Hey, folks. It’s Monday evening now…time to recap the weekend.
Saturday, Sept. 24, was a day of solo wandering, putting in over 10 miles. I hit Hoam Kien Lake again, circling the lake and watching a number of older ladies doing their Tai Chi in the morning mist. There were probably another dozen newlyweds getting their pics taken even before noon.
I tried to get tickets to the water puppet show, but waited too long and the afternoon show sold out. Next weekend, perhaps. Their performances are considered a national treasure, and a must-see for any tourist. You now know as much as I do.
Lunch was a fabulous plate of local fruit, accented with strong coffee. The best local fruit, the name of which escapes me, resembles a large grapefruit than is eminently peelable and eaten in sections. It grows wild in several areas in the city. The fresh mangos are also delicious; the fresh apples acceptable. Interestingly, the fruit came with a saucer of spiced salt, a local requirement that must be an acquired taste.
I spent the afternoon again trying to learn the maze of streets in the Old Quarter. The street layouts finally made sense after getting lost on the Silversmith Street, Fabric Street, etc. I could have walked the Spice Street for hours. Found a silversmith to repair a pendant at an OK price.
Walked back to the hotel with lines of salt stains on my black polo shirt…while the heat was only in the mid-80s, so was the humidity. Plus, the traffic creates enough exhaust to make breathing laborious if there is no breeze blowing.
Finished the day with dinner at a nearby touristy VN restaurant with Howard, Matt, and Matt’s wife and daughter. It was the first time I had met Juliana (Matt’s wife, a native of Moldova), but I had met their daughter Victoria back in Baku. Sorry that my cell phone memory filled and crashed so you will miss pics of our mango salad, 6-inch shrimp (peeled at the table by the server), fresh spring rolls, steamed beef rolls, and several other dishes I can’t remember. Total tab for the five of us was under $30. Ya gotta love this cuisine!
Here is the link for the Saturday pictures:
And, for those curious, here are the TV stations available in the hotel, although I haven’t had time to really explore them. I do, however, love the subtitles in Vietnamese.
- In-house
- ABC – Australia
- CNN
- BBC World
- TV5 – French
- France 24
- National Geographic
- Star Movie – English
- HBO Asia – Movie – English
- Star World (Entertainment crap)
- China Entertainment TV
- ESPN – English (soccer and rugby, mainly)
- Star Sport – English
- MTV
- Channel V (close to VH-1)
- Kids Go
- DW – German
- RAI – Italian
- TVE – Spanish
- Russia Today
- New Asia Channel
- 22-25: Viet channels, closely controlled by the gov’t.
Hai, one of our interpreters and project liasons, picked Howard and me up at the hotel at 9:00. The first stop was at Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, in a beautiful setting less than 2 km. from the hotel. The actual mausoleum was closed that day for refurbishing, disappointing literally thousands of tourists. But, the grounds were lovely, and we were able to stroll around and take in his house-on-stilts, as well as view buildings from the French colonial era. Normally, the mausoleum is only open from about 9 – 11:30 a.m. for visitors to view “uncle Ho’s” body, and tickets run out by 10:00. Cell phones and cameras are forbidden. Creepily, the body is returned to Moscow for two months every January for…er…refurbishing.
Near HCM’s grounds was also a tourist stop called the single tower pagoda. I have no idea why it is renowned.
Next, a stop in a back alley café to slake our collective thirsts with made-on-the-spot fresh mango drinks.
Now, on to the museum of fine art, in a semi-decrepit building again from the French era. There was relatively little from anytime pre-1800s, but quite a bit from the past two centuries. There were many depictions of various aspects of Buddhism, as you would expect; and quite an extensive collection of art from the war of independence in the ‘50s and ‘60s. The painting styles were so-so, but there were excellent wood and stone sculptures throughout.
A very worthwhile morning.
Since Hai had to leave at noon for family obligations, Howard and I headed again to the Old Quarter so I could show him the way around. Well, that didn’t work well at all. I got us lost at least five times, and we stopped in a large mall trying to find something cold to drink. Took us ten minutes to find the restaurant in the basement…we found it only because Howard had the bright idea of following a food delivery person carrying empty dishes. After lunch, we wandered to several shops in the Quarter, where Howard bargained the prices down on some souvenirs and I followed suit on some gifts. It appeared that even light bargaining would get prices down about 30%. It also helps a shade if you bargain using U.S. dollars but pay in Vietnamese dong. Most merchants use an exchange rate of 20,000 dong for ease of calculation, instead of the official rate of just over 20,800. And, that ends today’s lesson in international finance.
Howard had departed for the hotel by now, so I went to the jeweler to pick up my repaired pendant and bargained a neighboring t-shirt merchant below $3.00 for one for me. Then back to the hotel, which took 2 ½ hours because I got lost five times. It sucks when the street names are pretty similar, and none of them are straight. Anyway, help from a French tourist and German photographer finally got me back here just after 5:00….conveniently for the start of happy hour.
One interesting thing I found out that day. I had seen a number of female scooterists who were fully clothed, including gloves and mouth masks, and assumed they were Muslim covering up in modesty. Turns out that they are Vietnamese trying to avoid the sun, in the regional belief that the fairer one’s skin is the prettier she is. So, Jaye, if you visit me here in February, you will be a goddess. Just bring your friggin’ sun screen…you will need it.
Well, it is closing in on 11:00 and World Cup Rugby is on, so time to close. Much more to come soon.
Here is a link to the pictures from Sunday:
https://picasaweb.google.com/110414898143254307072/September252011
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