Where we are today? On our way to Singaport but catching up blog on Saigon, Vietnam

 This is Dave

Yesterday, I took a tour of Saigon Vietnam.  Elizabeth was a little under the weather so it was just me and 25 others on the bus.

After the Vietnam war, the victorious North renamed Saigon to Ho Chi Min City, however all the company signs and all the local people still call it Saigon.  It used to be the capitol of the south but now there is just one capitol in the north (Hanoi)

We were docked in Phu My, so the bus ride was over 90 min to get to Saigon.

According to our guide, after the war the main leader implemented pure communism. All farms became collective, and all produce went to the government. There was no personal property, and people had to use ration cards for everything.  For several years, the people were very poor.  

That leader died in 1984, and the new younger leader decide to have a Communist government but a capitalist economy.  The farm land reverted back to the farmers and people were allowed to start businesses and own property.  As a result, the economy has been booming ever since, and much foreign investment has come in.  The people are grateful, and there are many opportunities now.  It is still a relatively poor country, but people feel that things are getting better and better.  

Saigon and all of Vietnam are dominated by scooters and motor bikes as the main mode of transportation.  When crossing the streets, you have to look out that you won't get run over, and there is not much effort to obey lane or signs.  The streets are full of very aggressive drivers, lots of horn blowing, and evidently a lot of traffic deaths too.

Our first stop was the presidential palace built in the 1960s.  The war before the US entered was run out of the basement of this building.  Because the French occupied Vietnam for 100 years, the architecture is modern french.

The tank shown in the photo was the tank that crashed through the gate and symbolized the end of the war.  The officials has left the country 10 days earlier.

Next we went to post office building built by the French in the 1800s.

We then had a very tasty lunch at a local restaurant. 

There was also a rogue dragon climbing on a building

Finally we visited a working man's Buddhist Temple.  There were lots of statues and lots of worshipers bowing and burning incense.

Along the way, there were a lot of rice fields. We learned that the weather is such that they can get three crops per year.  After they harvest the rice, they herd large numbers of ducks into the field for a week or so.  The ducks each the left over rice and POOP in the field to leave lots of fertilizer.  Then they move the ducks to a different field.

All in it was a great day. It was 95 degrees, but it did not feel that bad, and all the scooter riders wore long sleeve sweat shirt hoodies.

Tomorrow, we will be in Singapore with sight seeing all day Saturday with some new friends we have made on the ship.  We will worship with the Singapore church on Sunday.