Good Morning Vietnam!
Early in the morning of March 24th we made our way out of the
South China Sea and up the river to our berth at Phu My, the gateway to the
largest city in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City formerly known as Saigon. The drive from the port to Ho Chi Minh City
is roughly 2 hours; the roads are narrow and very congested with traffic. During the stop in Phu My a complimentary
shuttle bus was available to the Ba Ria Market, a 40 minute drive away. Vung Tau, the closet city to Phu My, is
another 20 minutes from the market. You
can see we were in the middle of “nowhere”.
Most passengers took all day tours to Ho Chi Minh City,
where they saw all the sights including markets and historical artifacts, or to
the Cu Chi Tunnels, and also to the Mekong Delta. This was also the starting point for the
Overland tour to Cambodia’s Angor Wat.
We, unfortunately, had to cancel our spot on the trip to Angor Wat and
again spent our day on board watching “life on the river”.
Our last trip to Vietnam was in 2008 and “life on the river”
has not changed, it is still fascinating to watch how busy the daily activities
keep the river and its tributaries.
Our departure was delayed due to late arriving tours. Next port will be Laem Chabang the port for
Bangkok, Thailand.
