The following post details my time in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - Oct 7 - 10, 2014:
Oct 7, 2014:
I got up today around 7:00. I'm leaving Siem Reap, heading to Ho Chi Minh City, but with a long lay-over in Phnom Penh (5.5 hours). The lay-over was due to bad scheduling and lack of understanding of Cambodia geography on my part.
I assumed that most things to see in Cambodia were in Phnom Penh, so I had booked a Bangkok Air flight into there and then used US Airways miles for a flight out to Ho Chi Minh City on Qatar airlines. However, I discovered that the ancient temples were the big draw. I was able to change my Bangkok Air flight to fly from Bangkok to Siem Reap - even getting a partial refund from the difference in fare! However, I never changed the Qatar flight - Star Alliance didn't have any carriers out of Siem Reap...plus I would have to pay a high change fee to US Airways. Thus the random flight on Cambidia Air from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh.
I got ready, packed and went down for breakfast around 8:00. My taxi was to leave at 8:15, so cutting it really close.
Part of the way through breakfast, Matt from Hong Kong (but really from Australia) came down and joined me. We chit chatted for a few minutes, but then I noticed that it was already 8:20, so I had to go.
The ride to the airport was quick - the same driver and same Toyota Highlander I've had every day. I heard the guide yesterday say that the driver was Philippine. He had a Louis Vittion steering wheel cover as well as LV pillows on the back of the seats. I'm sure that they were fake and he had found the material somewhere. However, he was always dressed very trendy, wore white Ray Ban sunglasses and had a huge gold bracelet and ring.
The domestic departures were in a different terminal, so I understood why he asked where I was going. It was small building with only 4 check-in counters. All were open for check-in to Phnom Penh. I was worried about the weight of my bag and figured I might have to pay a fee. Sure enough that finally happened - my first baggage fee! The bag was 31.5 kg. The agent called over a supervisor who spoke English to explain it to me. He said I had to pay for anything over 25 kg (nice, since their website says anything over 20 kg). And he rounded down to 30 kg...so I had to pay $2.20 US/kg for 5 kg...so $11. I paid $20 cash and got 9 singles back. I still find it funny how US currency appears to be the primary currency here.
Security was uneventful and then I waited in the holding area for about 45 minutes. When we boarded, we had to walk on the tarmac, but I got a nice picture of the plane. A big A321 for such a short flight - less than 1 hour.
The Siem Reap airport as leaving:
I had three seats all to myself. I started reading their airline magazine and a special magazine about the airline's 5th anniversary and ended up falling asleep. I slept almost the entire flight to Phnom Penh. I woke up in time to take a picture when landing.
I had debated if I wanted to stay in the terminal for my wait or to go out, claim my bag and then determine what to do. I've discovered in most of the European and Asian airports that check-in desks are not dedicated to airlines 24/7 - they can be used by any airline. So if an airline only has 1 or 2 flights per day, they only open check-in about two hours before.
The decision was made for me when we arrived - there was not an option to go into the terminal. When we exited, we were lead directly to baggage claim. Bag came out, no issues. Headed into the departure area - the flight was not even listed yet and Qatar doesn't have a ticket counter open.
Around 12:45, I was rather hungry, so I headed to Burger King...a Whopper and fries sounded really good....and they were. Plus Burger King had Wifi, although terribly slow.
At 2:15 I thought that my flight might have check-in open, and sure enough, they did. No one was in line, so I approached the business class check-in for Qatar Airlines. I had used US Airways miles for this flight and I distinctly remember that coach was 30,000 miles and business class was only 35,000 miles, so it was a very easy decision. The agent was very friendly. She handed me a club lounge coupon along with my boarding pass.
I was off to security and proceeded through with no issues.
I noticed the money exchange desk and debated if I should use it. I had close to 700 THB and 20 euros - none of which I'll need further on the trip. I cashed in both - $14 US for the Thai Baht and $23 US for the euros. Not great exchange rates, but then I didn't have to pay the $5 commission either.
