Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon

The girls in front of Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Minh)

Hi all,

We arrived in HCMC, Saigon a couple of days ago. We have seen some of the sights and are getting ready to head off on the Mekong Delta by boat and bus and end up in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Saigon is the most western city we have seen since Hong Kong and yet it is still very Vietnamese. All the name brand high end shopping. Lots of scooters so you have to risk your life walking on the roads/sidewalks. Sidewalks are used for parking scooters or selling wares or just driving scooters on if the road traffic looks bad! There are lots of "ladies of the night" here that harass single men - another good reason to travel with kids in this neck of the woods. Lots of Communist Propaganda mixed in with western commerce.

Workers of the world unite.

We met a lovely Aussie on the plane. She has lived here for a few years and has no intention of leaving. She was telling us some of the trials of living in this communist country. Due to the censorship, the foreign papers are blacked out so entrepreneurial people take the papers from the international flights home, iron them and sell them on the street - recycling at its best.

Did I mention that is is hot 33 degree plus 94% humidity.

Mira is enjoying lime juice to cool off and Kate found a park - first since Hong Kong.

Weddings are huge here. All the museums and churches, important buildings are used as backdrops for wedding pictures. One day we saw 11 wedding photo shoots. These are photos of Mira and Kate in front of their favourite wedding dresses at the Ho Chi Minh Museum. I had to do some revisionist teaching of the Vietnam war - keep it kid friendly. It was easy though - Vietnam fought against the French in the 30s, Japanese in the 40s and Americans in the 60s and 70s. We spent the most time learning about the typewriter. Both girls were very interested in this primitive technology.

I am feeling under the weather - or more like hit by a truck so this will be brief. We are looking forward to meeting up with the Rotary Group in Siem Reap.

Ta for now. sharon

Paul at another restaurant... in his Same, Same but different shirt.. it is a saying here.