Blogs from Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 223

Water park day! Took the local bus to the Dam Sen water park. We were told that Saigon water park is closed for unknown reasons. Entry to Dam Sen was 70 000 d (about $4.30 each) and they let Ty and Reegan in free. Great water park with crazy slides, river float, kids park with their own water slides, wave pool and slides I am too chicken to go down. Tourist check-in area is on the 3rd level with free lockers and security, sunbathe area, washroom and shower area. The park is large with quite a few slides and was almost deserted this monday morning. We didn't have to wait to go down any of the slides. I went down the water tobagan one with Kyle and it scared the living daylights out of me - ... read more

This morning we took the 1 day Sihn Cafe tour to first the Cao Dai Great temple near Tay Ninh. It is a beautiful temple with birds flying in and out. At the end of its great length is the huge blue speckled globe witht the divine eye painted on it. As we were one of the first groups to arrive we got to look around and take photos prior to the arrrival of the rest of the tourist masses. They broke the peace with their chatter and I felt embarassed and their ignorance as they roamed whilly nilly with their cameras clicking, Cao Dai clergy did their best to herd them all back into the walking areas. We also made a stop at a factory where people were making beautiful laquered mother of pearl, painted ... read more

Chau from Saigon!! What a relief to reach this fantastic city after leaving Cambodia - I really didn't like that country much! First things first - is it Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City? Well, originally called Saigon by the Khmer (Cambodian) people that used to colonise South Vietnam, officially it has been Ho Chi Minh City since the late 70's, when South Vietnam was liberated. It was renamed as a sign of a new era of independence and unity in the country and the name was chosen in tribute to Ho Chi Minh (founder of the Vietnam independence movement). But I've been told that the local people never stopped calling it Saigon so both names are acceptable, no-one is offended by either. Quite the historian eh?! From the minute I got off the bus here ... read more

Ilene emailed Robert, to say . . . I'm here-- it's 1:30pm Friday here. We just got in and I'm firing up the laptop. We are at the The Palace Hotel after all, with wireless internet in the room--actually there is supposed to be wireless on the executive floors above us, but I correctly guessed that I could pull in a signal anyway. So we're cheating a bit, but it's working. We left LAX almost 2 hours late. Got into Taipei 2 hours late, but the connecting flight was waiting--no point sending it half empty, since half of our first plane had that connecting flight. That was the only hitch, really--we sailed though customs faster than we ever have. Thuan's cousin was waiting for us to say hi. We're grabbing a shower and some food now, ... read more

Hello to everyone - days have been full and damn hot so computer time has not been on the list. But I know some are dying to know how we are doing. First of all we spent our day of departure in the Castlegar airport. Our rebooked flight was also cancelled as the plane was finally able to leave Van but by then the the storm had moved in and it could not land in Castlegar. Because of this second delay we did learn that Panago does deliver pizza to the airport (lunch) in case any of you ever find yourself in the same position LOL. We hung around for the afternoon and finally the third and final flight of the day was able to whisk us away. A restless night in a Richmond hotel then ... read more