I went in the lounge - not very impressive, but nice to have. I had a half glass of wine - a Rothschild Bordeaux...guessing it is not a first growth!
Around 3:50, I went up to ask if the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) flight was boarding soon. They told me that they were going to call me in about 2 minutes. I didn't realize that I was the only person in the lounge for the HCMC flight. Sure enough, she came to me in about 2 minutes. I was to follow another agent. She took me directly to the gate, walking past everyone in line. Boarding had not started, but as soon as she arrived with me, then she told the agent to start and that I was first. He immediately opened the jet bridge door and scanned my ticket. The same agent then escorted me down to the plane and passed me off to the lead flight attendant. I sort of felt like an unaccompanied minor.
It ended up, I was the only person seated in business class...so I was surrounded by 23 empty seats. I've never had that experience before. The flight was only stopping in HCMC, continuing on to Doha. It was a very short flight...only about 35 minutes in the air and the cruising altitude was only 17,000 feet. Much too short for such service!
We arrived and I was the first person off the plane. Surprisingly the folks continuing on to Doha could stay on the plane.
I arrived at immigration and there were many lines open, so I go to the one with the shortest line. I was actually the next person. She finished, then decided to make a call on her cell phone. I thought she motioned for me, so I started to move forward and she held up her hand to stop me. She motioned for me to go to a different line. So I moved two or three down...of course while I'm still waiting in the other lane, she finished her call and takes a new person that walked up about 3 minutes after I moved.
I grabbed my bag at baggage claim - was already coming out when I arrived - then headed to customs. Had to have my bag x-rayed, but no issues. Grabbed cash at an ATM and then out to find the taxis. I saw a sign for Park Hyatt Saigon, so I went to them. You had to pre-arrange and it was $75 US - yikes...no thank you. A taxi to the hotel should be less than $10.
I got a taxi and with much discussion between various drivers they figured out where the Park Hyatt was located.
The traffic was horrible - seemed to be rush hour. There were SOOO many motorbikes - it was unbelievable. They would take over 2-3 lanes of traffic and most of the time have complete disregard for traffic lights, cross walks, etc.
After about 30 minutes, we finally made it to the hotel. I got checked in and the front desk person escorted me to my room. It was a very nice room. The shower was interesting - glass doors that go into the shower, then beyond the shower was the tub. So everything gets wet when you take a shower.
I unpacked and relaxed a little. Around 8:30 I went to the concierge. He gave me several suggestions for dinner and made reservations for me nearby.
As I left the hotel it was raining, so the concierge gave me an umbrella. The restaurant was only about 2 blocks away and served traditional Vietnamese food. I sat outside and luckily it wasn't too hot or humid...lots of fans going. I started with fried spring rolls with pork and then a sea bass with mango and avocado salsa for the entree. I had to eat with chop sticks for the entire meal, so the experience took a little while.
After dinner I walked another block or two to find the restaurant that Gloria (a friend in Baltimore) had recommended...but never found it.
Back at the hotel, I sat in the lobby bar, had a glass of wine, journaled and thoroughly enjoyed the piano player - a younger Vietnamese woman who played non-stop for about an hour, without any sheet music.
Up to the room and off to bed around 12:15 AM.
Oct 8, 2014:
Today was my first full day in Ho Chi Minh City. I noticed that many things opened at 7:30 AM, closing for lunch anywhere between 11 AM and 1:30 PM, so I wanted to get an early start. That didn't quite happen. My alarm started going off at 6:30, but I kept hitting snooze, the bed was so comfortable. I finally got up at 9 and was out the door around 10:30 - after calling for laundry and talking with the business center about shipping a package.
I thought that I had sent my last package from Belgium, but the folks who live in China and were at the resort in Cambodia informed me that it would be very unlikely that I could get into China with the food products that I bought in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Given the time, I decided that I would walk around for a few hours, have lunch and then head to the War Remnants Museum when it re-opened at 1:30.
I started off tracking to the post office, checking out a few small shops along the way. I am still amazed by the number of motor bikes here. They have to outnumber cars by 10 to 1, if not more.
