Jamie Goes To Vietnam July 2010

Wisdom of the Ages...

2011-01-23T02:31:00.000-08:00

Fututre CBD of Ho Chi Minh City

2010-07-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

A Walk Around Ben Thanh Market

2010-07-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

Antique Street

2010-07-26T05:43:00.000-07:00

I have posted all of my photos in a Facebook Album and I would love you to view them by clicking here: Jamie on Facebook. You do not have join FB to view them :-)

A rainy day on Sunday so we hung around the house most of the day playing Wii and making train sets, and watching movies with the kids. In the afternoon Brook, Dad and I decided to go out and explore what they call Antique Street, due to the fact that all the antique shops are pretty much in the same place. Not the best day for photos but here are a few to give you a taste:

After getting home Brook prepared a few pizzas which he cooked on/in the BBQ. They were divine! It was an absolutely lovely evening in the most idyllic setting beside the pool, right on the river in the backyard of Bec & Brook's house. We put on 80's music and NZ music and proceeded to sing and dance the night away. The kids all wanted to go swimming after dinner so we all promptly stripped down to our undies and jumped in for some pool rugby!

Cu Chi Tunnels and Cao Dai Temple

2010-07-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

I have posted all of my photos in a Facebook Album and I would love you to view them by clicking here: Jamie on Facebook. You do not have join FB to view them :-)

Well this was a huge day! My plan when I woke up was to go into town and have another look around, but my brother-in-law Brook said I was welcome to take his car and driver for the day. At this exciting prospect I decided to go to the tunnels at Cu Chi and then onto the Cao Dai Holy See (above).

Brook suggested I go to Pham Ngu Lao (backpacker district) first and buy a Lonely Planet for Vietnam to get a bit of history about where I was going. I got one for 120,000 VND (about $AUD7.00) and some of the pages promptly fell out in my hand while I was reading! I guess there are no free lunches huh?

Here are a couple of shots of Pham Ngu Lao:

After grabbing some Western style food from a bakery for the trip, I jumped back in the car and headed for Cu Chi.If you are interested in learning more about this fascinating region and the tunnels dug over many decades that helped the Viet Cong decimate the US troops, then you can read more about it by visiting this website: Cu Chi Tunnels

The trip was interesting but very long. I think was in part due to me changing the itinerary half way there and deciding to go to Cu Chi first instead of Cao Dai, not realising that it probably would have been easier to do it the other way around. Mr An the driver was having to stop and ask directions on several occasions, and also make several phone calls to someone who was very helpful in directing us.

Here are a few images of Cu Chi. I will be posting video soon:

After Cu Chi it was on to the Cao Dai's Holy See, called the Tay Ninh Holy See, located in Tay Ninh. Now I had no idea how far it was, and Mr An made many phone calls to find the way! I must admit it was nice being out of the city though. The was not much traffic and we were able to go faster than 50km/h for a change! About 90 mins later we arrived at the amazing Cao Dai Temple. Rather than go into too many details here, I invite you to go to this website to learn more about this religion and the unique temple: Cao Dai Information

There was no service in progress when I arrived so my photos show an empty temple, but if you click the link above you can see the monks in prayer inside the temple. Here are a few photos I took showing the architecture and adornments of this rather garish building:

After taking in all that Cao Daism could offer me, I jumped back into the car to face what turned out to be a 3 hour trip home! That was a mission, and it was partly because we hit traffic at 4.30pm back in Ho Chi Minh. All in all a really interesting day that showed me two very different sides of Vietnam and her history.

Crossing The Street in Ho Chi Minh City

2010-07-24T19:42:00.000-07:00

Ho Chi Minh City Traffic

2010-07-24T04:19:00.000-07:00

The Days Fly By

2010-07-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

I have posted all of my photos in a Facebook Album and I would love you to view them by clicking here: Jamie on Facebook. You do not have join FB to view them :-)

So here I am wondering where the last few days went! I have been doing a bit of shopping, and a bit of eating in different cafe's, and one day (its a blur)spent the whole afternoon with a bunch of kids celebrating my nephew Ben's 7th birthday. I had forgotten how noisy and exciting birthday parties can be.

I really enjoy walking around the streets by myself, and have done this on a couple of occasions now, with a few nice photos to show for it. It doesn't matter where you go, you still see new sights and every street can bring new opportunities for a great photo or a video clip. I have not had time to get my video ready for posting, but will do it as soon as I can. Sometimes I am torn between using my camera to take still shots, and using my video camera to capture the movement and the sounds.

Below are a few more photos for you to enjoy, and hopefully will convey the sense of this amazing city:

A common site on the street is an overloaded bicycle.

