Saigon (2014)

Where do I start?  I haven't really managed to get into the groove and update this as I had hoped.  Maybe with a bit more practice I can make this a regular thing.  Enough fluff and lets get into it.

4 days and 4 nights in Saigon (early August 2014)was a very different trip for our little young family and very enjoyable.  For me it meant it wasn't long until the 3 older kids were all back into school at the same time, the end of a long 11 weeks 1, 2 or 3 on holidays at any one time.

We arrived at the airport in Ho Chi Minh City around 8:30pm, however by the time we queued for Visa on Arrival, for myself and the children (the perks of having an APEC card for Steve wasted as he was with us) we got to the hotel pretty late and tired. I was extremely grateful for having one small child in an ergo carrier while I was standing in line as we were spotted and "fast tracked" to the front of the never ending queue.

We managed to find a great serviced apartment within district 3, (Somerset apartments) plenty of room for the 6 of us and the option of cooking for ourselves...This didn't really eventuate, we had 4 very busy days and eating gluten free in Vietnam surprisingly easy.  Being located in that district meant we were close to everything we wanted to do and see and catching a taxi was a breeze.

With no time to sleep in we were met by Klaus (from Innoviet travel) in the lobby at 8am, a mad scramble to get down there on time as we were called by reception and this tired Mumma had 8:30 departure in her head.  First tour of the trip, we were off to the Mekong Delta.  Plenty of room in the mini bus for us all, we embarked on a tour for just our family.  First driving through the chaotic streets of Saigon city, passing into the quieter outer city, evolving into the countryside. This "countryside" felt like forever to get to, not because Saigon was never ending, but because Zac constantly asked "Are we in the countryside yet?"

There were rice paddies and water buffalo to pass, small family tombs attached to their land, birds and vegetable patches to investigate. All from the window of the mini bus as we got closer and closer to our destination. Hammocks hanging from pretty much every roadside building "advertise" the fact that a hot/cold drink could be purchased to give motorcyclists a well earned rest.
We arrived at the jetty and transferred to a motor boat and began our trip up the Mekong delta.
Boating past the floating market, after the morning rush and stopping at a place set up for the tourists to see some traditional used of the coconut.

In a collection of buildings there were several stations set up where all different parts of the coconut were being used to produce things to sell. The coconuts were pressed to extract to the juices to boil up the coconut milk add some caramelized coconut sugar, then pour the liquid into moulds to make a chewy sweet.  These were cooled, sliced and individually wrapped, first in an edible rice paper, and then in a cellophane type wrapper. Another station had a woman steaming a paper fine cracker, these were then laid in the sun on loose bamboo mats to dry until crispy.

Nearby there was a rice alcohol being distilled, somewhere in the process a dead snake was involved.  Pretty strong stuff, I am told, both Steve and I weren't up for tasting it that early in the day.
At yet another station a man was popping grains of rice in a wok with coarse black sand. The bubbles of rice then got sifted leaving the pristine white rice to be combined with another caramelised sugar/coconut milk combination and then pressed into bars, similar to granola bars. Some of these had shredded coconut or raisins and others still peanuts as we were about to find out.

All these things were available to sample as we walked around and Klaus freely handed them to us as we walked around.  The kids happily tried most things and when we got to the rice bars, it wasn't until Sophie had chewed and swallowed her sample nicely that she realised there were peanuts in it.  So the mad rummage through the backpack to find the Zyrtec began.  Thankfully for us her reaction was controlled by this and we didn't have to escalate to the epipen.  I have no idea as to where the closest hospital was, but I am sure it wasn't going to be easy to get to.   File this as a reminder to increase our vigilance when it comes to food.  There is certainly a lack of understanding of how serious allergies can be in this part of the world.  A general undercurrent of "fussy foreign eater", not life threatening situation.

The Ever Patient Klaus 

We headed back to the boat and travelled along the river a bit further until we met with some smaller stand up row boats, our family and Klaus piled into one after a little discussion on whether we would need one or two boats.  It was quite a calm journey, through a narrower and shallower waterway, choked with water plants and the gentle rhythmic sound as the oar was deftly manoeuvred propelling us along.