The Post Office was a major sight listed on all the tourist maps, so I took several pics. Even local brides love it - see the lower left in the first pic below:
Directly across from the Post Office was Vietnam's Notre Dame. When the French occupied the area, they built the church. While the outside somewhat resembles the Norte Dame in Paris, nothing about it inside comes close to the original in Paris - inside pics are later in the blog post.
From here, I walk towards the Reunification Palace. Crossing various streets was like playing Russian Roulette - in most spots there are not crossing lights. There are cross walks, but no one pays attention to those. You have to cross 3 to 4 lanes of traffic. After the first 2 or 3 crossings, then I proved to be fearless and just stared down the oncoming traffic. I've noticed that as long as you walk with determination and don't show any hesitation, then they respect you crossing. I've got lots of horn blowing, but totally over that by now and hardly even hear it at this point.
The Reunification Palace had been the residence of the President Nguyen Van Thieu of South Vietnam during the Vietnam war. Saigon fell and the war pretty much ended in 1975 when two North Vietnam tanks broke through the defense there. There are replicas of the tanks sitting in the front lawn area, as a constant reminder. The Palace closed for lunch between 11 and 1, so I wasn't able to go in. There was no shortage of motorbike tour guides offering to take me elsewhere.
From the Palace, then I headed towards the custom tailor that I had learned about from the concierge. I was so disappointed that I didn't get custom-made shirts in Thailand and learned that Vietnam would be the next best place. Unfortunately the first shop needed over a week to make the shirt...plus it was $100 US per shirt. I tried about four more shops, with each one getting cheaper and faster, but even the last one was over $50/shirt. I was expecting more like $30 US or less....so passed. Perhaps in China.
A walking street vendor who wanted to pose for a picture after he saw me taking a pic...but then was very upset when I didn't want to buy his cocunut water:
I was near the Opera House, so decided to stop by to see if there was a show while I was in town. Sure enough, there was a show tonight. So I bought a ticket. Off to the opera at 6 PM tonight!
Time for lunch...last night the concierge had recommended a restaurant in the area where I was walking for the tailors, so a perfect opportunity to try it - Xu. I only glanced briefly at the menu outside. Wished I had looked for closely as it was pretty limited. I ended up getting Pad Thai with chicken and shrimp along with a diet coke and bottle of water. The Pad Thai was rather bland - glad they had given me some spices on the side to "doctor it up".
Locals having lunch too:
After lunch, I headed out to get a taxi to go to the War Museum. Someone at the restaurant hailed the cab and I hopped in. I told the cabbie that I wanted to go to the War Remnants museum...this is a major museum, was opened in the late 1970's and is the only museum in town that has the word "War" in it....and many cabbies and motorbike cabbies had been offering to take me there all day. He acted like he had never heard of it. I pulled out a map and pointed to where it was...and where we were. Finally - he says - "oh, the war museum". Uh, yes. For the next 10+ minutes, he takes me on a tour throughout town. When we were near the river, I knew he was taking me on a crazy route to drive up the meter. I pulled out my map and found where we were. I said - where you are you going - this is the opposite direction from the museum? He noticed that I had out the map and started back in the direction of the museum. By the time we got there, the meter said 73,000 dong - so not quite $3.50. I was so mad. I handed him a 100,000 bill and waited for the change. He claimed to have no change. I asked for my money back and he gave me a 50,000 bill...oh, hell no...I gave you a 100,000 bill and grabbed my original bill out of his hands. I gave him a 50,000 bill and said that was all the change I had and much more than he deserved after driving me all over town. He just smiled, starting to laugh. I yelled a few more things then slammed the door as hard as I could.
It was while writing this blog post that I was so upset over essentially $1 US....oh, well...principle.
If it weren't for the sketchy cabbies on this trip, it would have been mostly stress-free.
I entered the museum and started to explore. There are many US Army and US Air Force tanks, helicopters, boats and airplanes on display outside. There was interesting information about the purpose of each, how many the US had in Vietnam during the war, etc.
