A Superficial, Girls' Guide to Vietnam
Jan 3, 2007, 3:26 pm
#48
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...Read the section on Saigon in pretty much any travel guide, or even on one of my favorite sites for Asia info www.talesofasia.com and you quickly get the idea that it’s impossible to spend more than a day out and about without having a bag, purse, wallet or camera snatched by someone on a motorbike or by a band of children. It's a city of criminals, some of the books would make one think...
...Far from finding a city of criminals, I found a city of helpful, friendly people...
...Far from finding a city of criminals, I found a city of helpful, friendly people...
...but needs to experience things first hand
Jan 4, 2007, 12:33 am
#51
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Saigon continued …
I figured if in Saigon I must visit the Reunification Palace, known as the Independence Palace until Communist tanks charged through the gates in April of ’75. As they entered, President Duong Van Minh supposedly said, “We have been waiting for you so that we could turn over the government.” A Communist officer then said either, “You have nothing left to turn over” or “You can’t turn over what was never yours.” I read both in different places. Whatever was said, Minh went off to live quietly in his villa, where he raised orchids, a man after my own heart. Maybe that officer really said, “Just hand over the paphiopedilums.” Minh later moved to France and then to Pasadena, where he died.
The building is very retro in every way – architecture, furnishings, even the magazines. It appears the government’s basically left everything as it was. The library collection still has tennis magazines from the ‘70s. There’s the presidential bedroom and a game room that looks like it came out of an Austin Powers movie. The movie theater has red upholstered swivel chairs. In the war rooms there are rotary dial phones in wild colors. It’s like stepping back in time. The basement tunnels have a bomb shelter and secret doorways and stairs to access different parts of the palace.
That done, I headed back to the Hyatt to lounge at the pool a bit before dinner. The pool is fairly small, but it has ample lounge chairs and umbrellas.
The concierge called around to ask about vegetarian food for me at various restaurants and he made me a reservation for that night at Carmargue, about a block and a half from the hotel. The restaurant gets good reviews, and it’s a pretty nice spot … climb the stairs and you’re outdoors in a nice courtyard, seemingly a million miles away from central Saigon. Pickings were slim for a vegetarian, but I had a nice goat cheese tart and then a serving of gnocchi. Not very French, but good.
The following day I found the be-all-and-end-all designer in Vietnam – Minh Hanh. Hanh has shown her works around the world and is the director of the Vietnamese Fashion Institute. She does an amazing job fusing traditional with modern clothing designs. I fell in love with most everything in her shop. One of the dresses on a form was made of mostly feathers and covered the chest and area below the waist, while leaving the midriff exposed. It was stunning. One side of the shop was filled with one-ofs that had recently been modeled in Rome. I tired on an outfit from the Rome show that featured tribal cloths and handwork fashioned into a very contemporary skirt and top. I had to have it, even though I’m not quite sure where I’ll ever wear it. But where else could I find one-ofs at these prices? I also purchased some of her one-of shoes (she only made one size so I was fortunate that it happened to be mine). The pair I bought is kind of out of character for me, but again I had to have them. Years ago, Bill Blass and I talked about such things, and he commented that when on holiday a woman is far more likely to wear something a little more daring, which is why he took chances with his resort collections. He knew me – and probably all women – quite well. I wore my new “daring” shoes in Saigon later that night.
I spent my next day shopping for a gong of about 3’ in diameter. I saw these gongs in Cambodia last year and wanted one then, but I had so many more flights and shipping was going to be outrageous. My mission this trip was to get a gong. I figured a likely place to find them might be along what’s called “antiques row”, although I doubt there are really any antiques there. I found gongs at three different shops. They ranged in price greatly, and I went back to the one with the best prices and the largest selection. The man at the shop didn’t speak English so we did some pantomime. We both took turns hitting the gongs to determine which sound I liked the best. Of course, I found out later from my son – who relishes in knowing the unusual – that there is a proper way to hit a gong, and we weren’t following it. From what I understand, the proper way is to pulsate the hand holding the striker and lightly tap the center of the gong. Indeed, the sound was much better when we did it that way. Anyway, this is the one piece I bargained a bit on. The shop owner came down about 6 percent and we were both happy.
I later visited the War Museum. I got there about 30 minutes before they were closing for lunch. That was really about all the time I needed to look at the photos and realize, as if I hadn’t already, that war stinks.
From there I went to a spa near the Reunification Palace. I never could really figure out this place. It appeared to also offer cosmetic medical procedures, but no one spoke English so I couldn’t ask. Anyway, I thought I communicated that I wanted a full-body massage, but I found myself sitting in a chair getting acupressure on my feet. I really don’t like this at all – those sticks pressing so hard into my soles I could jump out of the chair if I wasn’t so stubborn and refused to show signs of pain. The therapist did finish up with a back massage, which included a first for me – walking on the back. The woman stood on my back, placed her hands on the ceiling and began walking. Well, that was interesting.