Back into our boat to the next stop, somewhere for lunch.  We were treated to Elephant's Ear fish, a specialty in the region, served lightly fried, upright with scales and teeth in situ and a flower in its mouth. We messily assembled our spring rolls ourselves with herbs and salad after a professional demonstration. While we all tucked into lunch, Sam was taken on a little tour of the kitchen and surrounding tables by Klaus and several of the staff at the restaurant.  A little bonus of travelling in Vietnam, they really do love children, and as long as you or your children are relaxed about being held by complete strangers you get to eat (insert meal of your choice here) relatively unencumbered.

Elephant ear fish and Libby looking suitably impressed.

After lunch, we were treated to a performance of traditional Vietnamese songs and then wandered around the area some more, through the gardens growing dragon fruit (I never tire of seeing the bright red fruit hanging from the cacti knowing they are deliciously sweet inside), bananas, papaya and more.  Back to the boat we headed, for a fresh coconut to drink while we cruised back to the jetty to jump in the minivan and head back to the city.  A long and interesting day, we slept well that night.

We had planned a pretty quiet day the next day, and it started that way.  Lazy breakfast (more Pho) and relax/swim by the pool then off for a walk to explore our surrounds.  We ended up going to the Ben Thanh markets with the kids deciding they really wanted a Vietnamese hat, and a cool drink.  It was very amusing watching the stall owners react to how many kids were in tow.

We decided to see the water puppets in the afternoon and last minute go to the opera house and try and see the AO show.  What that meant was, despite knowing better we left the water puppet show and got into an unmarked taxi. (Tourists ripe for the picking).  While the taxi fare to us was really only about $16, I am sure it was nearly 10x what we should have paid. Lesson learnt.  We bought tickets for the show and decided Sam and Steve would go home after a quick dinner with us.  The show was very entertaining, a mix of dance, drumming and acrobatics with the use of Bamboo poles and baskets and one extremely bendy lady.  Zac and Libby fell asleep toward the end, reflecting how tired we all felt.

The next morning we were off to the Cu Chi tunnels.  Another early start with Klaus, and we piled into the minivan for another reasonable drive, through the chaotic streets of Ho Chi Minh and into the countryside.  The kids loved to Cu Chi tunnels for the novelty factor.  I was fascinated with just how tiny and dark they really where.  We went through the larger "tourist" ones, I really can't imagine going through anything much smaller.  I will admit I have never really known that much about the American war (as it is referred to in Vietnam) Vietnamese war, so I walked away with a lot more knowledge and amazement at what the human spirit is capable of enduring.  We didn't take any photos while we were there, just soaked in what we saw.

Our final day was spent on a foodie walking tour.  Something I was hoping to do at the start of our trip to help us navigate the food minefield and help us choose some gluten free street food easily.  Even though we did it at the end, I still found it a great tour.  The kids seemed to enjoy it, while we had to pass on some highly decorated cakes we still managed to buy and taste many a delicious food.

Breakfast began with Pho and we ended our tour at a temple for a picnic lunch.  In between we talked about how to choose safe street food, a couple of Vietnamese Aunties tried to tell me that Sam needed to wear a sun hat (something I still can't get him to keep on his head) and I instinctively began undoing the buckle on the ergo carrier when Aunty started trying to lift him out.  (I think I have been in Asia too long, trusting strange Aunties not to abduct my children and giving them something to smile about).


We visited the markets and had a competition to see how many different type of live animals there were, both on sale and living there.  Stopping for  refreshing coconut drink and creme caramel like dessert.
We ended our little trip in the temple grounds and managed a nice little picnic and sat around in the shade for a while.

Just some of the traffic.

From there we made our way to a park in the city with a playground the kids had caught glimpses of from our taxi trips around.  They ran off some steam and enjoyed the climbing/sliding/swinging etc until we headed off to the airport bound for Singapore.


It was an action packed 4 days, but one I enjoyed a lot.  I loved the general vibe of Ho Chi Minh and I am sure I will return again one day.