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Published: February 28th 2012
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We woke up early in Phnom Phen and got picked up to take our 7h bus to
Ho Chi Minh City(Saigon). It was an uneventful trip, with the exception of the exciting border crossing between Cambodia and Vietnam, which we spent catching up on the TV show Big Bang Theory (thanks to the iPad).
Under the name Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City was the capital of the French colony of Cochin-china and later of the independent state of South Vietnam from 1955–75. In 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding Gia Dịnh Province and was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City after Ho Chi Minh. The metropolitan area, which consists of the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area, Thu Dau Mot, Di An, Bien Hoa and surrounding towns, is populated by more than 9 million people, making it the most populous metropolitan area in Vietnam and the countries of the former French Indochina.
Upon our arrival in Ho Chi Minh City we encountered our first tourist trap. The taxi drivers were waiting outside of the bus and asked us if we needed a lift to the hotel. Weary of tourist scams with taxis we confirmed that the taxi had a meter and then
got in. Within 5 minutes it was clear that the meter was going much faster than it was supposed to. I decided to wait and see what happens at the end of the taxi trip. By the time we got to our hotel – Sheraton Saigon – the meter showed 680,000 VND, the equivalent of around $17USD (for a 10 minute taxi trip). Our driver magically missed the Sheraton’s carport and stopped about 15 meters from the hotel and asked for money. I told him that we would have paid much less for a taxi in New York City and requested he drive us back to the hotel entrance. He did not comply, at which point I told him I will ask the security guard I saw on the street what the right fare should be. At this point the driver quickly turned off the meter, ripped up the paper receipt and asked with a big smile, “How much would you like to pay?” That did not strike the right tone with Suzi who unleashed her full wrath on him. She chastised him with, “you are a
very bad man, and this is how you welcome people to Vietnam?? You
are going to get in trouble, and are not going to do this to other tourists.” We ended up paying $3USD, took pictures of his license plate and wrote down the car # and phone number, and reported him to the local authorities. Not a good first experience in Vietnam but it was quickly overcome by the amazing service at hour hotel.
We booked our stay through hotel points and received a very nice upgrade and access to the club lounge. As you can see from the title of our blog, the stay at the hotel has been a really good one for us. It seems that there always comes a time on our trip when we just need to recharge, and ideally that can be done at a nice hotel. Sheraton Saigon provided just that. We spent the first afternoon in the club catching up on reading, eating high quality sashimi and sipping wine during the happy hour playing Rumi 500! We’ve met a few interesting people, mainly a group representing the American Air Force who were in Vietnam on a humanitarian mission. After the happy hour we explored Saigon by night, which involved multiple taxi rides, fierce
games of foosball, a dinner at a very local restaurant capped with a short concert at the local rock club, Acoustic Bar. A very fun night in the big city, the biggest city we have visited since Hyderbad, India.
The next day we explored the city and stumbled upon a few stores that carried numerous model sailboats, as most of you know, I collect! I was very excited to see a very nice quality Asian junk-style boat. It was quite amazing that the first shop we entered quoted us a price about 40% higher than the other, citing all the boat stores are owned by the same family, so we will find the same price everywhere. The shop we bought from was only a block away, and to our surprise charged us a fair price. After bargaining for the sailboat purchase we decided to attend a Vietnamese cooking class called Saigon Cooking Class.
The cooking class only had one other couple from Toronto joining us. The four of us had a great time; we made three different dishes (pork & shrimp fresh spring roll, banana flower salad and fried rice with vegetables and chicken) and learned a lot
about local ingredients, the fish sauce (which is an absolute staple in many Vietnamese dishes) and the dished we cooked. As in every cooking class, we were able to sample our creations at the end of the class.
We spent our evening back at the hotel and capped the night off with a cocktail overlooking the city at the rooftop bar and club.
The next day, we only had a half a day in the city, as we had to check out at 4pm and then go to the train station for our 17h hour overnight train to Danang (from Danang we had another 30 minute taxi to our final destination, Hoi An).
We packed up in the morning and went to explore the city including the Notre Dame cathedral and the
War Remnants Museum. Operated by the Vietnamese government, the museum was opened in September 1975 as "The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government." Later it was known as the Museum of American War Crimes, then as the War Crimes Museum until as recently as 1993. Its current name follows liberalization in Vietnam and the normalization of relations with the United States.
The museum is a really hard trip, especially for us living in the United States, as it documents the massive human impact of the Vietnam War (or as it is called here the American War) on millions of people in Vietnam. The bombings, mines, Agent Orange and napalm left a lot of people, even two to three generations after the war injured and disabled.
In summary, Saigon was a big city with not that many attractions but we were glad to spend our time there and recharge at the Sheraton.
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