We arrived at the port of Phu My and took the two hour drive into what is formally Ho Chi Minh City but is still called “Saigon” by everyone but the government officials who live there….so I think I’ll follow suit. We visited the War Remnants Museum which was a very sobering journey into the past. It was much more uplifting to visit the Rex Hotel, which was frequented by journalists reporting on the war, and which lured us with cold beverages….Saigon was HOT!
We read an article that referred to Saigon as “the Paris of the Orient”…. but you couldn’t prove it by us. Really, no comparison at all….not even a single flying buttress to be seen at Saigon’s Notre Dame Cathedral!
The most amusing part of the day was while we were having dinner and the Captain came on over the PA system to tell us he had some “bad news.” It seems someone (probably, by now, an ex-employee of the Port Authority) released one of the mooring lines early as we were getting ready to leave the port and it had become fouled in the propeller. So we had to wait for divers to come to the ship to unfoul the prop and see that no damage had been caused. We went out to the back deck after dinner to see what was happening. Some of the ship’s officers had removed their shoes, rolled up their fancy little white uniform pants, and had commandeered a scrubby little Chinese junk to transport them to the stern of the ship! They were busy trying to peer under water with flashlights….and probably didn’t appreciate much all the flashbulbs going off from passengers hanging over the rails to watch the evening’s entertainment! Apparently all’s well that ends well…..because we’re now steaming through the South China Sea toward Bangkok….albeit at a slightly faster clip than usual!!
We read an article that referred to Saigon as “the Paris of the Orient”…. but you couldn’t prove it by us. Really, no comparison at all….not even a single flying buttress to be seen at Saigon’s Notre Dame Cathedral!
The most amusing part of the day was while we were having dinner and the Captain came on over the PA system to tell us he had some “bad news.” It seems someone (probably, by now, an ex-employee of the Port Authority) released one of the mooring lines early as we were getting ready to leave the port and it had become fouled in the propeller. So we had to wait for divers to come to the ship to unfoul the prop and see that no damage had been caused. We went out to the back deck after dinner to see what was happening. Some of the ship’s officers had removed their shoes, rolled up their fancy little white uniform pants, and had commandeered a scrubby little Chinese junk to transport them to the stern of the ship! They were busy trying to peer under water with flashlights….and probably didn’t appreciate much all the flashbulbs going off from passengers hanging over the rails to watch the evening’s entertainment! Apparently all’s well that ends well…..because we’re now steaming through the South China Sea toward Bangkok….albeit at a slightly faster clip than usual!!
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