Saigon

We had a leisurely morning, with departure from the hotel not until 9:15.

They say the population of Saigon is 7.6 million people and 10 million motorbikes!

We finally arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). The airlines in this part of the world don't have weather delays -- at least at this time of year, when the skies are almost always clear and the temperatures are almost always pleasant. They have inefficiency delays.

Some might recognize the building in the foreground from news photos of 1975. Helicopters landed here to evacuate the last Americans. It's now surrounded by modern skyscrapers.

 The plane was nearly an hour late getting to Vientiane, Laos from Hanoi -- no explanation. Then there weren't enough gates at the airport, so the people coming from Hanoi had to wait on the tarmac and we had to wait in the terminal. There is no direct flight between the capital of Laos and the largest city in Vietnam (go figure), so we had to stop in Phenom Penh, Cambodia. Even though we were continuing on in the same plane, with the same flight number, in the same seats, with only one boarding pass, they made us all get off the plane, taking all of our carry-on luggage. They made us go through security again, even though we'd just gotten off a plane (can't be too secure!) and then stand in line to wait to get back on the plane we'd just gotten off of. The flight attendants were very courteous, and were eager to help us find our way back to the same seats we'd just left (like we couldn't remember where they were).

 

Roman Catholic cathedral in Saigon, packed on Sunday evening.

But Saigon is an amazing place. The international airport, at which we arrived, is the former Tan Son Nhat Air Base, built by the Americans, and still bearing evidence of anti-blast bunkers for aircraft. We were expecting the city itself to be a slum, but it's a very modern, fast-paced place with millions of motorbikes. Our local guide says that American war vets who come back can't believe it, everything has changed so much. The visit to the historical museum was a waste of time, but the walk around the city center, seeing the old French buildings up against the modern high-rises, was fascinating.

 

The old French colonial post office, outside and in.

After dinner at the hotel, our guide offered to lead anyone who wanted to go with him down to the night market, only about a quarter mile from the hotel. Once again, Mark & Mary were the only takers. He bought us a tapioca root snack (pretty bad) and walked us around the various stalls. An important survival skill here is simply learning to cross the street. After about an hour, it was time to head back to the hotel because of an early start in the morning.