Author Archives: JimG

November 11th, 2024

After breakfast, our tour guide picked us up and we headed south to the Mekong Delta.  As we headed out of the bustling city, we headed into scenic rural landscapes with small villages, rice paddies and fruit orchards.

We arrived at our destination and  boarded our boat to experience the water-bound life along the Mekong Delta. We snacked on dragon fruit, lychees, watermelon and bananas.  While watching both large and small boats carrying goods up and down the river.   After a ride on one boat, we stopped and boarded a small row boat and went through a mangrove via canals.   I think Sophon enjoyed the rice hat a little too much!

Unfortunately, I couldn’t help but notice the amount of plastic pollution in and around the river and canals.  Vietnam is a developing country and some of the smaller villages, waste management may be lacking.  I wondered how this might impact future tourism.

We stopped at an ancient house and learned about how the architected houses during that time period before we headed to lunch at Le Langanier, which included two of my favorite items, fried spring rolls (Cha Gio) and carnalized pork in a clay pot (Thit Khat To).  The show stopper was the fried elephant ear fish which comes from the Mekong Delta.   All of it was delicious as we sat in a picturesque colonial style building.

After lunch, we walked for a bit with our guide pointing out various fruit trees and plants.  We then headed back to Saigon!

On our Mekong Delta Boat

Le Longanier

Cha Gio

Fried Elephant Ear Fish

A boat hauling goods

Along a canal

Lam Som Bar

CƠM CHÁY SPICY TUNA

Fried Calamari

Spring Rolls and Cha Gio

November 10th, 2024

Our tour ended early afternoon, we decided to get some lunch.  We walked to Hua Tuc, a restaurant around the corner from the hotel which was recommended by our tour guide.  Google maps sent us around the block and when it started to send us around the block a second time, I spotted an alley where we found this somewhat hidden gem. As we sat down, I noticed that there were various awards posted and that it was included in the Michelin Guide.

Hoa Tuc

We ordered Spring Rolls, Cha Gio (fried spring rolls) and Banh Khot (Vietnamese Pancakes).  Everything was so good!  I couldn’t help but notice they offered cooking classes.  Later, I would learn that the building was originally an Opium refinery.   I will definitely put this place down for my next visit and hopefully take a cooking class!

Afterwards, we went looking for Vietnamese Coffee to bring back with us and then we went back to the hotel to rest before our night tour.

Our night tour was a culinary tour of street food.  We would not be dining in high end restaurants, we would be getting our food from carts and sitting at times, at tables that were made for toddlers.   We started with Vietnamese Pizza, which according to our guide is extremely popular.  Made on a grill with rice paper, egg and pork, it was crispy and delicious but I wouldn’t call it pizza.

As we sat our 2 foot high table situated on the sidewalk in front of a school, our tour guide explained why.  These restaurants are pop-up restaurants, they have to pay the establishment they are sitting in front of and they may need to move at a moments notice.  In earlier days, many of these pop-ups weren’t legal and if the police showed up, they would have to quickly pack up and get out.

Vietnamese Pizza

how that the food vendors have to pay the establishment they are in front of.  The reason for the small tables and stools was so that everything could be packed up and moved quickly in case the police showed up.   I always wondered wondered about these small tables and stools.

We crossed the street and we had pork noodle soup (Hu Tiu).  I couldn’t help but notice the prices, a bowl cost 50,000 VND which is $2.00.  We were just getting started and at our next stop, we had banh mi a Vietnamese sandwich, which fuses the flavors of France and Vietnam.  At our next stop, we had steamed clams in lemongrass broth which out of this world. As we sat there, I realized that the one thing that we weren’t seeing were other tourists, everyone around us were local, I wondered if I could find my way back to any of these places if I wanted.

We weren’t done yet but I think both of us were feeling pretty full, we wandered through the streets until we found Madam Nga’s who was cooking up savory crepes (banh xeo) and fresh spring rolls.  We then headed to get coffee at a local coffee shop.  As we sat at the coffee shop, it was getting pretty late and yet everything was alive and loud  – motorbikes buzzing through, loud music blaring from several coffee shops, a group of men playing cards while singing songs – I casually asked the guide if his neighborhood was like the one we were sitting in and he said that he lived not too far from where we were sitting.

We returned to our hotel stuffed but both of had new things that we had never tried before and we got a glimpse of local life.  What a great night!

Making Vietnamese Pizza

Hu Tieu (Pork Noodle Soup)

Clams in lemongrass broth

Local Apartments

Madam Nga

Banh Xeo

Saigon Central Post Office

November 10th, 2024

Slept well but with the time change, woke up around 4:00AM.   I did some work and then got ready.  The breakfast buffet had everything – Pho, Banh Beo, Banh Mi, bacon quiche, breads, pastries, waffles, and more.  I decided not to dedicate an entire entry on breakfast but wanted to state how good it was.