Above is Trung Nguyen Coffee, a new franchise that specialises in serving Vietnamese

coffee in the traditional drip filter style. It was a lovely little piece of parardise right in the

centre of the city where I sampled some chocolate cake! There was no smoking allowed

inside either, which was a nice change.

Fruit stall in Ben Thanh markets

The street names don't exactly roll off your tongue!

You pay 2000VND to park your motorbike here. That's about 10c

Lunchtime on a building site.

There are many street cleaners who do a great job.

Day 3 - Markets and of course lunch!

2010-07-20T20:50:00.001-07:00

I have posted all of my photos in a Facebook Album and I would love you to view them by clicking here: Jamie on Facebook. You do not have join FB to view them :-)

So day three was an earlier start. We jumped in the car at about 9.30am and headed off to Sport Street (below) where all the shops sell sports gear. You basically just walk up and down trying to get a better price from each vendor. My sister got a new ripstick for my nephew Ben for his birthday tomorrow (hope he doesn't read this!) and my Dad spent a lot of time trying to find shuttlecocks with a weight of 52! Don't ask me?! Something to do with the speed...

After getting our sports supplies we jumped back into the car (which just so happens to come with a full time driver!) and headed down to the end of Le Loi (street name) to the Ben Thanh Markets. This is a must visit if you come to HCMC. An absolute rabbit warren of stalls divided up by lots of aisles, some big and wide with space for about 6 people, right down to narrow claustrophobic aisles with barely enough room to pass someone going in the other direction. As soon as I upload my video I will post it here so you can get a real sense of what it was like. Here are a few shots of the stalls...

Below you will see 76,000 VND, which is about $AUD4.50, so things are not as cheap as they were last time I came. You do of course barter with the stall owners and pay a lot less, but still not as little as you may think.

Each aisle has its own 'theme' I guess you could call it. The pickle aisle was particularly pungent and I felt a bit like Mr Bean when he goes through the department store trying to hold his breath in the perfume section! Of course I am NOTHING like Mr Bean - LOL!

Bec and Dad sample the roasted almonds, cashews and candied ginger. All were so good that we bought some of each. Bec said the almonds were surprisingly fresh and also cheap. She paid 280,000 VND for a kg. This is about $AUD16.50.

Dad looking dubious!

After the markets we headed off to my favourite cafe Au Parc which I frequented when I was here with my cousin Jess three years ago. Mum and Dad also have a penchant for Au Parc. The decor is Middle Eastern even though the food is French. I will take photos next time I visit and post them here. The menu is extensive and the food divine.

While we were dining the rain started coming down, and once again it was REALLY coming down. We waited out the downpour and then ventured next door to a very nice shoe store that sells, of all things, Birkenstocks. Mum nearly got a new pair but they 'weren't quite right'. The prices were really good. Mum said she would have expected to pay about $NZD180 but they were only VND1,390,000 (about $NZD100 and $AUD82). Bargain!!!

Full of food and quite content we headed home for a lovely afternoon catching up with my sisters friend, while the children played contentedly around the huge house. And Emily took me out onto her street to show me her skateboarding skills. She is doing really well and Uncle Jamie was very proud :-)

Now it is late morning on Day 4 and we are about to head back into town for a look at table tennis tables. I will stay in town by myself for a few hours and call the driver when I am ready to go home. I love just wandering around. Will update you if anything exciting happens later...

Day 2 - Lazy Day

2010-07-19T03:08:00.000-07:00

I have posted all of my photos in a Facebook Album and I would love you to view them by clicking here: Jamie on Facebook. You do not have join FB to view them :-)

Here is my sister's house, an amazing and huge French style villa. I am staying in one of the guest rooms on the top floor. Its a really long way up, especially in the heat, so I have to plan what I want for the day so I don't have to keep going back up to get things!

Today has been a very relaxed and lazy day. Mostly sat around reading or updating my blog and photos. Forgot how time consuming that can be.
After realising we were hungary and finding the deli closed, we decided just had to go out for lunch! What a hardship - LOL. Off we went just down the road to Mekong Merchant Cafe (below).

It is a in a prime location on the main road through the suburb An Phu where my sister lives, so has a very high percentage of ex-pats frequenting it. The food is excellent, but the prices are high compared to other cafes in the city. For example we paid about $AUD45 for the four of us for lunch with coffees and one beer.

Mum and Bec

Me and Dad

Oh, I have to tell you that the Heineken I had only cost 29,000 VND which is about $AUD1.70, and this is the price I paid in a restaurant. They are even cheaper at the bottle store!