However, entering the first exhibit, the tone of the museum completely changed. This was the first museum that I've ever visited where the war was almost exclusively with the USA and the museum is on foreign soil, telling their story. All of the museums in Europe related to WWI and WWII were all different - pretty transparent, telling both sides of the story, or very much tilted towards the Allies.
In this museum, it was very much a North Vietnam perspective, with America and South Vietnam being the enemies. I'll admit that I don't know tons of history about the Vietnam War and I was born around the time it was ending. However, I know that it was met with much apprehension and protests in the USA. These comments are not meant to make a judgement one way or another about the war or the US involvement....merely my feelings as I visited this museum. Also, I'm sure that I've greatly simplified some of the historical facts...again, not to judge, but to pass along my impressions from the day and what little knowledge that I gained. Hahaha - enough disclaimers?
In these displays, the USA was made out to be a horrible aggressor, who was never "invited" to participate in the war. North Vietnam saw this as a reunification effort with South Vietnam. None of the tortures or atrocities committed against American POWs were ever mentioned - only the pain, suffering and torture that the USA inflicted on the Northern Vietnamese.
By an hour into the museum, I felt terrible and wishing that I could hide my Caucasian face....and I hadn't even made it to the Agent Orange room.
The descriptions and pictures of the torture were horrible. Many things that I read had been things that I heard had been inflicted on the US POWs, so perhaps somewhat typical of warfare. I took pictures of the two poster boards explaining the different types of torture, so feel free to blow these up if interested...but you can leave them as small and unreadable if not interested....warning, they are quite graphic.
After the exhibit on torture, there was a room of photography, showing the current day impacts of people living with effects from Agent Orange. There were over 50 pictures...I think it had mixed meanings to show perseverance as well as struggles. Some of the deformities and birth defects were more than I could take and had to look away, ultimately moving through the pictures rather quickly.
The next exhibit was "Proof of Warfare"...not to ask the obvious, but really, was there any question? This exhibit just detailed all the terrible things that the Americans had done, with no mention of what might have prompted the attack or what was done in retaliation....or that South Vietnam had actually requested help/support from the USA. There were several walls highlighting the war demonstrations within the USA, which I think was trying to show that many in America was not supportive of the war. (Again, I wasn't even alive during this time, so I have no idea, but just found the one-sided presentation of the situation very interesting).
I moved upstairs at this point...and encountered the Agent Orange room. A very quick history lesson - Agent Orange was an incredibly toxic "herbicide" that the USA sprayed in much of the jungle region of Vietnam during the war, to destroy the foliage, thus reducing the threat of guerrilla warfare and trying to reduce or eliminate the jungle passage of supplies that the North Vietnamese had created. Interesting, it was Great Britain who first used this herbicide in a different war, so the US had used this prior use as justification for using it in Vietnam.
Regardless, Agent Orange is horrible. It certainly helped in the intended use - there were many pictures showing before and after pictures of jungle areas that were completely decimated and will take generations, if ever to regrow. However, we now know that one of the substances in it - Dioxin - is extremely toxic. It has greatly polluted the soil in the sprayed areas, and somewhat ironically, the worst polluted areas are the former US military bases where the substance was loaded into planes. There have been many lawsuits brought by US veterans related to the side-effects of their exposure to Agent Orange (with a very small percentage receiving any compensation). There have been many illness and conditions as well as miscarriages and birth defects associated Agent Orange within the USA.
The pictures and stories in the Agent Orange room were overwhelming. Beyond very graphic pictures of the birth defects, there were several preserved still-born fetuses that showed the incredible deformities. Again, another room that was abbreviated towards the end when I couldn't take much more.
By 4 PM, I decided to head back to the hotel. No cab this time, I walked it. Stopped and was able to go into Notre Dame.
Back at the hotel by 4:15. I stayed in the room for about an hour before headed off to the Opera....they had promised free drinks beforehand, so to arrive quite early. I was sorely disappointed when the free drink was green tea...I was expecting Champagne. Thank goodness I had taken my bag....I had 45+ minutes to journal, since I wasn't drinking free Champagne.
