Ho Chi Minh City - Mekong Delta, Reunification Palace, Post Office

A gentle rain fell as six of us from the Cambodian tour group headed to the airport in Siem Reap for our flight to Ho Chi Minh City. We were all a bit nervous because of stories we had heard about travelers being given a hard time over minor errors on their visas and the weight of their luggage. Walt and I didn't even have a copy of our plane tickets. The flight was included in the tour package and we had no access to WhatsApp where a group ticket had been sent.

I have never felt so unprepared for a flight, but when we nervously handed our passports over, the official behind the desk didn't even look up. He just typed into his computer and then passed two tickets to us. Apparently, all we needed was our passports. What a relief!

The flight was smooth, and we were soon disembarking in Vietnam where several dour young men and a smiling enthusiastic young woman were waiting to greet us. She told us her English name was "Fun" which certainly seemed appropriate. We were ushered into an expedited entry line and soon found ourselves outside in the terrifying parking lot where pedestrians tried to navigate between moving buses and cars.

As in Cambodia, there was a group meeting followed by a welcome dinner. We were still the only Americans. Six of the group members were British and the other four were Australian.

Our first excursion together the next day was to the Mekong Delta where we boarded a boat and cruised down the wide, rapidly flowing river. The water was a dark brown color which killed any desire I might have had to eat fresh water fish during our tour.

The boat took us to various spots where we disembarked for demonstrations and samples of honey, fruit, and chocolate. Getting on and off the boat always seemed to require taking a challenging big step up, down, or across to the dock or the boat.

After lunch, some members of the group boarded smaller boats, but we passed on this opportunity.

That night we dined at Vietnam House Restaurant. The Australian members of the group were wildly excited because the restaurant is owned by Australian celebrity chef Luke Nguyen. I had the vegetable curry. The vegetables were nicely cooked, but I felt it could have used quite a bit more seasoning.

To get back to the hotel after dinner, the group ordered several cars using the local equivalent of Uber. The fare was ridiculously inexpensive. The streets were clogged with motorbikes that were often carrying whole families - husband, wife, and even a child or two. I quickly lost count of the number of times I gasped in alarm. When he dropped us off, our driver made a point of pulling up very close to the curb, but the driver of one of the other cars was not as conscientious. One member of our group looked quite shaken as she walked past us, and she reported that she narrowly escaped injury when a motorbike attempted to pass between the car she was exiting and the sidewalk.

On another day, we visited the Reunification Palace where a Viet Cong tank crashed through the gates in 1975 and Saigon surrendered bringing an end to the Vietnam War. About 200,000 school students were also visiting the Reunification Palace that day. Many of them waved at us in a friendly way and shouted "What you name?" when they saw us. Although it was a Sunday, Fun said they were on a school trip and after this educational experience they would be going to a water park. It was difficult to see anything inside because of the crush of students and other visitors, but it was fun waving and having brief interactions with the students.

Our final stop in Saigon was the Post Office which is famous because it is said to be designed by Gustaf Eiffel. Wikipedia, however, says this is not the case.

Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as many of the locals still prefer to call it, was a bit overwhelming to me. So many scooters! So much noise! So much happening at once!

As we tried to navigate our way across the city streets where there was rarely a break in the traffic, I often thought back to the final words of advice from our Cambodian guide, Ly. "When you're crossing the street in Vietnam, proceed at a steady pace. Don't speed up or slow down. Don't wave your arms or scream. The traffic will go around you."

Fun's method of getting us safely across busy streets was to yell "Sticky Rice!" That was our cue to huddle together and proceed in a tight group. She assured us that no one wants to hit a foreigner, but at times I felt like I was in some sort of demented live action version of that old video game, Frogger. Those motorbikes often came way too close for comfort.