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Invaders from space?
White aliens storming our plane checking for H1N1 viruses had us afraid...of long delays! But we were soon released...whew! Hi all,
Well, for our last journey in Asia we revisited Vietnam...more specifically, Ho Chi Minh City…or, as the title says (and we prefer)…Saigon! Is it the presence of such historic landmarks as the Continental Hotel—where we stayed—and all the remnants and sites of the Vietnam war—which we visited—and the feel of the past around every corner that almost, that we feel, demands the city be called Saigon? In any case, we concur with most of the city's inhabitants who still refer to Ho Chi Minh City as such, and for the purposes of this blog with herewith refer to this historic site...as we did during our entire last weekend trip...as SAIGON!!
You may recall from a previous blog that we visited Vietnam, the Mekong Delta and Cambodia during Tet...but due to a visa problem (i.e. we neglected to get a double-entry visa for Vietnam) we were chased out early in order to get to Cambodia before Tet closed all roads and buses out...and thus missed the opportunity to fully explore Saigon. In fact, in order to connect up with our return flight to Shanghai we spent our last evening as exiles trapped in HCMC's (oops! Saigon's) brand new
Blast from the past
Roel with a HUEY Vietnam War era helicopter at the History Museum. airport. To rectify this gap in our Asian explorations, for our last trip we chose to return to Saigon in order to fully check out the historic locale of the Vietnam War.
This time though, since we were also using up our airmiles (with Aeroplan it's use them or lose them) we decided to do it up and stay in the Dong Khoi area, as opposed to the "Mini-hotel Alley" of our first visit. In the process we discovered that Saigon offers two very unique experiences. In the “Alley”, one enjoys the backpacker life of affordable, $20.00 U.S. guesthouses surrounded by funky cool bars and cafes where the vibe—like the encircling motorbirkes--truly doesn't sleep.
But in the Dong Khoi area the gracious hotels, squares and palm festooned boulevards harken back to the city’s colonial past. Instead of partaking in the excitement of the street, we found ourselves sipping wines from the rooftop patios of the Rex, Caravelle or Majestic hotels and from a far remove, looking over the splendour of Saigon’s lights at night.
The pictures say it all....
Amy & Roel
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Carly & Craig
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Hey Mom and Dad! Wow - the shots of Dad getting into the tunnel are amazing! I can't believe he did it... Terrifying! I can't believe that we'll seeing you soon... almost one week! Craig says that he can't wait to pick up the international school banner and keep the legacy alive. Love you both! Carly and Craig