Swapping homes for around the world travel: November 2017

Vietnames currency. Food. A night on the town (sort of).

Money! Moola, dough, scratch, clams, bread, bucks, spondulicks, sawbucks, greenbacks, samoleans, smackeroos, fins, two-bits, ducats, c-notes, you get the picture. If you don't here are a couple for you to look at...

This 1,000 note is worth about 5 cents U.S. It is not even the smallest, there is a 500 note that is about 2.5 cents.

This is the largest bill, about $22 - $24 in U.S. dollars. At the cash machine you can withdraw up to 2 million VND (Vietnamese dong). Coins are no longer minted although there are still some in circulation, however, only banks will take coins now. There used to be some 200 and 100 dong notes in circulation, but they are essentially worthless. The VND is the highest denominated currency in the world.

On to other subjects. How about food? The food here is for the most part cheap and delicious. You can pay U.S. prices for a meal if you're in a touristy part of town or eating at a high end restaurant. However, if you're willing to eat street food or in local eateries the price is astoundingly cheap - Don and I ate a very tasty Thai dinner at a place called Tuk-Tuk Thai Bistro (with A/C which is so important if you don't want sweat dripping into your meal) for about $11 USD and this was in an upscale neighborhood, close to big hotels. If you want to eat street food or in local eateries where the menu isn't in English then expect to pay maybe $1 for a banh mi sandwich on the street or a bowl of pho (while sitting on a plastic chair or milk crate on the sidewalk) or $3 for a meal in a cafe that might have A/C. However, you can spend the bucks if you're going to eat and drink in hotels and high end places.

Things I have eaten for breakfast: The room here at our hotel includes a buffet breakfast. There are some typical American style breakfast food (made to order omelettes and eggs, bacon, fruit, pastries and bread, cereals, potatoes) however, there is some Vietnamese items (fried fish, tofu with schezuan sauce, pho, sugar cane with shrimp paste, beef and broccoli) and some American food that I would consider to be lunch or dinner items - green salad, potato salad, spaghetti carbonara, steamed vegetables, soup, chicken in garlic sauce, etc. I will admit to having the spaghetti carbonara for breakfast one morning. I've had the pho and it's really good. But I've been sticking with traditional American breakfast food most mornings, except I do eat dragon fruit every day and the tofu with schezuan sauce, it's just that tasty. The sugar cane with shrimp paste was not to my liking, however.

We stopped in at the roof top bar, Saigon Saigon, at the Caravell Hotel, where there is a live band (we danced!) and we had a martini, a cocktail, and one bottled water. Price, with tax and tip added, was close to $30 US! That's more than what we've paid for any full meal so far on this trip. However, the view was great and the band was fun, so it was worth it. Also, the taxi back to our hotel was $2.50, I'm going to taxi around town for the rest of our stay here!

Notre Dame, the Post Office, and the Botanical Gardens

Today we attempted to walk to the Jade Pagoda Palace. We never made it. We thought we could do it in stages, stopping at the History Museum and the Botanical Gardens half way there. Unfortunately, the heat, humidity, exhaust and miasma from millions of vehicles, and a blister on my little toe all conspired against us making it that far (about 1 1/2 miles). Here are some pictures of our day -

I don't know why these bird cages are hung in the park in the mornings. I don't know if they're for sale or if they are hung up by park staff. But they're there in the morning and gone later in the day.

Tiny temple in the park.

The Notre Dame. We couldn't go in because of all the construction.

The post office was just across the street.

The Botanical Garden

Not long after this we went in search of an air conditioned cafe for cold drinks. Then, we took a taxi back to our hotel. That's it for today. We ate lunch at a small cafe close to the hotel and later we're going to the Caravelle Hotel roof top bar to here some live music.

Tao Dan Park and the Reunification Palace

First, some images from last night.

Crossing the street takes nerves of steel.

Shortcut down this alley to get to The Garlik Restaurant.

Drivers will take to the sidewalk to go around traffic. I don't know if that's legal or not.

It's just curb to curb traffic. I know the photo is blurry, you try taking pictures of moving objects.

The next morning we had an early breakfast (I tried the pho this time instead of a typical American breakfast and it was very good. The hotel provided breakfast has lots of variety, both Vietnamese and American style food) and then we set out to see the Reunification Palace. Even though we took a short cut through the park it took a while to get to the palace because of so many interesting things going on:

People practicing their forms with swords.

I would love to see people in Minnesota parks practicing with swords, exercising to music, doing yoga, etc., and not giving a damn what anyone else might think.

Sculpture Garden! I love sculpture gardens.

Weird flowers on weird tree, no idea what it is but I really like the way it looks.

And finally the Independence, or Reunification, Palace. I was very over-heated by this time and was hoping the palace would be air conditioned. No such luck but here is a tip - if you go down one level from the main floor and look for the door that says "Documentary movies" you can sit in a small air conditioned room and watch a documentary about the Vietnam war and the Independence Palace. It's so nice a cool in that little room!

This picture of me is not photo shopped, the planters are just that big.

Below are a few pictures of the Game Room. I thought that the decor was the most indicative of the 60's and 70's.

This part of the palace was bombed by a spy and later rebuilt. The red circles show where the two bombs hit.

The private bedroom of the president. Check out the TV.

The walk-in closet in the President's private rooms.

To the bunker! The bunker was built to protect the president and his family from bombing and so he could continue to direct operations from a secure location.