I went nearby to a crowded Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and then back to the hotel to relax before dinner, which I took in one of the hotel restaurants.
On my final day in Saigon, I had thought I might go to the Cu Chi Tunnels, but instead opted for a day of pampering at the hotel spa, lounging at the pool and finally drinks at the Saigon Saigon Bar on the roof of the Caravelle Hotel.
The Saigon Saigon Bar is a great place to sit and watch the world go by. I probably could have stayed for hours. Happy hour is from 5-6 p.m., if I remember right, and there is a band on Monday nights. The best entertainment though is watching the traffic. It’s really an amazing sight. And what I don’t understand is why no one seems to get the slightest bit stressed. Motorbikes would come within inches of each other and the drivers would laugh and wave. Cars would nearly take out a bike and no one seemed to mind. I sipped my martini and wondered why the drivers here had such a carefree approach, while drivers in the US would be yelling and gesturing in similar situations. Was it the morning tai chi? A lack of awareness to the dangers of vehicles? Simply the Vietnamese way? I dunno. But it was certainly interesting to watch and ponder while sipping drinks served by women in short Santa suits from the top of a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.
The end.
Post script ... one interesting tidbit on the flights home ... the man who sold me the gong wrapped it in cardboard that came from who knows where. I carried it on and it went through the metal detector fine, although at an angle, in Saigon. In Hong Kong, where they re-X-ray everything, it wouldn't fit. The screeners took it aside and swabbed it. It came back positive. They swabbed it again and again it came back positive. I offered to take the cardboard off, but they said not to. At this point, they wanted my name and flight number. I fully expected an additional screening of the gong at the gate, but nothing further transpired. So did they just want to know who was responsible if my gong turned out to be something else? Strange.
I figured if in Saigon I must visit the Reunification Palace, known as the Independence Palace until Communist tanks charged through the gates in April of ’75. As they entered, President Duong Van Minh supposedly said, “We have been waiting for you so that we could turn over the government.” A Communist officer then said either, “You have nothing left to turn over” or “You can’t turn over what was never yours.” I read both in different places. Whatever was said, Minh went off to live quietly in his villa, where he raised orchids, a man after my own heart. Maybe that officer really said, “Just hand over the paphiopedilums.” Minh later moved to France and then to Pasadena, where he died.
The building is very retro in every way – architecture, furnishings, even the magazines. It appears the government’s basically left everything as it was. The library collection still has tennis magazines from the ‘70s. There’s the presidential bedroom and a game room that looks like it came out of an Austin Powers movie. The movie theater has red upholstered swivel chairs. In the war rooms there are rotary dial phones in wild colors. It’s like stepping back in time. The basement tunnels have a bomb shelter and secret doorways and stairs to access different parts of the palace.
That done, I headed back to the Hyatt to lounge at the pool a bit before dinner. The pool is fairly small, but it has ample lounge chairs and umbrellas.
The concierge called around to ask about vegetarian food for me at various restaurants and he made me a reservation for that night at Carmargue, about a block and a half from the hotel. The restaurant gets good reviews, and it’s a pretty nice spot … climb the stairs and you’re outdoors in a nice courtyard, seemingly a million miles away from central Saigon. Pickings were slim for a vegetarian, but I had a nice goat cheese tart and then a serving of gnocchi. Not very French, but good.
The following day I found the be-all-and-end-all designer in Vietnam – Minh Hanh. Hanh has shown her works around the world and is the director of the Vietnamese Fashion Institute. She does an amazing job fusing traditional with modern clothing designs. I fell in love with most everything in her shop. One of the dresses on a form was made of mostly feathers and covered the chest and area below the waist, while leaving the midriff exposed. It was stunning. One side of the shop was filled with one-ofs that had recently been modeled in Rome. I tired on an outfit from the Rome show that featured tribal cloths and handwork fashioned into a very contemporary skirt and top. I had to have it, even though I’m not quite sure where I’ll ever wear it. But where else could I find one-ofs at these prices? I also purchased some of her one-of shoes (she only made one size so I was fortunate that it happened to be mine). The pair I bought is kind of out of character for me, but again I had to have them. Years ago, Bill Blass and I talked about such things, and he commented that when on holiday a woman is far more likely to wear something a little more daring, which is why he took chances with his resort collections. He knew me – and probably all women – quite well. I wore my new “daring” shoes in Saigon later that night.
