Early day and sail-in into Phu My, Vietnam... Ann,
Cathy and I were excited to be here as we are leaving for a 6 day tour of
Thailand, specifically Ayutthaya, the former capitol of Thailand and Bangkok
and its surrounding area.. Our flight to Bangkok was in the late afternoon so
our tour guide picked us up at 07:00 for a transfer from Phu My port to Ho Chi
Minh City for a city tour and transfer to the airport. Once in Ho Chi Minh
City, formerly known as Saigon, we found today’s Ho Chi Minh City a bustling
and vibrating economic center of the South. Over the past few centuries, Saigon
was called the “Pearl of the Far East” and was an important trading center for
Chinese, Japanese and Western merchants who travelled along the Saigon River.
Today, our tour included strolling through the bustling Cholon (Chinatown),
Thien Hau pagoda, one of the oldest pagodas of the Chinese in the area and
colorful Ben Than Market, the Post office designed by Gustav Eiffel resembling
a grand railway station and Notre Dame Cathedral inaugurated in 1880 as the
spiritual and cultural crucible of the French presence in the Orient. The
Cathedral is undergoing a major renovation and currently closed to tourists. We
had a photo stop at the former Presidential Palace, renowned for its
symbolic role in the fall of Saigon in 1975. We stopped for lunch, Wi-Fi and
some shopping before leaving for the airport. We arrived at the airport early
but the lines at check-in were long...the flight to Bangkok was great...we
survived the one hour Immigration queue and our Thailand tour guide Vee and
driver were waiting to take us to our hotel. I am very excited about this trip
to Thailand, especially Ayutthaya, a place I have wanted to visit for a long
time.....
No comments:
Post a Comment