2013 - OCEANIA - HO CHI MINH CITY

Mon 23 May 2005

Yesterday - Cambodia.

So today must be Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh city, or Saigon as most people know it still.

I was in Vietnam in 2011 & was pleasantly surprised by it.

lots to see.

HCM City is a long way inland which is why I did not get here last time. That boat was too big to get up river.
This one is smaller & it's just a walk to downtown....

It's vietnam so there are bound to be guns around...

& standing room only on the scooters. Scooters are another of my favourite subjects. How much can one hold? There are 4 on this one & that is not unusual at all.

Even the pigeons get satellite.

Pretty girls? Maybe, It's hard to tell.

But very lovely birds...

& some fast traffic on the Saigon river. Not the Mekong as lots of people seem to think. Off to the Mekong tomorrow. Is that a temple behind?

Back to the ship to change for the evening & there is an Azamara ship parked next door, which is a sister of my ship, the Oceania Nautica... I have also been on the Ocean Princess, another sister.. I should collect the set.

Heading out for an evening on the roof at the Majestic hotel, its a tad busy on the streets....

Waiting in the wings

Very pretty dancing girls & there is even a banner of welcome for our tour group..

& Music...

This lady is playing a bamboo xylophone. Traditional Vietnamese music - I think she was playing el condor passa from the Bridge over Troubled Waters album.

No joke - I recognized quite a bit of the music.
They must do it so people recognise something or they think people would probably get bored if it was unrecognizable Vietnamese tunes.

I saw Art Garfunkel perform solo a while ago here in Ottawa. Great entertainer. Said they broke up cos he thought it should be Garfunkel & Simon..