I spent my next day shopping for a gong of about 3’ in diameter. I saw these gongs in Cambodia last year and wanted one then, but I had so many more flights and shipping was going to be outrageous. My mission this trip was to get a gong. I figured a likely place to find them might be along what’s called “antiques row”, although I doubt there are really any antiques there. I found gongs at three different shops. They ranged in price greatly, and I went back to the one with the best prices and the largest selection. The man at the shop didn’t speak English so we did some pantomime. We both took turns hitting the gongs to determine which sound I liked the best. Of course, I found out later from my son – who relishes in knowing the unusual – that there is a proper way to hit a gong, and we weren’t following it. From what I understand, the proper way is to pulsate the hand holding the striker and lightly tap the center of the gong. Indeed, the sound was much better when we did it that way. Anyway, this is the one piece I bargained a bit on. The shop owner came down about 6 percent and we were both happy.
I later visited the War Museum. I got there about 30 minutes before they were closing for lunch. That was really about all the time I needed to look at the photos and realize, as if I hadn’t already, that war stinks.
From there I went to a spa near the Reunification Palace. I never could really figure out this place. It appeared to also offer cosmetic medical procedures, but no one spoke English so I couldn’t ask. Anyway, I thought I communicated that I wanted a full-body massage, but I found myself sitting in a chair getting acupressure on my feet. I really don’t like this at all – those sticks pressing so hard into my soles I could jump out of the chair if I wasn’t so stubborn and refused to show signs of pain. The therapist did finish up with a back massage, which included a first for me – walking on the back. The woman stood on my back, placed her hands on the ceiling and began walking. Well, that was interesting.
I went nearby to a crowded Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and then back to the hotel to relax before dinner, which I took in one of the hotel restaurants.
On my final day in Saigon, I had thought I might go to the Cu Chi Tunnels, but instead opted for a day of pampering at the hotel spa, lounging at the pool and finally drinks at the Saigon Saigon Bar on the roof of the Caravelle Hotel.
The Saigon Saigon Bar is a great place to sit and watch the world go by. I probably could have stayed for hours. Happy hour is from 5-6 p.m., if I remember right, and there is a band on Monday nights. The best entertainment though is watching the traffic. It’s really an amazing sight. And what I don’t understand is why no one seems to get the slightest bit stressed. Motorbikes would come within inches of each other and the drivers would laugh and wave. Cars would nearly take out a bike and no one seemed to mind. I sipped my martini and wondered why the drivers here had such a carefree approach, while drivers in the US would be yelling and gesturing in similar situations. Was it the morning tai chi? A lack of awareness to the dangers of vehicles? Simply the Vietnamese way? I dunno. But it was certainly interesting to watch and ponder while sipping drinks served by women in short Santa suits from the top of a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.
The end.
Post script ... one interesting tidbit on the flights home ... the man who sold me the gong wrapped it in cardboard that came from who knows where. I carried it on and it went through the metal detector fine, although at an angle, in Saigon. In Hong Kong, where they re-X-ray everything, it wouldn't fit. The screeners took it aside and swabbed it. It came back positive. They swabbed it again and again it came back positive. I offered to take the cardboard off, but they said not to. At this point, they wanted my name and flight number. I fully expected an additional screening of the gong at the gate, but nothing further transpired. So did they just want to know who was responsible if my gong turned out to be something else? Strange.
Last edited by l etoile; Jan 4, 2007 at 6:29 am
Jan 4, 2007, 5:55 am
#53
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Great report Sheri!
My recollection (which as I get older, I question daily) from my Saigon trip in late 1995, is that the war museum I visited twice had a cheeky name, something like:
Museum of American Atrocities
Is this the same place? At the time it was fascinating. My travel partner on that trip had a hard time holding it together when we were there. He was in Saigon during 1968 for a month and and then in Thailand for a year, as a fresh out of medical school airforce doctor. The exhibits brought back some ugly memories.
My recollection (which as I get older, I question daily) from my Saigon trip in late 1995, is that the war museum I visited twice had a cheeky name, something like:
Museum of American Atrocities
Is this the same place? At the time it was fascinating. My travel partner on that trip had a hard time holding it together when we were there. He was in Saigon during 1968 for a month and and then in Thailand for a year, as a fresh out of medical school airforce doctor. The exhibits brought back some ugly memories.
Jan 4, 2007, 6:26 am
#54
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Yes, you're correct. Now it's called The War Remnants Museum. It's a difficult place to go to. As you probably recall, there's a wall of photos dedicated to photojournalists who died in the war. A good many of the photos I'd seen before, but didn't realize that many were taken just prior to the photographer being killed. One section that wouldn't have been there in '95 is a rather damning look at Vietnam vet and former Senator Bob Kerry (although it identifies him as a current senator, IIRC). There are graphic descriptions and photos of the killings of civilians in Thanh Phong that he had some degree of involvement in juxtaposed with photos of Kerry smiling.