Inside the Opera building:
The show was more like Cirque de Soleil rather than an opera. There was a minimal amount of singing and mostly very impressive acrobatic routines. The show lasted about 60 minutes...and I started looking at my watch 30 minutes in. Was interesting, but I was ready to go.
After the show, I headed back to the hotel. One of the bars had 51% off your entire bill between 5 and 8 PM. I had two martinis - first Lemongrass and then Ginger one along with an order of Spring Rolls. By this point I wasn't very hungry, so never went out to dinner. Instead, I headed to the lobby bar for piano music and singing around 9:15 while I journaled.
Off to bed around 12 midnight.
Oct 9, 2014:
I know it is shocking, but my plan to get up early didn't quite work out. I slept until about 9:30.
I got dressed in long pants and a long sleeve shirt to go to the Jade Emerald Pagoda. I got a cab at the hotel and it was about a 15 minute ride. When we stopped, I was looking for something quite grand, but it certainly was not. There's a small entrance off the sidewalk into a courtyard area. It was rather run down. I was starting to think that I was in the wrong place. However, I continued on into the Pagoda. There were a few desks, but they weren't for buying a ticket. It was very smokey due to all of the incense being burned. There were several people kneeling and bowing in prayer, so I figured this was the place. Finally I saw a couple there with a guide pointing out various things and explaining the importance, so felt better that I was at the right place.
Several of the sculptures are quite spectacular, but there was random trash, lunch plates and general storage items all around that took away from the experience. I walked through a few smaller rooms, all smokey and filled with incense.
After about 20 minutes, I headed out. I stopped in the courtyard to enjoy the small pond and a few other items.
When I headed out to the sidewalk, I was debating if I was going to walk around the area or just grab a cab. A cab was just pulling up to drop off someone, so my decision was easy - Cab! There were several women on the sidewalk selling live turtles, fish and other aquatic life. I later read that these are supposed to be for good luck - you buy them and then release them in the pond outside the Pagoda. I had originally thought they were food and my stomach had turned a little bit.
I had the cab take me back to the hotel to change out of my long-sleeved shirt (which I don't think was necessary at all...people were there with shorts, short-sleeves, even some of the worshippers).
I left the hotel again, this time heading towards the Ben Thanh Market. I had changed many of my large bills for smaller denominations, so was ready for lots of shopping.
The market was about a ten minute walk from the hotel. I was within a block of the market, when a very heavy rain started. I had read not to take bags to the market, so I had reduced down, leaving my bag at the hotel...filling my pockets with camera, sunglasses, umbrella, map and cash. Thank goodness I had the umbrella as it helped a bit, but the rain was so hard that I had to stop and stay under storefront awnings for a while. The vendors would let me stand there for a few minutes before pressuring me to buy something, so I'd move on to the next. At one of them, a security guard wanted me to pay him cash after I stood there for a few minutes. (I did not!)
After switching awnings several times, the market was within site. As soon as the rain reduced enough, then I walked the final half block. I happened to look down once in the market and noticed that while my head and shirt were dry, my pants from the knees down were soaked from the rain. Luckily the dry fit REI pants dry very fast.
I wasn't sure what to expect in the market in terms of merchandise. All the concierge said is that they had everything. Sure enough, that was relatively accurate. Tons of clothes, material, shoes, spices, coffee, tea, tableware, souvenirs, purses, belts, wallets, etc...and then a huge fresh food area. One area of the market is "fixed price" - so no negotiation and the prices are pretty high. In the rest of the market, nothing has a price. If you show interest, then you ask "how much". Usually the vendor enters the price on a calculator. Their first price is ridiculously high. Then the negotiation begins. You can never get too attached to the item since you need to be prepared to walk away at any point. But another shop just a few feet away will have the exact same thing.
The market is also quite physical. First it is very crowded, so you're constantly bumping into other shoppers. But the vendors are quite physical - they grab your arms to pull you into their "shops", they physically block the aisle to force you to look at their stuff (or you just push through them), they force their goods into your face. The key phrase - "I give special price just for you". Hahaha, all of the special prices I was offered!
