Last Day in Saigon

We were taken on a guided walk to see some famous buildings....

....Opera House....

.....hotel where the journalists and photographers stayed during the war...

.....french built building...

....beautiful doors...

...so many plants, loved the shape of these leaves....

...can't quite remember, think maybe Town Hall...

...a cookery school advertising on this old building made me smile...

....Notre Dame Cathedral, buit by the french, all building materials were brought over to Vietnam from France....

....this was a popular area for wedding photos, this bride and groom were posed by the photographers assistant, not sure why the groom is holding the bouquet....

....the old post office building seemed to be very popular as a backdrop...

...inside the post office, a really lovely building...

...each side of the entrance were clocks which displayed the time in major cities around the world...

....a novel way to display and sell snacks...

....a visit to the silk shop, this work is so fine, painting in silk stitches...

...colour chart of silks...

....selecting the perfect shade of green, these ladies work an 8 hour day, often 7 days a week...

...I loved this one, shades of white, black and grey thread...

....the flowers were so beautiful...

.....hand embroidered silk purses...

...decorated buttons...

...a sheer silk screen, looked amazing on both sides....

.....a trip to the big indoor market which sold food, clothing and fabrics...

....very hot and difficult to move around....

....the tallest building in Saigon complete with helipad...

....and finally a visit to the war museum where photos from war photographers were displayed, also many photos showing the effects of Agent Orange....

....a very moving record.

Had a lovely meal, used my last dong to buy a beer then off to the airport for our 13 hour flight home.

An amazing trip.

Journey to Saigon and Tunnels Visit

Another early start, all packed up and on our way to Saigon by 8am....

....workman at the service area, bamboo pole pipes....

....local bananas on sale, perfect size, much thinner skins than the ones bought in this country, perfect for eating when green....

....a furniture store.....

....shop selling maternity clothes....

...dual carriageway? as we near the city, the central reservation is always beautifully planted and well tended...

....crossing the river....

.....'docks' along the river....

....this was the view from our restaurant, we couldn't find out about all the floating vegetation but it was quite mesmerising.....

.....a few boats went past....

.....orchid baskets hanging from the trees in the garden...

.....water lily seed heads.

>>>>>>>

Next stop the Tunnels....

....some very nasty traps with bamboo spikes....

....a very small entrance into the underground tunnel system...

....nobody offered to go down this one....

....tableau showing the Vietnamese above ground, only ever at night when the American soldiers didn't patrol...

.....air shafts were disguised to look like termite mounds...

....more really nasty traps....

....door trap being demonstrated by our guide....

....everything found was recycled in the underground workshop....

....this shows how small the tunnels were....

.....making rice paper for spring rolls...

....laid out on bamboo mats to dry....

....original machine from the sewing workshop...

....these were called Ho Chi Min sandals and were fashioned from old tyres, two of our group bought a pair....

....I bought a miniature pair...

....the soles had these rubber flaps so no footprints were left,,,,

....went down..

the tunnel was very narrow and I had to double over, unable to take photos, very hot and clautrophobic...

...relieved to be out.....

....roofing made from the dried leaves I showed in an earlier post, waterproof and fireproof...

....tapioca root, pulped and sliced, all the food available during the war...

....dipped in crushed peanuts and salt, quite tasty...

....the inevitable shop, this was constructed from a series of woven panels, many designs.

>>>>>>

Entering Saigon, bikes, bikes and more bikes dodging and weaving...

....it was so busy it took us over an hour to cross the city!