Islandhopping Vietnam Highlights: Mekong to Ho Chi Minh City

The last few days of our Islandhopping tour had us in Ho Chi Minh City for a day, then cruising along the Mekong River and cycling through a few villages along the way. We then moved back to Ho Chi Minh City where our tour ended.

The Mighty Mekong

The Mekong is the 12^th longest river in the world with 22 million Vietnamese living in the Delta. The area has one of the largest and most productive inland fisheries in the world. Although not as picturesque as Ha Long Bay, cruising the Mekong was relaxing with a bit less boat traffic and magnificent sunsets at the end of the day.

So that’s a banana plant, eh?

One of the most interesting things to me (as an urban girl who once thought corn was a root vegetable – true story) was the vegetation in Vietnam and particularly the Mekong Delta region. For instance, I had never seen a banana tree. They’re pretty cool.

We also stopped in at a number of small workshops where locals made handicrafts and food products such as rice paper wraps and puffed rice treats.

Floating Market

The Mekong River is also famous for the Cai Rong floating market where merchants in boats of all sizes sell produce such as watermelons and pineapples.

Is that a … what is that?

Most intriguing was the visit on land to the meat market. I eat meat. I understand that what animals we choose to eat is largely cultural. It was fascinating to see trays full of fresh rat meat, live frogs waiting to be “processed,” as well as other items that were completely unfamiliar to me.

Ho Chi Minh City

We were a bit surprised to discover how cosmopolitan Ho Chi Minh City is with its wide sidewalks, glittering skyscrapers, and fun rooftop bars. The downtown area could easily stand in for Chicago or Toronto.

Revisiting the Vietnam War

You can’t visit Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and not reflect upon the war in Vietnam, especially in the year of its 40^th anniversary. We spent a sobering couple of hours visiting the War Remnants Museum, which houses thousands of images taken by photojournalists who covered the war. We finished our visit on the main floor that displayed images of various countries that protested the war. As someone who believes there has to be another answer to conflict than killing each other, that inspired a bit of hope after viewing so many heart wrenching images. If you’re not up on Vietnam history, do a bit of research before visiting the museum to help make sense of it all.

5 O’Clock Follies

On a somewhat brighter note, we enjoyed another bit of history by visiting the rooftop bar of the Rex Hotel. The hotel bar was where the American military command delivered daily briefings to news correspondents during the war. The cynical journalists dubbed these meetings the Five O’clock Follies because of the gap in credibility between official messaging and the reality on the ground. The bar now has a signature “Five O’clock Follies” cocktail, which we had to try. We also enjoyed a decadent ice cream sundae here. Both were quite yummy.

The Fabulous A O Acrobats

Other highlights we enjoyed included seeing the A O Show at the Saigon Opera House. This is a high-energy acrobatic performance showcasing Vietnamese culture and heritage. Unfortunately, photography of the performance was not allowed.

Behn Thanh Market

We also visited Ben Thanh Market, which is one of the earliest surviving structures in Ho Chi Minh City. It’s seriously large and rivals the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul in my opinion. It features endless stalls of local handicrafts, clothing, souvenirs, and various foods.

Grand Hotel Saigon

After many days touring, we generally took it easy during our last few hours in Vietnam. We strolled the streets, wandered through parks, and hung out at the beautiful Grand Hotel Saigon courtyard pool.

The Best of Vietnam — The People!

A final comment on our time in Vietnam – I cannot say enough about the warm and friendly people we met throughout our trip. The photo of this fellow sums up our experience. He tried to sell us some fresh coconut juice, which we declined. He then saw our camera and urged us to take a photo of him in front of this wild-looking tree. He then waved goodbye with a big smile on his face.

This is the last post in a series on an IslandHopping tour we took through Vietnam. Visit the first post to go back to the start of it all or forget reading and just watch this short video highlighting the whole adventure (note: If you’re at all squeamish skip a few seconds at minute 6:12) :

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