Vietnam

My trip started in the morning flying to New York, since I had to wait 11 hours I decide to explore the streets of New York City. I have never seen so many people, maybe because it was the day after Christmas; my walks included a visit to St Patrick's Cathedral, 5th Avenue and Rockefeller Center. Back to the airport after having a good Pizza, I waited for Mrs. Astrid who she joined me in the 16 hour flight to Hong Kong. It was little after midnight when we boarded our plane, the flight path took us up into the Hudson Bay and Canada, over Greenland skirting the Artic ice and then down over Russia, Mongolia, China and into Hong Kong. Unfortunately this was a night flight all the way until just an hour before landing, so there was not too much to see, but watch movies or listening to music.


economy class but first class meal, the menu for dinner included a delicious filet of salmon with creamed spinach and steam vegetables, my favorite was the Haagen Dazs ice cream.

more flying and just a couple more hours before we reach our final destination..

Almost, Good Morning Vietnam !!!

for our in flight breakfast, an egg omelette with pork sausage and crisp fried pan potatoes, some orange juice, a warm croissant, yogurt and sliced fruit.
We finally got into Ho Chi Min airport after a total flying time of almost 21 hours, as we were walking out of the plane I saw Astrid waving to us and what a beautiful moment when she embraced her Mother. After a few minutes saying our hellos we walked into the immigration area, there was a huge line and the way I understand it takes a couple of hours just to go through the immigration window; however we were met by an official who asked us for our documents and after a few minutes we were whisk around the line, people were looking at us as if we were some sort of celebrities. We then collected our luggage and they continued escorting us until we got outside of the airport where the Park Hyatt's black Mercedez Benz was waiting for us, now I am getting use to this kind of service very quickly and thanks for my good friend Adam who had arranged all this as a surprise to her wife..... what an awesome welcome.




Arriving at the Park Hyatt Saigon in style, may I add the chauffeur handed out a cold towel, water and a music menu inside the car.

My Room....

Ho Chi Min City, in Vietnamese Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh

Under the name Saigon, it was the French colony of Cochin-China The city center is situated on the banks of the Saigon River, 37 mi from the South China Sea and 1,090 mi south of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Comprised of 19 districts of sprawl is the largest city in Vietnam with a population of 9 million, most of whom cruise the town's clogged arteries on a estimated 3 million motorbikes. The city's core is still adorned with wide elegant boulevards and historic French colonial buildings. The most prominent structures in the city center are Reunification Palace, City Hall, the Municipal Theatre (Nhà hát thành phố, also known as the Opera House), City Post Office, and Notre-Dame Cathedral

walking the streets of Ho Chi Min city

lots of motobikes... a lot !!!

City Hall

Good to see my very good friend Astrid after 3 years.

Starting the day with a heavenly breakfast " Park Hyatt" style


Park Hyatt inside grounds

Coconut water, good for you

Extraordinary handicraft, at far they look like paintings and the details are incredible

visiting the National Museum

Then a stop for lunch in Quan an Ngon Restaurant

" Ngon" means delicious and for authentic Vietnamese cuisine this is the place to go, the atmosphere here is chaotic, a discord of laughing, chattering guests and clanging pots and pans. The seating is a mix of regular table dining in the central colonial, in the balcony or the courtyard. The french colonial building is surrounded by cooking stations, each serving a regional specialty.

Specialties such as shrimp-mince pork grilled on a sugar cane, rice steam rolls, fried crab spring rolls, clams, shrimps, beef, pho, fresh spring rolls and the list goes on and on


My favorite..... spring roll

A visit to Phuoc Hai or Emperor Jade Pagoda, One of the most interesting pagodas in Vietnam, the Emperor Jade is filled with smoky incense and fantastic carved figurines. It was built by the Cantonese community around the turn of the 20th century and is still buzzing with worshipers, many lounging in the front gardens.


The Cathedral right in the city center

Time for some Vietnamese coffee on top of the Rex Hotel for view of the city


and into a great evening looking down

Mrs. Astrid contemplating the evening.....


after the coffee we are ready for a little evening stroll


Ready for a great dinner with a wonderful family at Square One at the Park Hyatt


Most delicious dinner


The Zilber's .....a beautiful family

Getaway to the Mekong Delta

the delta is a web of Mekong River waterways covering an area of 37,000 miles across 3 provinces. The region is densely populated, most engaged in farming and fishing. The Mekong Delta accounts for more than 50% of all rice and produce in the country. The land is decorated with green rice paddies, fruit orchards, sugar cane fields, and vegetable gardens, and its waters stay busy with boats and fish farms

First stop was a small village, here you can see they are making coconut candy

here is rice paper been made, more like a pancake and then they let the sun dry them

biking around these canals

cocoa pods where chocolate comes from

more bicycling around until we got to this beautiful scenery.... rice paddies

time for a break from the humidity and heat

markets along the way

and another stop for a light lunch, fried fish and soup

children playing with marbles

next, was a tour in a small boat through the mangrove swamps

back on the main river

and back to Ho Chi Min City

and finally back to the hotel

We spent the day just relaxing, I came along with Mrs. Zilber to the antique shops near by, it is basically a whole block with shops on both sides of the streets lines up with all kinds of antiques, from carved items, paintings, statues, old cameras, you name it....

DSCN1164

Cholon is the predominately Chinese district of Saigon, and probably one of the largest Chinatown in the world. A bustling commercial center, Cholon is a fascinating maze of temples, restaurants, jade ornaments and medicine shops. We didn't see many people around the streets and wondering on the streets you could smell the spices as far as one block away, we mostly visited the temples around Chinatown.

intricate carving on the roof

Chua Quan Am Temple

coiled incense hanging from the roof