Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Vietnam is a developing country of 96 million people with a long coastline along the South China Sea. The two largest cities are Hanoi, the capital in the north, and Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in the south. Vietnam was a French colony from 1887-1954. Since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, it is a single party socialist communist state.  Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City to honor the founder of the Indochina Communist Party who was President from 1945-1969.

We took a 9 hour day trip to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) to visit the following sights:
- Reunification Palace, home of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War
- Notre Dame Cathedral, built from materials imported from France
- the Central Post Office, a combination of Gothic, Renaissance and French styles
- the Ben Thanh market, with a wide selection of clothing and souvenirs
- the Thien Hau Pagoda, a beautiful Buddhist temple in Chinatown
- a lacquer workshop, where we watched artisans at work and purchased some beautiful plates

After returning to the Viking Sun, we were treated to a performance by the Vietnamese Phu Dong Percussion Group.  This award-winning musical troupe plays an unusual variety of ethnic instruments.

Busy traffic and LOTS of scooters/motocycles

Artisan at the lacquer factory

A 4-panel wall hanging at the lacquer factory

Notre Dame Cathedral in HCMC

Building where the last helicopter evacuation of
Americans occurred during the Vietnam War

Saigon Opera House

Reunification Palace - government offices for South Vietnam before 1975

Altar at Buddhist pagoda

Temple near our ship

Musicians with the Phu Dong Percussion Group

Dancers playing/clinking tea cups

Unusual percussion instrument