Laem Chabang, Port of Bangkok, Thailand
It's 10:30am and the Volendam has just arrived for our overnight stay in Laem Chabang, a large cruise and industrial port for Bangkok, with nothing of interst in the vicinity, and the highlights of post-modern reconstruction and historical associations dimly visible over the horizon. Although there are several excursions to the city center, inlcuding an overnight at a hotel, the five-hour round-trip from here to there is rather daunting, even with a slightly earlier-than-scheduled arrival. I had decided early on not to go to Bangkok itself, given that I have been before as well as the distance. Instead I will use the day to catch up on rest. Tomorrow I will be taking a shore excursion to visit a small city and the countryside around Bangkok. The big city is certainly worth exploring again, but not within the limited time and major distance of this cruise (about which Holland America has been very truthful).
Monday 26 January 2015
Phu My, Vietnam
Port of Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City or HCMC)
Although we are officialy docked in Saigon, the port of Phu My is a 90-minute drive from the center of the city. There is still a lot of traffic on the main highway to Saigon, but the road is better than the ones in the north, so we are able to speed along at a jaunty pace and reach our first destination by 10:30am. The downside is that it is not as easy to take photos from the bus when it is moving so quickly. Both the temperature and humidity are higher here, but still not uncomfortable, and certainly not as bad as in the tropics or the Caribbean.
As we enter the city center, the streets are decorated with lights and flowers in preparation for the coming New Year's celebrations, and I am amazed at all the high-rise construction, much of it architecturally exciting and aesthetically distinguished. There seems to be much more sense of permanence in the buildings here than in the large cities of Brazil I visited last spring. Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam, alhough Ha Noi is the national capital, with over 9 million people--and at least 5 million mopeds, which can be purhcased for as little as $100.00 US. We pass by the decaying site of the former US embassy, well-known from the television visuals of the fall of Saigon at the end of the American War in 1975. Our bus stops just a few blocks away in the city's Distict 1, site of most historical interest.
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| Highway to Saigon |
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| Mopeds Outside Former US Embassy |
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| New Year Street Decorations (from bus window) |
The streets are torn up wih construction of a new Metro transportation system, which is much needed and will make life easier for residents and tourists. We begin our walk at the Old Post Office, designed by Gustave Eifel (yes, that one), and beutifully restored inside and out. Still in use as a post office, the building is a reminder of the imporant influence of French culture in many parts of Saigon (which is the locals' preferred name for the city). Across the street is Notre Dame Cathedral, an elegant 19th century red brick building (the inside is not open for viewing). Our walk continues past the Victorian City Hall building, currently being repainted its original bright yellow, and a slew of 5-star hotels that lead to the banks of the Mekong River. One of the great rivers of the world, it flows through five countries. South of Saigon, it empties into the South China Sea in the Mekong Delta region, Vietnam's rice basket. The southern part of Vietnam produces more than twice as much rice yearly as the northern part.
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| City Hall Restoration |
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| Gustave Eifel's Post Office |
Notre Dame Cathedral
We have another buffet lunch of various familiar and unrecognizable local foods for lunch, all of it presented beautifully and very tasty, although I am sure the spices have been modified for Western tastes.
After lunch we begin another round of touring at the former Presidential Palace, now know as Independence Palace or Reunification Palace. The building has beern restored to its 1970s TV idealism, and looks much like it did when North Vietnam tanks rolled through the gates and the Viet Cong took power over the whole country. Replicas of those original tanks are exhibited on the lawns of the Palace, just as actual US jets and helicopters are exhibited on the grounds of the Saigon History Museum, our next stop. Inside the exhibits are explained in Vietnamese and English signs, although our guide emphasizes that the English translations are much more neutral about Americans than the signs in Vietnamese. But at least there are helpful signs in English at important places in Saigon. In all the other cities I have visited there are very few English signs anywhere, which is one of the things that make independent travel more difficult than in Japan, Hong Kong, or Singapore for example.
We get some brief time on our own at the Bitexco Building, the tallest in Saigon, with a helicopter landing pad jutting out from its exterior frame half way up the glass tower. Inside the lower levels is a five-story mall, very modern in design, but not very interesting for shopping. There are elements of Hong Kong and Singapore here, but Saigon has not yet reached that level--although it may not be too many years before it does. The local streets are lined with a wild mix of three-and four-story older buildings and new glass towers; mom and pop stores stand alongside the latest boutiques from London, Paris, and New York.
At 5pm as our bus drives out of the city center we have wonderful views of the sun setting behind a series of skyscrapers--a perfect symbol of all the things I have seen. The whole country, but especially the cities in the south, are speeding into the future at a rapid pace that is dizzying and inspiring. The people have been warm and friendly and there is much beauty in the coasts and mountain ranges. Now if only people really had an effective right to vote . . .
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