. Can this be real? Here I am on a fancy Viking Cruise Ship visiting Saigon! I was amazed as the bus whisked us from the boat into this heavily populated city, now called Ho Chi Ming City. There are new buildings, lots of traffic, trash spewed over the streets, tangled electric cords hanging, but yet it had a prosperous feel. We stopped at a glitzy mall, not what we expected at all!
Later as we took tours around the area, we were told that the population has doubled since the 1970's! It is a young nation, the average age is only 30. It has a fast growing economy. Although it is Communist, it is a hybrid Socialistic place. In the north part, it is very conservative, while in the south it seems Capitalistic. Since there is only one political party, Communist, we were told that corruption is rampant. You can buy yourself out of traffic tickets, most anything with bribes. Want to start a business? Just pay a fee to those in charge. You get the idea.
The people seem to be very hard working and yet the average yearly salary is only $4,000 US equivalent. The guide said it is nearly impossible to own a home or buy a car (the government charges as much as a car is worth in taxes). It is a country of motorbikes chugging everywhere with many people riding on them at once. The guide said most people follow a Folk Religion honoring their ancestors. He said every home has an altar in an important area. Another guide disputed this citing that most people are Buddhist. Google says there are 7 million Catholics in Vietnam representing about 7 percent of the population. While the constitution of Vietnam allows religious freedom, unfortunately there are many government restrictions on organized activities of many religious groups.
We enjoyed the tours although the CIA building where the LAST American helicopter left Vietnam, choked me up! We saw the Reunification Palace that America built for South Vietnam at a cost of $50 Million US. It is now a tourist stop with the red flag containing a star of a Communist government flying in front of it. I feel sad that our country lost so many of my generation in Vietnam. Was it worth it? I don't know, but I pray our country is careful in getting into wars overseas without help from other countries and an exit strategy.
When we booked this cruise, we were looking forward to visiting Bali and Singapore. Vietnam was not on our radar, but I must say, it has been educational and brought back past memories. I am glad we had a few days here to put the past in some sort of perspective.
Friday, March 24, 2023
Vietnam - Not What One Would Expect
March 24 - This morning this coast line of Vietnam appeared on the horizon with many fishing boats and merchant ships of all types plying the water. We docked at a container port about one hour from Ho Chi Min City. We were about a half a day earlier than that of the original schedule so we hadn't scheduled a tour. Viking did offer a shuttle bus service to Crescent Mall about thirty minutes away.
The multi level Crescent Mall is ultra modern featuring many brand name stores now found world-wide. The glittery mall wouldn't be the image most Americans would picture but there it was!
Crescent Mall
Crescent Mall
Sunset on the South China Sea Headed North for Vietnam
Fishing Boats
March 27 - Our Last Day in Vietnam
Docked at the Saigon Premiere Container Terminal
We breakfasted late chatting with a couple from a retirement community in the Bay Area. Early in the afternoon the Orion headed down the river and out to sea.
Thirty Minutes to Crescent Mall, Sixty Minutes to Downtown
As Orion sailed into the South China Sea, our last sight of Vietnam was Christ of Vũng Tàu. It is among the tallest statues of Christ in Asia at 32 meters.
Just a few minutes before zooming in on the statue about five miles away, while standing on our balcony watching the pilot boat depart, the pilot waved goodbye. We waved back. Vietnam is a friendly country!
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