Ho Chi Minh City

Technical note: It appears that embedded video clips don't show up at all if you are reading this blog in an email (rather than in your web browser).  In case you want to go back to see some oldies, they show up in the following posts: Around Sapa (from the summit of Fansipan), Around Ninh Binh (rower at Tam Coc) and Hoi An (evening song and dance performance).  I'll try to remember to flag any future videos.

Our flight from Da Nang (near Hoi An) was straightforward.  As we taxied out, I saw very old-looking hangars at the edge of the airfield with what looked like partial MIG fighters decaying away inside.  We hopped a Grab (Vietnam's answer to Uber) to the Spring Hotel in the center of town. 

View from our hotel room

After a little cleaning up it was early evening when we headed out in search of a bite to eat.  With the approach of Tet lots of places were closed.  After dinner we spent a little time walking through the flower gardens and displays set up along the broad boulevard of Nguyen Hue Street which is closed off for the holiday season.  Many other folks had the same idea; it was packed.

At the top of this broad plaza, a large statue of Uncle Ho stands in ironic juxtaposition between a new five-star hotel on one side, and a very fancy shopping mall on the other.  His gaze falls on the storefronts for Cartier and Chanel.  The building in the background is headquarters of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.

Although the energy of large cities is exciting, we were starting to feel the need for some relative quiet, so decided to depart Ho Chi Minh City later on new years day (25th).  We had made plans to meet a friend of Zac's (from his trip to Vietnam about a dozen years ago) on new year's eve, but knew that on new year's day itself almost everything in the city would be closed so our tourism options would be very limited.

We spent part of new years eve day making flight and hotel arrangements for the next leg of our trip, and then spent some time revisiting the displays in the city, which were less crowded than in the evening. 

This is the year of the rat.

We met Hai Yen and her family late in the afternoon on new year's eve.  We spent some time walking in the crowds along Nguyen Hue St, but this was a constant challenge with her very active boys, aged 8 and 2, continually darting this way and that.  We ended up at a restaurant with grills built into the tables, and gorged on a large spread of meats, seafood, and vegetables.

After a little more walking the boys were starting to fade, so we walked back to our hotel for goodbyes. 

Later, Ellen and I walked back into the throngs for a while, then enjoyed a drink at a sidewalk bar in front of Times Square (yes, really: what better place for new year's eve).  We made it back to our hotel just in time to enjoy the midnight fireworks displays from the rooftop terrace of the hotel.  One of the hotel staff members joined us there, and after the fireworks presented us with candy and "lucky money," a Tet tradition.

The city was very quiet when we ventured out on new year's day.  Early pm we caught a ride to the airport and relaxed in the lounge until our flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia.