We started our morning with the amazing breakfast at The Peninsula (the eggs Benedict chef station was my favorite!), then met the other Florida couple (Jean & Charlene), and our guide Peter in the lobby to head to the airport. We commented on how great the Ama service is with Peter taking us to the airport and escorting us to the check-in counter for Vietnam Airlines. Good thing he did, since Jean’s Vietnam visa had a small problem. We took Charlene with us through security while Peter worked with Jean and an airport travel agent to get his visa fixed, and just in the nick of time, with 5 minutes to spare before the check-in desk closed! We did some shopping at duty free in the Bangkok airport, and Andrew’s favorite yellow collection from Burberry was 40% off so he had to make some purchases (sadly for him, they are phasing out the yellow collection!).

After an easy flight to Saigon (HCMC), and a long line at immigration, we were taken to our new hotel, the Sofitel Saigon Plaza. We met Duy (pronounced “you-ee”), our cruise manager at the Ama desk, and he’d be with us for the entire cruise. We had the afternoon to ourselves. Andrew was in the mood for banh mi, so we headed out for Saigon’s most famous banh mi. Sadly, they only had one version (pork), so we walked to the nearby “second famous” place that had options including chicken, so I could also partake. It was about to downpour, so we took them back to the hotel and they were almost as delicious as Hanoi’s Banh Mi 25! Since it was storming, what better time to take a quick nap? I actually worked on some blog stuff and Andrew took a much needed “long sleep,” since travel days are such long ones. We went to a late-ish dinner at a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand Latin restaurant, called Sol. The cocktails were well prepared and the food was well flavored and hit the spot. Back to our new hotel and time to hit the hay!

The next morning, we had a briefing by Duy, while anticipating the arrival of our friend and Andrew’s work colleague, Becky. She almost missed her connection in Doha, due to weather in her originating city. Thankfully she made it, but her checked bag did not. While she was napping, we went on the included Ama tour, with our Vietnamese guide, Young. We visited the Independence (Reunification) Palace, which is also called the “Saigon White House” since the President lived and worked there, prior to the fall of south Vietnam. On April 30, 1975, a north Vietnam army (NVA) tank punched through the walls of the palace, just 18 days before I did the same thing to my mother’s womb (sorry mom, it had to be said!). We toured the main areas of the palace, which hosted numerous dignitaries and famous people in the 1960s and early 1970s. The tour group would continue on to the War Remnants Museum, but since we already spent a lot of time there, we veered off from the group and spent more time in the palace and got to see additional floors, including the bunker. We toured areas that included the: cabinet room, banqueting hall, national security council chamber, presidential office, ambassadors chamber, private apartments, VP’s reception saloon, VP office, Presidential bedroom, cinema, First Lady’s reception room, projection room, helipad, and shooting gallery. In the bunker, we got to see the: command center, bunker HQ, communications, communications chief office, switchboard, radio receiver, HF communications, radio transmitter, Telex, President’s bedroom, President’s war room, and security.

We walked around and had some more Vietnamese coffee, since we have missed it since leaving. We scooped up Becky at the hotel after her nap and headed to the Bitexco Tower for some 49th floor 360-degree views of Saigon, after a quick tour through the famous Ben Thanh Market. After the stunning views, we “convinced” Becky to join us for a foot massage at a place Andrew and I had previously visited. We think this is our 7th massage of the trip – but, we’ve kind of lost count! After we went back to the hotel to relax for a bit and then met for dinner, then off to bed to head to the port and embark on our cruise, the next day.

The following day, we had breakfast and some time to relax before we boarded the bus for the 2-hour drive to the Mekong delta port city, My Tho. Our guide, Young, shared some information on life in Vietnam and about his own life. He shared that when he married his girlfriend, her father became his “father-in-law,” his girlfriend’s mother became his “mother-in-law,” but his girlfriend simply became “the law.” Ever the comedian, Young! We boarded our ship, the Amadara (which means love star”), and had lunch. We had a quick briefing and orientation to the ship, and met the different department heads for our cruise. We also perused the gift shop and they had a book entitled “Bikes of Burden” – guess I’m too late to the game for my planned book “Motorbikes carrying ______!” Markus, the head of rooms, announced that there were some suites still available. Andrew splurged a little and we were already in a junior suite, but Andrew wanted to check and see how much the luxury suite would be, the largest room on the ship. As it turns out, there was only 1 of the 2 luxury suites still available, so Andrew upgraded us (talk about a trip of upgrades!). We got to relax on the ship for a while as it departed, then later had the captain’s welcome reception with cocktails and appetizers, followed by our first dinner on the ship.

The next morning, we ventured out in groups by tender boat, and we were in group Blue with Young. We went to the town of Cai Be and docked at a pier. We next walked to Mr. Kiet’s Historic House, built in 1838 and known as one of the oldest and most unique architectural houses in the village. It sits on close to 4.5 acres and is recognized by UNESCO as a cultural heritage. It uses wood curtains that allow you to see outside, but limits what those outside can see inside. It has its own garden and channel system for water, and grows numerous plants, fruits, and vegetables, and we even spotted a cacao pod on a cacao tree. As we walked around the village, we also saw an other temple with what appeared to be a cool looking and unique warrior.

Then, we took the tender boat to a factory that makes coconut candies (similar to those we saw during the G Adventures tour), rice paper, rice wine, popped rice snacks, candied ginger, and other treats. We watched a woman skillfully make rice paper, similar process we used when we made rice noodles a few weeks ago. The iconic design of the rice paper is from letting it dry on bamboo, where it imprints into the paper. We took the tender back to the ship for lunch.

While eating, the ship headed for Sa Dec, still part of the Mekong Delta network. For our afternoon excursion, we took the tender boat in the rain to the Cho Ca Market, a local place one can find all types of produce and seafood. Despite the rain, the market was very crowded and we worked our way through the market amongst dozens of motorbikes vying for their part of the small pathways between vendor stalls.

After the market, we stopped by a temple of the Cao Dai religion, officially founded in south Vietnam in 1962. Caodaism takes principles from Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, & Catholicism. It was a beautiful, but very interesting and unique temple, as you can see in the photos. The “divine eye” is a symbol you’ll see at every Cao Dai temple. There are 26 Cao Dai temples in Saigon, but over 220 in the Mekong Delta region. We headed back to the ship and enjoyed a little more downtime before dinner. After dinner there was an opportunity for dancing in the ship’s lounge, but Andrew, Becky, and I opted for an earlier night to turn in.

Apologies for the long post, but this covered almost 4 days. However, the days aren’t as packed on this tour, which Andrew and I have been very thankful for a bit slower pace!

Until next time,

Jeff

PS – don’t forget to vote for our baby, Xavier, in this Provincetown photo contest and animal shelter fundraiser! (If he wins, he’ll be on a Provincetown Brewing beer can!) There’s just about 10 days left and we want to get Xavier back into 2nd place, if not 1st! Each dollar is one vote. You can vote here:

Xavier Photo Contest!

PPS – Enjoy some more photos of motorbikes carrying _________!