18th November - In Saigon   Geoff Brock & Bruce Gamble
         
     

 
 
 
 

Geoff explores Saigon
& Bruce takes it easy!
Saturday 18th November 2017
 
Bruce still wasn't feeling that great, so he stayed put while Geoff set out with the guide to explore the city. The itinerary for today included a fairly long trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels, but Geoff wasn't interested in seeing them, so the guide gave him a specially extended tour of Saigon itelf.
 
 
The Opera House
 
Hotel Continental, where the good and the great stayed
 
 
Saigon Town Hall
 
Above and below: The building from which the Deputy Prime Minister and his family were evacuated by helicopter during the fall of Saigon in 1975.
 
Notre Dame Cathedral, Saigon
 
The Post Office
 
 
Inside the Post Office
 
Traditional Vietnamese musicians
 
 
 
 
The Palace of Reunification, Saigon
 
Inside the Palace
 
 
 
The Lacquer Room
 
 
Inside the bunker, Palace of Reunification
 
Ho Chi Minh City vs Saigon. Which one is correct? Officially, it's Ho Chi Minh City (often abbreviated to HCMC or HCM), but many of the locals still refer to it as Saigon. One explanation we heard, which made sense, is that the central district of HCMC is still called Saigon. Because that is where our hotel is located and where Geoff's sightseeing tour helped him to explore today, we are referring to it as Saigon, in contrast to our references to HCMC on other pages because we assumed that the airport, for example, is not in the central district.
 
Street market
 
Dried shrimp
  
 
 
 
 
Chua Ba Thien Hau Temple, Chinatown, Saigon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Bruce did a little exploring for himself.

The Sky Bridge
 
The Sky pool
 
The view from our hotel room
 
High tea, including chocolate cake, in the Sky Lounge at the Hotel des Arts, Saigon.
(clearly, Bruce was beginning to feel better!)
 
That evening, we decided to have a quiet night in the hotel. We loved the atmosphere in the exlusive Sky Lounge and were quite happy to enjoy their complimentary evening cocktails, accompanied by a feast of fine cheeses and other savoury snacks, before having an early night. We were also thinking about the next phase of our adventure as we prepared to go on the Mekong cruise the next day.
 
 
 
©Geoff Brock and Bruce Gamble