March 11, 2024

Our last day in Ho Chi Minh City and it was a short day. All on board by 1pm and we sail right after that. We had nothing planned for today but I still wanted to go in and enjoy the city. The boat had a shuttle that took you into the city and then brought you back to the boat. The first shuttle was 7:30 and the last shuttle from town back to the boat was 11:30. Kathy was not interested in going back so I got up bright and early and caught the 7:30 shuttle. The traffic was not too bad and we were in the city by 8:30. I headed off with a few destinations in mind and some Vietnamese Dong money to get rid of.

First stop was the market which had a bunch of stuff like t-shirts, bags and shoes for sale. Most of the stuff is name brand and I would not say they are knock-offs more like factory seconds since so much stuff is made here in Vietnam. I met up with Dominique who is traveling as a solo. She was on our 21/22 world cruise with her husband who was pretty immobile last time we saw him and needed a wheelchair. He passed away in March. She is a retired anesthesiologist who lives in Brisbane. She also likes to bargain and I do not.

Views of the city from the bus window

More city views and you can see the french architecture in their buildings.

In the market I bought a fake Hard Rock Vietnam shirt for Kathy and also a shirt that has the Starbucks logo on it but says Vietnam Coffee. I did fairly well with bargaining and got rid of all my Vietnam money.

Apparently it is fashion week in Ho Chi Minh City so there were several fashion shows that we heard about. We did run into a photo shoot right where the shuttle drops us off. It appeared to be a wedding dress photo shoot.

Some of the models

When we were on one of the market streets a soup cart came by to offer lunch to the vendors.

He had everything he needed on the back of his motorcycle.

I became quite an expert in crossing the streets. Our guide gave us the advice of commit and walk out and don’t stop. Since there are very few red lights you basically pick your time and head out. Don’t look to the left or right just go straight and don’t hesitate. If you hesitate the motor bikes that are trying to go around you may hit you because you ahve now deviated your path. It is more a matter of trust, you trusting them to go around you and not hit you.

After we finished shopping we headed back to where the shuttle picked us up at and grabbed a quick beverage at a small cafe close by. A glass of hot tea and 2 canned diet cokes cost us 2 dollars.

The furniture was much better for Dominques small frame than mine.

On our ride back to the boat you could see how far the tide had gone out on the river bank.

High tide Low tide

We left the shuttle pick-up point at 11:30 but small problem with the fact that our bus driver had no idea where the port was. It became very obvious when he was trying to turn around on a very small road and it took him several minutes. We could hear him on the phone talking loudly in Vietnamese to someone. Several passengers went up to help him by showing him google maps and where we needed to be. One lady on the bus has an app that shows you every place you have been so she was able to show him the exact route. Another lady had a translator app so everyone was trying. Several times they thought he was on the right track and then they could see him make a wrong turn and they had to run up and correct him. It was definitely entertaining and we were not concerned because we were on a Viking shuttle so we knew they would delay sail away until we got back on board. We finally made it back at 1:10 pm and the poor driver was shaking and kept saying he was so sorry. A lot of us felt bad for him and gave him a tip because we are pretty sure he will not be employed in the am.

You could not even see the cart with all the things he had for sale.

We sailed a little late but not much and the Captain had to honk a few times to get the little fishing boats out of the way.

Vietnamese fishing boat with all their nets.

Sunset

We have a day at sea on Tuesday and next stop is Koh Samui which is in Thailand and has beautiful beaches.