VIETNAM

We are now in the 3rd segment of our cruise -Hong Kong to Dubai.  There are 601 passengers with 93 Canadians.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - day 44 - 2 sea days from Hong Kong.  The city (still called Saigon) has a population of 7.5 million and lies along the western bank of the Saigon River.  Climate - 80 degrees,  humidity 75%.  Language - Vietnamese, currency - $1 US is about 23200 Dong - most places and street vendors gladly accepted US $.  Population is 80% Buddhist.

Getting around the city - hop aboard a pedicab , a small pedal operated vehicle, or climb in a cyclo, which is a 3 wheeled bicycle with a large passenger seat in the front -we didn't see any of these as we didn't  go to the city.

All the shore excursions were long as we, once again, docked in the boonies.  As it was at least one and a half hours each way to go to Saigon, we chose to visit Vang Tau which is a resort village on the coast used for R&R during  the war.  We did several home visits along the way.  I tried making rice paper at one home and we also stopped at a home where they made rice whiskey.  Vietnam is very poor -we had street vendors follow us from our first stop to our last one.  As you will see from one of the pictures we'll attach they pack all their wares on motorcycles  or bikes.

Motorcycles are the main choice of travel - there are more than 4 million in Vietnam.  Most cyclists wear full masks, long sleeves and gloves as they are trying to keep their skin as white as possible.

Vietnam is the world #1 producer of cashews, #2 for coffee, followed by pepper.

Pictures -1 making rice paper, 2 bamboo being transported by bike, 3 temple where fishermen pray for success in their nightly fishing trips.