Monday, Oct 17 - My Tho to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

End of the Cruise Day - Everyone was off the boat by 9:15 and on to buses for the two hour drive to Saigon.  

Among other things we saw small family cemeteries in the middle of rice fields.

We are now on our semi-private tour with Tara and Mary...the cruise crowds have scattered to wherever.  We were met at the hotel by our local guide and headed out sightseeing.  First stop was a grand plaza pedestrian mall with the Peoples Committee Hall at one end and the waterfront at the other.  

We then stopped at the opera house, built by the French in 1897, and bought tickets for A O, a Vietnamese show with a Cirque de Soleil feel.

During the drive we also stopped to see the building that was the scene of the iconic picture of the last days of the Vietnam War in Saigon where the helicopter was picking up people to evacuate them.  A ladder was still leaning against the tower of the building.

Next visit was the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica Cathedral, also built by the French between 1863 and 1880.  

We also stopped at nearby indoor market...

and enjoyed some people watching.

Mary then headed back to the hotel to rest (still fighting a cold), while the rest of the group visited the Reunification Palace (also known as the Independence Palace).  This was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.  

We visited the cabinet room,

conference room, 

and the underground war rooms.

The group then visited the Vietnam War Museum, chronicling the war from the perspective of the Vietnamese.

After dinner we then headed to the Opera House for the show.  While waiting for the show to start we saw several couples from the boat.  We all thoroughly enjoyed the show.