We made it to Saigon at 6 PM and was greeted at the airport by my aunt and uncle on my mom's side and a bunch of new cousins. We spotted my aunt right away because she looks so similar to my mom. After hoping in a cab we took a short ride over to my uncle's house. The history of this house goes back 3 generations. Prior to it being completely rebuilt it was the same house where my grandparents lived and where my mom grew up in.
Once settled in at my Uncle's house we decided to take an evening cruise around the city on one of their many motorbikes. This was so much fun. I thought it would be scary but it felt safer than in one of those crazy cab rides.
Saigon is so different than Hanoi. First off the streets are a little wider and a few people do follow the street signals. But for me Saigon kind of looks like San Francisco. Big chain hotels that could rival Las Vegas and named brand stores like Louis Vuitton that take up a whole street corner. It seemed like every other block had a construction project of high rise office building or luxury apartments being raised.
The following morning we all rode on motor bikes down to the former presidents palace to gain some historic knowledge. This presidential palace was the home to the president before the occupation of the north. In the 2nd week of April back in 1975 my dad worked 2 blocks away from the palace when 2 bombs were dropped directly on the palace. My dad recalls hearing the blast and seeing the smoke stacks bellowing out of the roof top. Two weeks later from this event my dad and mom fled to the US. You can see in the pics where the bombs landed.
The rest of the afternoon was spent driving around so we can visit distant relatives. We even stopped by where my dad and mom lived after they got married. My dad couldn't remember the exact location, but he walked up to this really little old women sitting in the alley and asked if she knew who so and so was and immediate she responded with of course I do, the house is right there. My dad stopped by a neighbors house and visited the kids that he used to hang out with. This one women recalls when my dad was about 20 years old and she was about 5 years old that my dad came up to her grabbed her hand and said you are going to make it someday and that your smarts and knowledge will get you by. She said for some reason those words stuck in her head for her whole life. and it has probably been 35 years since my dad came into contact with any of these people.
After taking a quick rest at the house my cousin took us out to a bar at the top of the Caravelle Hotel. This hotel was decked out, the patrons looked at me funny for coming in with a t-shirt. When we got to the bar/lounge this Cuban live band was playing and they were awesome. After a few salsa songs the lead singer sung a rendition of Bob Marley's "No Women, No Cry" that I must stay almost topped Bob Marley himself. The drinks was super pricey, more expensive then the US. A bottle of Stella was $11 USD and a Mojito was $13. After a few of these we split and called it a night.
View the complete Vietnam - Day 7-8 photo album
1 comment:
Thank you so much for writing about this JT. What a great experience.
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