Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

     One thing about pre-booking hotels online is that if you have not been to that city yet, you don't have a feel for the neighborhood you are booking in apart from mapping the distance to the attractions you want to be close to.  We were having a hard time finding a reasonably priced place in Saigon that could fit our family of 4.  Since the girls cannot share one twin bed (not because of their size, but because they are miserable at sharing space, specifically with each other), we have to pass on some "family rooms" that only have a queen and large twin. Sometimes we have to get 2 rooms as it is a bit unusual to get 2 queens or larger in one room.  Dad and Jeff had been doing most of the bookings, but I gave this one a shot and found the Riverview Apartment Hotel.  

     Saigon addresses, like in other Vietnamese cities can be confusing as they are labeled as a main, recognizable street, but can actually be off that street in an alley, or hém.  Our apartment was deep into one such alley.  We arrived at night and walked through the garishly lit frontage of massage parlors and sushi bars.  This happened to be Little Tokyo.  To the girls, the underlying seediness was not blatantly inappropriate, and overall we were happy with the location.  The $45 apartment itself was grand with 2 bedrooms and a roomy dining area with furnished kitchenette.  Although no-pool, it did have a smart TV so the girls could YouTube their mermaid shows on the big screen.  Besides the Boyans I don't think anyone else was staying here.  The elderly hosts were always cheerful to us, while not knowing English, and if we had some question they could not assist with, they went down the block to get the daughter (in her sailor suit, or other costume-of-the-day at "Captain's Bar") to translate for us.

While the Boyans went off in search of a Western Breakfast before mass at Notre Dame, the Carrolls tucked into some street pho.  The sweet iced coffee was so addicting, Jeff and Genna wend back several times and befriended the proprietress and her granddaughter. Another benefit of having a "baby" with you is increasing positive interactions with locals.

Maya, Babçia and I took a cooking class with Cyclo Resto.  Keeping with their namesake, guests are picked up on these bicycle rickshaws, "cyclos" which happen to be operated by the oldest men in Saigon. It is a wonder they could maneuver through the hectic traffic with these heavy carts.

We began with a guided excursion of Ben Than market for supplies for our meal. A unique observation was a vendor prepping a large fish for her customer.  (bottom center photo above) She took the selected LIVE fish out of the tank and whacked it on the ground several times until it was dead enough to bag.  All parts of animals are on display from "nose to tail" as the hip agro-foodies say.  We did not buy anything exotic for our class, just shrimp, pork, veggies/herbs, tofu, and fresh noodles.

The class menu was fried spring rolls, chicken pho soup, Vietnamese pancakes, garlic morning glory, and veggie garnishes.  The treat for dessert was egg coffee.
Come over and Maya will prepare one of these recipes for you!

The War Remnants Museum is very educational. The girls thought it was a little too creepy, but 'tis the reality of these tragedies.

The young guide at the Cu Chi Tunnels (red shirt) definitely skewed his interpretation towards pro-North Vietnamese as he pointed out all the cunning ways the Northerners evaded, trapped, or maimed the G.I.s.  It was impossible to imagine living through that event on either side.