Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Wow, is it hot and humid. It was chilly in Shanghai, and a little cool in Hong Kong. But just a two-day journey to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and we have re-joined the tropics. We have also returned to Latin text – I can’t even attempt to pronounce any of the words, but at least I have a chance.

Ho Chi Minh City has a population of 12 million, with quite a bit of construction and new buildings. But we’ve just come from Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong – this is an obvious step down. But that did not stop me from taking my standard “learn about the city” bus tour.

The tour began with the Museum of Vietnamese History, housed in a French colonial building.

As with many such places, the museum was overrun with school kids. I was a bit confused when a teacher lead five of her students to me, and then gestured to them. One by one they asked me questions: “How are you?”, “Do you like the museum?”, things like that. I finally realized they were practicing their English, which is fine.

The Museum had some fine examples of stone work.

I discovered the Khim, a musical instrument similar to the dulcimer. I like how the carved cover folds over the strings.

Sidenote: leaving the museum to return to the buses, I got my first good taste of sidewalk sales – “Two hats for $5.” I shouldn’t be surprised.

We then visited a lacquer factory. I freely admit my ignorance, as I had no idea lacquer came from tree sap. The crafts people used mother of pearl and egg shells to add depth to the pieces. Like the craft “tours” in Bali the focus is to get you into the sales room (the only room with air conditioning). Fortunately, I did not find anything that competed for my already rather full wall space back home.

Afterwards there were quick visits to various more modern sites, which I was not really into. We visited:

• Reunification Palace
• Notre Dame of Saigon
• Post Office (lovely interiors)
• Rex Hotel
• City Hall
• An astonishingly dirty open market

We then visited a Chinese temple of a sea goddess. There was an insane amount of incense burning – people with asthma had to leave. One of the sources were curly incense sticks with red tags. You write a wish on the tag and hang the incense on lines strung about 10 feet in the air. They burn for 24 hours, leaving ash all over the floor.

A way to gain karma is to release birds. Someone captures and cages the birds and brings them to the temple. A person wanting to improve their karma pays the guy, takes the bird into the temple and then releases it.

Dinner

That night 30 of us signed up for dinner and a show. The show was in the Hotel Majestic, on an open-air stage on the roof. The emcee was cheesy and I’m not sure how “traditional” the dancing was, but I did learn about new musical instruments.

Below is the “T’rung“, a type of bamboo xylophone. The bamboo is loosely held by the string, so they really move when being played.

Here is an “lithophone“, a type of stone xylophone.

Here is a single-string Dan Bau. It is plucked, and the lever on the right can change the pitch.

From there we took van-taxis to the restaurant – and battled the swarms of scooters. I took great comfort that our driver supplemented his training with so many shrines on his dashboard.

The food was great, too many courses to document. One stands out was beef and onions in a bamboo tube, presented while on fire.

There were copper flowers in an alcove on the side.

I find Vietnam a mixed bag. There are some amazing places, but there are parts of the city I wouldn’t walk into without an armored battalion.

Tomorrow I leave on a field trip to Angkor Wat, so here is my standard disclaimer – I am bringing my laptop, but I do not know what the internet connection will be. So, I may be out of contact for a few days.