Saigon March 30th

Our day in Saigon began with a long two hour bus ride from the port of Phu My, a massive new industrial port located south of Saigon. Previously, ships similar in size to the Ocean Princess were allowed to sail up river and dock very close to downtown Saigon, however for some unexplained reason, we docked in Phu My. The bus ride into town was a tour in itself, with thousands upon thousands of motor bikes carrying everything from mom and pop and two to three kids, to construction materials piled high behind the driver, to flowers, cases of beer, you name it; everything travels by motor bike.

Once in Saigon, we set our on our mission to stimulate the Viet Nam economy by spending as much money as possible in the three plus hours we had before catching the bus back to Phu My. The shopping in Saigon is amazing. With the Vietnamese Dong trading at 19,000 to the US Dollar (up from 16,000 on our last visit), the dollar was accepted everywhere. The selection of silks, knock-off products and other Asian items was astounding.

Once done at the market, we toted all of our new purchases a few blocks to the Rex Hotel, where we had lunch on the roof top terrace. From the terrace it was amazing to see how much the skyline had changed in the three years since we were last there. New high rise buildings are going up everywhere. During the Viet Nam war, military leaders would have a commanding view of the city from the top of the Rex. No more. Across the street from the Rex, we stopped to snap a photo of the Ho Chi Minh statue with the City Hall in the background.

Our day ended as it started, with the two hour bus ride back to Phu My, however the ride back seemed much longer. It was great to visit Saigon again, making me more determined to come back here some day to spend some time and see much more of this beautiful country.