August 6, 2006 - Exploring HCMC

Mom and I got a good nights rest even though we were both up at 4am and ready to start the day. So we slowly took our time and got ready for breakfast. Breakfast is complimentary here and they brag about having American dishes on the menu. Well we are still not sure which dish is suppose to be American because the menu had noodle soup, tinned fish with bread, and noodles with other meat. Mom decided on the bread with butter and jam. While I decided to try the fruit and yogurt plate. We decided that we would share. By looking at it on someone's elses table it looked like it had watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple and mango. Well we were right on only 1 fruit.....watermelon. We are still not sure what the other fruits were. But I never thought fruit could taste so bad but the piece that looked like mango and so refreshing was the most vile thing I have ever put in my mouth.....I would rather eat octopus over that any day.
We then took a taxi to the Museum of Vietnamese History. The museum contains history from the primitive period which was over 500,000 year ago to the 20th century. We wish we could have taken pictures during our touring but you are not allowed too. We saw so many amazing artifacts and beautiful gardens inside. There was also a mummy that was recovered along with her casket and all the artifacts she was buried with. Also housed inside the museum is the Vietnamese Water Puppetry. We were told before coming over here that this was something you must do while you are here. We were so glad to be able to see such an ancient art form still being practiced. We then walked next door to the Thao Cam Vien, which is the Sai Gon Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Once you get pass the gates and what feels like a million street vendors it is a very peaceful and serene walk. We are sure the people here think it is amazing but it was very sad for us to see, it made us really appreciate the care and freedom that our Zoo gives to their animals back home. Don't know if it was just the day but we turned out to be quite the attraction also. We were the

only 2 Americans in the entire zoo. Everyone who knew even a little bit of English wanted to try it out and when we would answer them they would get such a kick out of it. When Mom and I decided to take a little break from walking we were then approached because people wanted to get their pictures taken with Americans. On our way out and heading back to the hotel, we got a real treat, getting to see a Newlywed couple getting their wedding pictures taken in the gardens. May sound funny to some but for those who know us, knew it brought some normalness to our day.
There are so many more sites to see but not sure if we will make it to them since starting tomorrow we will get to visit Keere, Monday thru Friday, 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. We were told that the orphanage is about 1/2 hour away from the hotel.