Ho Chi Minh City - Saigon, Vietnam

Mr. Nghia

Our Morning View from the Ship at Pho My

We were picked up at the pier by our guide Mr. Nghia and driver Mr. Tam.  We were the only 4 on the tour. It took around 2 hours to get to Ho Chi Minh City so along the way Nghia told us about himself and our destination.

Nghia raised on the Mekong Delta s close to the border of Cambodia .  He told us there were 20 million people in Cambodia and 90 million in Vietnam.

Vietnamese school children today learn English beginning at age 6 and it is the predominant foreign language for the young.  Older people speak French or German instead.

Children go to school 6 days a week, from 7:30 to 11:30, go home for lunch and resume at 12:30 or 1 going to 4:30 or 5.

Average age of death for a woman in Vietnam is 72-74, for a man 68 to 70.  They generally don’t have health insurance in old age unless they are wealthy.  The oldest child is responsible for caring for his parents as they age.  Nghia bought a health insurance policy for his mother and takes care of her.  He has 4 siblings.

Theres' a bike under that load

Nghia’s wife is an accountant for a bank and works from 7:30 AM to 11:30 and then 1 to 5 Monday through Saturday.  Government jobs are usually 5 days a week from 7:00 to 4:30.  Nghia  has worked as a guide for 7 years, has 1 wife and 1 boy.  In the muslim tradition you can have 5 wives and children with each of them, which is why he phrased it that way.

There are 63 provinces in Vietnam.  Ho Chi Minh city is 98 square kilometers.

Nghia told us there are 8 to 10 million people in Saigon and 6 million motor cycles. At least some of the highways have a right lane designated for cycles, but they are all over the road anyway carrying all manner of stuff.  Speed limit is 40  km city, 60 to 80 on highway.  70 percent of accidents involve motorcycles, 40 percent care. Yes I know that is more than  100 percent.  12,000 a year die on the roads.  It was worse before the mandatory helmet law.

Although the price of gas is roughly the same as in the United States, the average income is around 700$ a month or less.  A construction worker makes about $10.00 a day, maybe twice that for a skilled, experienced worker.

Our first stop was at  the Jade Emperor Pagoda. A lot of activity with people selling fish and turtles, lighting incense, praying. As we toured I wondered again if I would be as patient with foreigners in my church. There are many  temples in all of these Asian countries. One reason for that is that building a temple is one way to ensure a good afterlife. There are 40,000 temples in Vietnam.

We drove by the Opera House and stopped long enough at the Notre Dame church to take the picture.

Handicap worker making art out of duck shells

We visited a handicapped factory, purchasing a couple of small pieces of art produced by workers like this one.

Mr. Nghia told us that they import new cars from Japan - favorite care Toyota. 1995 opened trade with America. Coca Cola built a plant in 94.  2 months ago Starbucks opened  their first Store.  We were there!

Pho 2000 open 24 hours a day, was the restaurant that Bill Clinton ate at.  Interesting part is you can see how they cook, but we opted for dining on the rooftop of the Rex Hotel, mostly for the view and the hope of semi-familiar food.  I know its awful but we are pretty past experimenting with new and different cuisine.

Terry at the War Museum

The Rex Hotel was the place where the US held the weekly briefings about the war.

We also visited the war museum.  That was a little hard on all of us but probably hardest for Terry. They of course have their version of the war which doesn't exactly mirror ours.

Several rooms dedicated to the damage that Agent Orange did.  According to our guide over 800,000 ton of the chemical was in the soil.  80 percent of the soil still has Agent Orange in it.  3 million people were affected.



At 37 Nghia has some memories related to the war. A girl he grew up with was the daughter of a colonel for So Vietnam. After they lost, the colonel was jailed for 6 years while he was re-educated. Eventually as a result of a joint program between the US and Vietnam he and his family relocated to Texas.  Nghia has lost track of her.

We enjoyed watching an award winning if rather silly looking (to my western eyes)Water Puppet Show.  If I can figure out how to upload the video before the cruise ends and/or I run out of minutes, you may get to see a small part of it too!

Water Puppet Theater  Stage

Included on the tour -  the market and  the Post Office and probably something else.  My mind has exceeded its storage capacity.   I would certainly recommend Mr Nghia and this company should you ever find yourself in need of a tour guide in Vietnam.

Smile Tours Service Int. Co. Ltd., 72C/2 Binh Thoi, P. 14, Q.11, TP.HCM, Vietnam
Info@smiletoursvietnam.com
Thi_travel@yahoo.com
www.smiletourvn.com