Jan 5, 2007, 5:48 pm
#56
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Congratulations on and Excellant Report!
While I have not posted in at least a couple of years, I remain an avid reader of FlyerTalk. Having visited Vietnam off and on over the past 8 years (about 9 or 10 trips) I found your report fascinating and informative.
If you have the opportunity, next time get away from Hanoi and Saigon. Head to Nha Trang, Da Nang and Hue, which are very peaceful and relaxing as well as much lower in cost. Hanoi and Saigon have escalated in price with the significant influx of foreigners, especially Americans.
I'll share my favorite Vietnam story and then leave the rest to your imagination. Three of us were strolling on the beach just north of Nha Trang in mid-afternoon and a young girl (turned out she was 13) walked up with a traditional carry stick holding a bucket of accoutrements on one end and a net filled with fresh clams, shrimp and crab on the other end. While I realize you are a vegetarian, this combination proved irresistable to us so we ordered two dozen @ of the clams and shrimp and one dozen of the crab along with a 6 pack of beer. The girl took our food up to a beach side restaurant where they steamed the seafood while she gathered the beer, glasses and huge ice cubes (Note, it truly IS necessary to drink beer over ice in the heat of a Vietnam summer!!). She then proceeded to shuck, shell and clean the clams, shrimp and crab and prepared the most simple and wonderful dipping sauce from lime juice, salt and pepper^ ^ .
We enjoyed the next hour and a half of leisurely eating and drinking immensely and when we were ready to leave she only asked for a total of 40,000 Dong (the exchange rate at the time was approximately 14,000 to the USD)!! We handed her 100,000 Dong and needless to say still felt as though we had taken advantage.
In sum, you are very correct in noting that the people of Vietnam are wonderfully friendly and helpful. While Saigon does indeed have its rough spots, as does any large city, even there you will find more assistance than most anywhere else in the world.
Happy travels, and I hope you do get the opportunity to visit the more remote areas of Vietnam and take in more of the beauty of the country, both past and present!
If you have the opportunity, next time get away from Hanoi and Saigon. Head to Nha Trang, Da Nang and Hue, which are very peaceful and relaxing as well as much lower in cost. Hanoi and Saigon have escalated in price with the significant influx of foreigners, especially Americans.
I'll share my favorite Vietnam story and then leave the rest to your imagination. Three of us were strolling on the beach just north of Nha Trang in mid-afternoon and a young girl (turned out she was 13) walked up with a traditional carry stick holding a bucket of accoutrements on one end and a net filled with fresh clams, shrimp and crab on the other end. While I realize you are a vegetarian, this combination proved irresistable to us so we ordered two dozen @ of the clams and shrimp and one dozen of the crab along with a 6 pack of beer. The girl took our food up to a beach side restaurant where they steamed the seafood while she gathered the beer, glasses and huge ice cubes (Note, it truly IS necessary to drink beer over ice in the heat of a Vietnam summer!!). She then proceeded to shuck, shell and clean the clams, shrimp and crab and prepared the most simple and wonderful dipping sauce from lime juice, salt and pepper^ ^ .
We enjoyed the next hour and a half of leisurely eating and drinking immensely and when we were ready to leave she only asked for a total of 40,000 Dong (the exchange rate at the time was approximately 14,000 to the USD)!! We handed her 100,000 Dong and needless to say still felt as though we had taken advantage.
In sum, you are very correct in noting that the people of Vietnam are wonderfully friendly and helpful. While Saigon does indeed have its rough spots, as does any large city, even there you will find more assistance than most anywhere else in the world.
Happy travels, and I hope you do get the opportunity to visit the more remote areas of Vietnam and take in more of the beauty of the country, both past and present!
Jan 5, 2007, 9:37 pm
#58
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CEB: Thanks for sharing a great story. Yes, next time I will definitely go to more remote parts of Vietnam, but my time, unfortuantely, was rather limited this trip.
Why in the upstairs closet on the 744, of course.
Why in the upstairs closet on the 744, of course.
Jan 6, 2007, 7:12 pm
#60
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Great Stories
I enjoyed your reports. My husband and I spent two weeks in Vietnam last year on an Overseas Adventure Travel tour. There were 14 of us in the group and our program director knocked on people's doors and asked if we could see their homes/apartments/yards everywhere and they said yes! In the U.S, people would call the police! The Vietnamese people were very friendly and generous. Crossing the streets without faltering while the motorbikes zoom around you does take some getting used to!!!