In the end, I spent the equivalent of $65 US. For that, I got 2 Burberry shirts, 4 pairs of Calvin Klein underwear, several teas, spices and salts, a Louis Vuitton wallet, 2 pairs of Louis Vuitton socks, a fantastic silk table runner, 3 pairs of anklet socks and several other random things. Certainly one of the biggest shopping days of the trip! I'm going to pretend that everything is the real thing!
In all cases I paid less than half of their initial price....but usually more like 75% off. Not the most pleasant shopping experience I've ever had. I had to use the "walk away" technique several times and in all but one case, they raced after me to accept my last offer.
After about 2.5 hours at the market, I was spent - nothing more to explore and nothing more that I wanted to buy. I started the walk back to the hotel and made a few stops along the way...including a great stationary store where I bought several metallic ink pens. I also realized that I never ate breakfast or lunch and it was around 4:00, so I stopped in a Circle K (yes, a Circle K! - they are everywhere here) and got a Diet Coke and a small can of Pringles. It has been surprising - Pringles are very international and have been in every country that I've visited.
A few other sights as I walked back to the hotel:
Back at the hotel, I sorted my purchases and added to the box that I am planning to ship before leaving Vietnam.
I downloaded a bunch of pictures and then headed down to the hotel Martini bar with my iPad to work on the Cambodia blog post. The same bartender from last night was working - and he was very attentive. No martinis today - just had two glasses of wine. I added pictures to the Cambodia blog along with some final edits.
Before I knew it, it was 7:30, so I was going to be late to meet William (my cousin's fiancee and he lives in HCMC). I messaged William that I was going to be late....obviously. He sent me the address.
It is good that he sent the address. I had looked up The Hideaway on the web and it was a much different address than what he sent...completely different directions. When I showed the address to the bellman for a taxi, he just said - watch your wallet....oh great! That's the only time they have said that to me.
The taxi ride was about 10 minutes into the Backpacker District. William had told me that he was on the top floor. It was a very happening area - tons of neon, lots of people, tons of restaurants, bars, shops. I found William and he was with two other people - Andy and Charlotte.
It was great to meet William and Andy and Charlotte were very fun to talk with. Charlotte and Andy are from the UK - Oxford - but are traveling extensively for the next month and then plan to live in Vietnam for about a year.
William helped me get a cab when I left about 2 hours later. I was hungry, so headed to the maritini bar in the hotel and had the chicken quesadilla. The quesadilla arrived and it was wonderful and the sour cream was quite good - different than any sour cream I've ever had in the US. French fries came on the side and they were quite good too!
Don't remember what time I went to bed...around 12:30, I think.
Oct 10, 2014
I slept late again today, getting up at 10 AM.
After showering, then I called the Conrad in Hong Kong. My next stop of the trip is Hong Kong and I realized a few weeks ago that the hotel I have booked is in the middle of the biggest protest area. I've booked a back-up hotel in a "safer" area, but I really wanted to stay at the Conrad. In terms of hotel points, it was the biggest splurge of the entire trip. Talking with the hotel, I found out that some streets around the hotel were still closed to vehicle traffic, but all shops were open and the hotel fully functioning. I decided to stay with the Conrad and cancelled my back-up reservation at the Renaissance.
I finished packing my box, taping it up and took it down to the business center as I left the hotel. I really debated this package - using the business center vs. going to the post office. The box was heavier than I expected, so the thought of carrying it about 7 blocks to the post office was less and less appealing. It was going to be about half the price, but I had really underestimated the size and weight of the box when I talked to the post office. I decided on the business center. There was a different person there when I arrived and the interaction with her made me more and more concerned. She had to know exactly what was in the box, there couldn't be any liquids - opps! (I lied on that part) and she couldn't give me an estimate for about an hour.
From the hotel, I head out for lunch. I was determined to finally find the restaurant that a friend Gloria had recommended. It totally alluded me yesterday. I had determined that all of Gloria's recommendations were for Hanoi, but there is a location of one of the restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City.
