Viking Rivers: Magnificent Mekong: September 25: Saigon

Historic Ho Chi Minh City Tour

Today is the official final day of the "Magnificent Mekong" Cruisetour. We woke up in our room early this morning and after breakfast we were on the bus at 8am to tour Saigon. As we headed to our first stop we were again reminded of the chaotic traffic in the SE Asian cities we've visited. Traffic lights are "suggestions" and no one seems to see anyone else as they maneuver their scooter, car, or bus in every direction possible where lanes are also "just a suggestion." The first stop was the iconic post office. It was designed to be a train station (you can see this in the architecture) but it was wisely decided that running a railroad through downtown Saigon would only make a horrible traffic situation even worse. The phone booths were used during the war by reporters to phone their stories in. Now, rather than tear them down they hold ATMs!

Making a left turn into traffic :O

Traffic through the front windshield

The colonial French architecture of the post office

Photo op outside the entrance
The interior - see how it looks like a train station?

A block away from the post office is the former headquarters of the US CIA during the war. The rooftop was used as the landing base for helicopters in the final days of the evacuation of Saigon before it fell to the Communists.

We arrived at the Presidential Palace and spent about an hour there as Bob gave us the story behind the once seat of power for the democratic South Vietnam government. We were able to visit all the official rooms used for dignitaries and their meeting with the President; the President's office; and went up three levels and then down to the bunker level in the basement. It's just for tourists now since the Communist have taken control and unified the country.

The Presidential Palace

Official rooms in the palace

The Grande Staircase

This carpet was commissioned by the President to bring good feng shui to the government. Somehow he was unaware that five dragons brings good fortune and good luck - FOUR dragons (count them, uh oh) brings bad luck. And of course....the South Vietnamese government was short-lived!

You'll note in the collage of the rooms the very ornate, lacquered wood. When the daughter of the owner of Viking Cruises - Karine Hagan - visited here she was impressed by this and asked where this work was done. When taken to this small business she made sure that all Viking guests who visit Saigon would get to visit here. We saw how they make their pieces and then could tour their showroom. It was very cool and we purchased a keepsake.

Note the artist is using egg shells! They cut small pieces like a puzzle piece, then layer them on to give it a 3-D feel to the touch while adding lacquer and color along the way.

Our decorative small vase highlighted in color. Note the sand below the house - it's egg shell!

Our final stop was in Chinatown. Here we went to a temple. Once inside three of our ladies were chosen to participate in a special ceremony. Kim was one of them :) They each wrote a message of what they hoped for the group as we parted ways tomorrow. This was then attached to a big, spiral incense which was lifted to the rafters where it will burn for a week. Pretty cool.