22 Gia Long Street

We started out walking through Ho Chi Minh square towards the Saigon Central Post office.   On the way, we passed 22 Gia Long St.  Our guide pointed to the top of the apartment building and I immediately recognized it. He pulled out copies of the original picture but if you search “evacuation of Saigon”,  you will definitely see the iconic photo of a helicopter on the roof with hundreds of people lined up as they fled Saigon prior to it falling to the north.   At the time, the picture was reported as Americans crowding to the roof of the US embassy but it wasn’t the US Embassy but rather an apartment building that housed Americans.

I couldn’t help but think of famous scene in Miss Saigon where they recreated what had actually happened on top of that building in 1975.  In Vietnam, they call it the American War and after we stopped at the post office to admire its unique architecture, we would be headed to the Independence Palace and the War Remnants Museum, which both center on the conflict with the US.

Jade Emperor Pagoda

But first, we would stop at the Jade Emperor Pagoda. A pagoda that was built by a Chinese Merchant over a century ago.  It is filled with various rooms containing figurines that depict different themes and stories.   It is a pagoda that couples wishing to have a child will come to worship.   The tour guide pointed out that Obama stopped by this temple when he visited Vietnam in 2016.

As we drove over to the Independence Palace, also known as the Reunification Palace, he explained the history of the it, and when it was built.  During the war, it was the equivalent to the White House here in the USA where the president lives and works.   On April 30th, 1975, a Northern Vietnamese Army tank crashed through the gates as soldiers stormed the building, officially ending the war.

The building was turned into a historic monument, a time capsule so to speak.  You cannot help but feel that you are taking a step back in time, no computers, no flat screen TVs, the phones are rotary phones and the lavish decor is definitely from the 60s.  There is even a helicopter on the roof!

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the War Remnants Museum, housed in what used to be the US Information Agency building. It it Vietnam’s struggle to become an independent struggled told from the Vietnamese people’s perspective and it highlights the war crimes and atrocities committed by the French and Americans stationed in Vietnam during the war.  Although the atrocities of those wars are well known, hearing how it impacted them for generations to come was very moving.

As one would expect, a lot of the displays and content was horrific and very disturbing.  I chose not to take pictures due the nature of the content and because I wanted to completely focus and immerse myself in what I was seeing.  I was surprised at the amount of children and the amount of people taking selfies as if they were at the Louvre.

Independence Palace

Ho Chi Minh Square

November 9th, 2024

After checking into our hotel we went and walked around a little.  Right next to the hotel is the Opera House, built by the French when they occupied Vietnam.  It is adjacent to Ho Chi Minh Square where a statue of Ho Chi Minh stands in front of City Hall.   I struggled with trying to get a picture, there were a lot of people doing selfie-productions and I was hungry, and wanted to eat.

I noticed that most of the people in Ho Chi Minh still use motorbikes, but I thought there were more cars on the road compared to the previous time I had gone there.  I would never drive in Ho Chi Minh, the way traffic moves is very different from the US.  We continued to navigate our way to a restaurant our guide had recommended called Nha Hang.

Between us, we ordered three dishes and I had two tiger beers.  I took a picture of the first dish but we were so hungry and the food looked so good, I forgot to take pictures of anything else!  My favorite part?  The bill comes and it is 580,000 VND.  I pull up the currency converter app thinking I will never get used things costing hundreds of thousands but am pleasantly surprised when I see that in US dollars, it is $22.80.

Opera House

Nha Hang Restaurant

Nha Hang Restaurant

November 9th, 2024

Flight VN 600 from BKK to Ho Chi Minh

The flight from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh was under two hours.  Vietnam airlines hadn’t changed a bit since my last time; airbus planes that had seats with no leg room, and a meal that consisted of an egg salad sandwich and fruit.  I had the same thought as the last time, for a country known for its food, this is the best they could do for an airline meal?

We landed and the line for customs was long. I had warned Sophon that in Vietnam, it wasn’t uncommon to see people walk to the font of the line or to push you out of the way.   We saw plenty of that!   We got through customs and made our way to meet our tour guide.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t find him for another hour.  When we finally connected we were off to the Park Hyatt Hotel where we would stay the next few days.

Over the years, I have stayed in some nice hotels.   I knew that the Park Hyatt was nice,  I was a surprised at just how nice it was! Everything felt elegant.  People dressed up for afternoon tea, the breakfast was very high end with a lot of high end choices.  Flowers were everywhere and the room was spacious.  I was extremely impressed with the friendliness of the staff.   The best part was the location, we could walk to a lot of attractions, restaurants and coffee shops!

My Room

My Room

Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea

Breakfast Buffet

Great Pastries

Floral decorations

Main Lobby

Park Hyatt Pool

Lychee Martini

Hotel Bar