After getting home and playing badminton on the lawn with my nephew Ben, my Dad and Phong the gardener, we were all rather hot and sweaty, so it was into the pool to cool down. Now the kids are playing outside, Mum and Dad are relaxing on the porch watching proudly what their grandchildren are doing, and I sit here at my computer again - surprise surprise!

The river barges chug slowly up and down only metres from the house, so full of sand that the edge is only a few inches from going under. It is a balmy 30ish degrees. Quite humid as you would expect but quite bearable now I have cooled down in the pool.

Dinner is being prepared as I sit here in the dining room. We are having Vietnamese spring rolls with fresh produce bought at the markets today. I am really looking for to sampling the real thing made by our Vietnamese cook Van.

Till next time...

Jamie Goes To Ho Chi Minh City July 2010

2010-07-18T07:03:00.001-07:00

I have posted all of my photos in a Facebook Album and I would love you to view them by clicking here: Jamie on Facebook. You do not have join FB to view them :-)

With an 8 hour delay at Sydney airport and a very late night upon arrival in Ho Chi Minh City, I eventually emerged from my bedroom on the third floor of my sisters French style villa about 9.30am on Day 1 (Sunday 18 July). The family were all up and my brother-in-law was cooking crepes and pancakes for us all for breakfast with lovely fresh tropical fruit. There is nothing better than fresh lychees and pineapple with maple syrup, yum!

All eight of us piled into the new Toyota Fortuna (yes it does seat 8!) and headed off to go over the newly opened bridge that connects District 2 with District 7 of Ho Chi Minh City. Now, the bridge is finished, but the roads leading to and from it are still little more than rutted and potholed side roads. This is an ironic part of Vietnamese efficiency with the cart coming before the horse. You would think they would at least try to get the roads finished in time for the bridge opening!

After a bit of a tour around streets unknown, where we did the usual dodging of cars, bikes and scooters, we eventually found our way to the main CBD in District 1. For those of you who have not experienced traffic in South East Asia, it really is quite hair-raising until you get used to it. Then you realise that no-one will intentionally run into you, but I still flinch every time a taxi gets too close!

We parked in my brother-in-laws work building, where they searched under the vehicle for bombs with a mirror (I think it is because of all the trouble in Thailand). We then were treated to a wonderful view of HCMC from the 17th floor of the Sun Wah Tower. We looked out at the new 66 story building that is fast approaching completion, as well as the new tunnel under the river that is due to be ready in January 2011. It really is quite incredible the speed at which the new projects are completed.

We walked across the street to a wonderful restaurant called Dragon Hotpot (http://www.dragonhotpot.vn/) a Japanese Style Grill and Hotpot, where they cook the food on your table. I can say that I was in heaven with the multitude of flavours and textures we had. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting HCMC. During lunch it started raining, and I mean really raining - one of those tropical downpours that is very heavy but relatively short-lived. Luckily it had mostly abated by the time we were ready to go out and find the new Vinacom Shopping Mall. We debated getting a taxi but ended up walking, deciding the rain wasn't too bad by this stage. It certainly was different being in the rain but still being hot and sticky.

So out onto Nguyen Hue in front of Sun Wah tower, walking across the 6 lanes of mad traffic and down one of the many side streets filled with fascinating shops of all types, selling anything you can imagine. Crossing the road here is not for the faint of heart. You basically have to just step out into oncoming traffic and slowly navigate your way through the motorbikes and taxis. They will not purposely run you over, but you do need to watch and be clear of your intent to keep walking. Stop and its likely to be curtains.

The sites, sounds and smells are all so different from what I am used to in Australia. The rain washes the streets a bit cleaner than usual and here in District 1 the Government is making an effort to keep it clean for the tourists. It certainly is a vast improvement over what I remember on my first visit 14 years ago.

We walked past the Opera House where it appears Mama Mia is playing. I don't know if I will go and see it in Vietnamese!

The buildings are all so interesting, with such contrasts of new and old, clean and filthy, colourful and drab. This building above has all these flags hung by the residents in protest at the building being sold and them having to move elsewhere.

We finally got to the new Vinacom Shopping Mall, which is in a shiny new building. It covers 6 levels and is a marvel to behold. 3 of the levels are below ground and they even spread out under the park and street next door to pop up in another building. I went and had a look at some shirts, and they cost $1,200,000 Vietnamese Dong! This is equivalent to about $USD60 or $AUD70. Not much cheaper than home so I did not indulge. The irony is that it is just another mall that could literally be anywhere in the world. The shops are really upmarket and nothing is much cheaper than anywhere else in the world. What amazes me is just how much money there must be in Vietnam for there to be places like this.

Tomorrow is another day, and I will see what happens. Probably just a day at home with the family relaxing in the aircon!

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