Vietnam (Day 2) Saigon: Street Wandering

Our game plan for the 2nd day was to simply wander the streets and find our way to the backpacker district and the famous Ben Thanh Market. Guided by the map provided by our hotel, we walked in the general direction.  There was some construction nearby that pushed us down a long narrow street of markets that we had to share with motorbikes.  So many wares to peruse, we took our time.  We then came upon this large open square for pedestrians only where we took a moment to marvel at this out of place space.

No Motorbikes Zone!

By this time, the kids were grumbling with hunger, so we took them to Paris.  Hahaha, just kidding.  But, it did seem like we had found Paris in Vietnam when we came upon  Runam Bistro.  It was gorgeous and so inviting that we couldn't pass it up for breakfast.  Such a relaxing garden balcony restaurant that provided a delicious not typical (except for the amazing iced-coffee) breakfast! 

Paris in Saigon

Grilled pork with broken rice.

Mi hoành thanh (wonton with egg noodle soup)

Fully fueled, we were ready to tackle Ben Thanh Market.  We had heard lots of stories pre-travel about petty crime, scams, and overall discontent so we were a little nervous, but we had no trouble and really enjoyed the market vibe. Tried our hand at some bargaining. I don't think we are very good at it. In fact, Rob managed to bargain UP on a purchase. Caitlin was in her element though and made several purchases like a pro.  This indoor market is huge and when we were ready to exit, we had no idea which side was which and were completely turn around when we got outside.  

We continued with aimless wandering. I don't know how, but we found this awesome food market (beer o'clock oh yeah!).  Kids were delighted with the street art, including angel wings.  If you follow us on Instagram, then you know we LOVE street art! 

This lady was being so kind to let us take pictures even trying to set up our "shot" with more fruit, but ran off when a policeman came along. We saw other street vendors scurry off as well. Maybe they are not allowed to sell on the street here? We did notice the vendors alerting each other to where the officer headed so that they could stay ahead of him. 

Guess what? We got tickets for a show at the Opera House! Vietnam is AWESOME!

The AO Show at the Saigon Opera House. Molly's jet lag caught up with her, so she was a bit grumpy tired, but came alive during the show, then was promptly back to grumpy again after the show. The AO show was similar to a cirque du soleil show with live tribal music and impressive acrobatics using bamboo props. We also got an interesting info tour about the theater pre-show and learned about the history of the Opera House built in 1898. Caitlin was thrilled to wear one of her new purchases - an ao dai traditional Vietnamese dress. Rob had surprised us with these tickets to the show that night as we hadn't anything planned and we were so happy with his spontaneity.  

Live from the Saigon rooftop bar! Lychee martini happy. This is where the foreign press watched the smoke rising from the burning American embassy during the fall of Saigon.  We left the kids in their room and had some grown-up time with a magnificent view.

Early morning start, so early night. We stopped at the hotel casino to take a peek and got turned away because we did not have our passports.  Later, my cousin told me that it is because local people are not allowed to gamble so the passport is checked to confirm our foreigner status.

That's a wrap for Saigon (for now). We had a scheduled 7:30am meet time with Jason SSS checking out of our hotel and heading to the Mekong Delta on a 2-day tour. It felt like we had done a lot in our 2 "introductory" days. Now we were going to pick up the pace.  Will you come along for the ride?

Up Next: Vietnam (Day 3) Mekong Delta River Adventure

Vietnam (Day 1) Saigon: City Sights

Good morning Vietnam!  With jet lag in hand, I welcomed my first sunrise in Vietnam, while the rest of my crew snored it away.

We headed out bright and early after using the ATM in the hotel.  We thought we got so much money with our 1,000,000 dong until we realized it was only $44.  

The breakfast in the hotel is very expensive (I hear that is is very good, but it just wasn't for us) and besides, we wanted get out and begin exploring this vibrant city starting with some street food.  Fairly quickly, we found the breakfast of champions!  Banh mi is how you start the day in Vietnam.

Today was a great introduction to Vietnam as we wandered to sights around our centrally-located hotel. Major sights that we walked to were the Saigon Opera House, Central Post Office, and Notre Dame Cathedral. Amazing preservation of buildings constructed during French colonial times around 1880s. 

Popular spot for brides-to-be

Central Post Office

Should have mailed some postcards, but too busy gawking.

Notre Dame Cathedral

We walked through a nice pedestrian street of shops getting a break from dodging the traffic.  It led us to a nice park and when we got to the end we found ourselves across from the Reunification Palace.  I initially thought we would just take a peek from the outside (it was getting close to lunchtime), but on a whim Rob got tickets to go inside and that was a good decision as the interior is really interesting. 

Pedestrian street, mostly book shops.

Ice cream treat.  Kids thought it had a weird taste.

Took a step back in time of Vietnam's political history. This is where the breaching of the gates by a North Vietnamese tank in 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam War.  I really enjoyed touring the inside and would highly recommend it.  A guide is not needed as there is very good signage throughout and it was nice to just wander about the different floors and rooms, including the underground bunker.

Replica of the tank that broke through the main gates of the palace signifying the end of the war.

April 8, 1975 Bombing raid carried out by spy who infiltrated the South Vietnamese military in an aircraft like this one. 

This is a UH-1 (Huey) launched by the U.S. firm Bell in 1959 and was used in Vietnam from 1962 onward. The two circles painted on the helipad mark the spot where a bomb load was dropped on the Palace by pilot Nguyen Than Trung on April 8th, 1975.

Losing steam after the Reunification Palace

After the full 1/2 day of walking Saigon, we found ourselves in the midst of a couple of hot, hungry, and very whiny kids.  Confused by our surroundings and bombardment of vendors/drivers, we aimlessly walked until we stumbled into this magical wonderland of yumminess!  As if the decor alone wasn't enough visual appeal, this restaurant has a great open kitchen concept where each "type" of food has its own station.  You can walk thru and see everything being cooked made-to-order.  We ate a ridiculous amount of food (I had a fabulous bowl of bun bo hue) even though we knew we had a food tour booked the same evening.  The name of the restaurant is Ngon 138 and I've since learned that my aunt goes to it when she is in Saigon and has taken my cousins there, too.  They recognized it from my Facebook post - small world!

After sightseeing and lunch, the kids insisted on some pool time.

View from our room!

Fancy girls and their fancy drinks!

Afterwards, we took a nap and nearly missed our 5:20 meet time for our OH.MY.GAWD.MOST.AWESOME food tour. Yes, we EACH (I know, crazy right) got on motorbikes🏍 and spent 4 1/2 hours gallivanting about the city with XO Foodie Tour. Nervous for about the first 5 minutes and then totally energized with the thrills. Kids managed to stay on their bikes no problem and had a blast.  This entire operation is top-notch and we felt safe the whole time.  When I first heard the length of the tour, I was worried about going with the kids, but the tour is just so good that the time zipped by so quick.  My gosh, it was so exhilarating being on the motorbikes in the traffic - absolutely LOVED it!  Our tour was $335 ($75 each + $35 for the video).

It's only Day 1, but I don't know how anything is going to top this experience.

Up Next: Day 2 More Saigon Exploration!