After about a 15 minute walk, I found it! The restaurant is Cha Ca La Vong and is supposedly the oldest restaurant in Vietnam. There were tons of motorcycles outside, mostly blocking the door, but sure enough it was open. I walked in and got a table for one. No other causations here. The server brought the menu and it took a minute for me to realize that there is only one entree, you just say for how many people. I also got a can of 7-Up. Very quickly the meal started arriving...first the 7-Up. Then all of the accompaniment for the lunch - peanuts, a sauce, noodles, greens, various herbs, green onions, big crispy cracker. Several servers dipped a piece of the cracker in the sauce and put it in my mouth. I kept saying, yes, good. I wasn't sure the question. There was a plate of lime slices and pieces of very hot looking peppers. Ultimately, the server put a few peppers in the sauce. Evidently, me saying that the sauce was good was not good enough.
Next the server brought out a small, single-eye gas burner with a skillet. The main entree was already in it, then he added a huge bowl of green items - green onions, dill, etc. He continued to cook it in front of me. I couldn't determine what the main protein was that was already in the skillet. Could be fish, could be chicken, could be tofu....certainly not beef.
The server finished cooking and then filled my bowl to explain how to use all of the ingredients. A base of noodles, then the cooked items, then more greens, peanuts, green onions, broken up crackers and then drizzled the sauce on top. The only utensil was chop sticks, so I attempted that at first...luckily after about 5 minutes, he brought me a fork. I guess they were laughing in the back at my attempt with the chop sticks!
When my bowl was getting empty, then he re-appeared and re-filled it.
I decided that the protein was fish...at least that's what I'm telling myself since I still was not exactly sure. I ate everything and was quite pleased with myself. Early on I had considered just giving up, paying and walking out. The bill was 203,000 dong, so about $10.
More motorcycles were outside, so was rather difficult to actually get out of the restaurant.
From lunch, I walked back to the hotel and checked out.
I checked my bags with the bellman and headed out for the Reunification Palace. I didn't get to visit the inside previously due to the strange hours. It was a longer walk then I remembered. The Palace was a time warp from 1960/1970's. Nothing changed since it was overtaken in 1975. I was most surprised that it was all open air...no air conditioning. Can't imagine it was always like that. I got so hot and humid...I stood directly in front of the fan in numerous rooms.
Tons of interesting rooms in the palace - President Offices, private apartments, bunkers, state dinner rooms, game rooms, helipad, etc....and all still decorated like they were left in 1975 when the Palace was captured by the North Vietnamese army.
The security room:
I walked back towards the Hyatt after the Palace...it was nearing 4 PM. I walked past the Hyatt to determine if I could walk to the Renaissance with my bags. No way...within the first block past the Hyatt, the sidewalk was mostly blocked with construction, so I turned around to go back to they Hyatt.
I got my bags and a taxi to the Renaissance.
The taxi ride was about 4 minutes. The meter never started, so I just gave him 20,000 dong...less than $1 US. He took it, so we were all good.
I had to wait a little bit at check-in, but then got an agent. I handed over my passport and credit card, but after a few minutes, he directed me to another person who would escort me to my room. This must be very common in Asia, the is the second time that it has happened.
We went to the 18th floor. The lounge was also on this floor. We walked to the end of the hallway and I was hoping that it was my room...sure enough, it was. A huge, penthouse suite. I had views in about 180 degrees....the city, the river, etc.
I went to the roof-top pool to check it out. Then I went to each of the hotel bars - at least 4 different ones on separate levels to see them. All looked interesting, but didn't stop at any of them.
In the elevator bay from a low floor:
At 5:30, I went to the lounge. I had several appetizers - cheese, chicken satay, toast with pastrami, etc. I went back to the room to enjoy the bottle of wine and cheese plate that I got as my Platinum welcome gift.
Evening views from my room:
Then off to bed around 11 PM, have a wake-up call at 3 AM since my flight to Hong Kong is so early.
No comments:
Post a Comment