DAY 74 - WELCOME TO HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM

Excellent Time At Silk Road Last Evening ✔ Enjoyed Several Specials At Silk Road Which We Have Never Had Before ✔


Bonnie had asked if we knew why the children in the orphanage could not be adopted and we  are not sure the reason for that. All we remember is that children at the orphanage range in age from four up to twenty.

Before dinner last evening, we went to a Cocktail Party that was sponsored by our Travel Consortium.  Complimentary drinks and canapes were provided and there were approximately 35 fellow guests in attendance.  This party has been held once per voyage and we have missed many of them due to conflicts with other activities so it was nice to be able to attend this one.  It was held from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM which worked out very well for us since we had dinner plans at 6:00 PM.

Although we dined at Silk Road last evening, these are the dinner menus from the Crystal Dining Room.

Dinner at Silk Road was outstanding.  We dined with Maria Kita who is the Pilates Instructor who we have known for many years.    We first sailed with Maria and her husband Joe, (Joe teaches the Memoir Writing Class and also teaches Pilates with Maria) starting on the 2007 World Cruise.  We also sailed with Maria and Joe on the 2008 World Cruise and in 2011 when we sailed on a little over half of that World Cruise.  They are two extraordinary people.  Joe is home right now to assist his Mother who has had some health issues and we send our best to Joe and to his Mom.

This was our first time back to Silk Road since Headwaiter Sigi returned from a well-deserved Holiday and also since Alberto, our waiter for the evening returned from his holiday at home.  When we are on the ship with Alberto we usually have him as our waiter.  He always anticipates what we like and could even order the whole meal for us on his own.  Even last night having not seen Alberto since March of last year, he remembered not only our favorites but also those little details such as the fact that Keith prefers Ponzu Sauce.

When we placed our order with Alberto we had no idea what was in store for us in the way of extra special items that we would end up having during our meal.  The surprise started only a few minutes after Alberto took our order when  Silk Road Executive Chef Hiroshi Nakaguchi (NaKa) stopped by our table to say that he had a special appetizer for us to try.  He explained it to us and then he looked up at Keith and said "trust me" meaning trust me that you will like it.  He was so right.

Then a little while after we had the special he stopped by our table to see what we thought and we told him we loved it.  He then came by a few minutes later and told us about another special he was making for us and this was repeated again.  We loved each of the specials along with the other items we had ordered from the menu along with the wonderful service and ambience of Silk Road.

Joe, these photos are for you and of course for everyone else who reads our Blog.


Anne Marie and Keith with Maria shortly after arriving to Silk Road.

We began our meal with three of the Nobu Special Sashimi Items which can be found on the Menu.

This was one of the specials that Executive Chef Hiroshi Nakaguchi Prepared for us.  The item to the left is a Potato Croquette.

This is a Black Cod Lettuce Wrap that we have had from time to time.  Our first time having it was with the late Herbert Doppler and we loved it.

This was another special that was prepared for us by the Executive Chef which is beef  with Asparagus on the inside with a very tasty sauce.  The beef just about melted in our mouth.

We ordered mainly Sashimi with a few Sushi Rolls.  As usually, it was all Yummy.

We also enjoyed Dragon Roll which is cooked Eel ont the inside with some Rice and Avocado on the outside.

The women each had a Lobster Spring Roll while Keith had a Mushroom Salad.

For our entree each of us had the Hot Soba Noodles and instead of having it with tempura on the side we had it with three Scallops.

This was another special that the Executive Chef prepared for us which was a dessert.

It was so very nice to get together with Maria.  Originally, we planned this dinner for both Maria and Joe to join us and we look forward to the four of us getting together for dinner.

We slept very well as we sailed to Ho Chi Minh City.  The gentle motion of the ship rocked us to sleep.

As we do almost everyday, Keith was up very early and back to the Fitness Center.  He enjoyed a nice workout on the Elliptical Machine.  There were a few other guests working out.  During his workout Keith watched a documentary on the Vietnam War which was focused on the various opinions about the War in the United States.  He stopped by the Lido Cafe for some coffee and there were a few other guests who were having coffee and/or a few cold breakfast items.  A little while later it was Anne Marie's turn to workout and she walked the Promenade Deck for one hour

After Anne Marie returned to the room we enjoyed breakfast that Rao brought for us.

Since we didn't arrive and get cleared for our visit to  Ho Chi Minh

As such, while we had breakfast we watched the Daily Morning Show with World Cruise Hostess Elise Ivy and Cruise Director Rick Spath.  They noted that on the afternoon we leave Vietnam they will treat the afternoon as a sea day as there will be one lecture and also there will be name that tune trivia.

Morning activities included Yoga and Pilates and at 9:45 AM there was a lecture given by Captain Robert "Hoot" Gibson who spoke about Adventures of Aerospace.  Captain Gibson is a former Topgun pilot and Shuttle Commander.

We sat in the Crystal Cove while our room was being cleaned and we ran into several members of the crew and fellow passengers.  Some of the people we spoke with included Elise Ivy as well as fellow guest Celeste.  We stopped by the Bistro where we chatted with Becky and we also ran into Cruise Director Rick Spath.

We docked at Lotus Port which is about a 30-45 minute drive to Ho Chi Minh City and Crystal Cruises provided a complimentary shuttle between the pier and the town with a drop-off/pick-up location of the Rex Hotel.

One item that we wanted to mention about Vietnam is that the vast majority of the population was not around during the Vietnam War of the 1960's and the early 1970's.  There is no question that similar to China, while under a dictatorship and also a Communist country that clearly capitalism flourishes Ho Chi Minh City which some of the locals refer to as Saigon.

Before we took our tour we had a salad entree in our room since our tour left shortly after the normal dining hour lunch times.

This is our second time to Ho Chi Minh City as we first visited here in 2008.  Since we have an all day private tour tomorrow we decided to do a tour of Ho Chi Minh City by Pedicab.  In 2008 our tour of Ho Chi Minh City was mainly by bus and on foot with a short Pedicab ride so this time around we went with the Pedicab other than the bus getting us between the pier and the city.  

After we drove into town we each got into our respective Pedicabs.

We explained to the lead person who could speak some English that we would appreciate if our two Pedicabs stayed relatively close to one-another.  At times this was easily done while at other times it was a challenge.  We also want to note that there were very few stops so it was not so easy for Keith to take photos but he did persevere so we have several to share but the quality is not as good as if we were on foot.  We also want to note that it was very sunny and the high was around 95 degrees Fahrenheit.  The good news is that this is the dry season so we didn't have to worry about rain.

Once everyone was in their Pedicabs we began our tour around the city.

There was a bit of excitement when about one-third into the trip Keith's Pedicab was rear-ended by another Pedicab and the front tire of the cab that rammed Keith's cab got stuck with the back end of Keith's Cab.  After about five minutes and five drivers helping out they became untangled.  Meanwhile, Anne Marie's Pedicab was well ahead of Keith's but Keith's driver pedaled hard and eventually caught up with Anne Marie's Pedicab.  Thank goodness that was the only collision of the day and it did not occur with a Motorcycle, Bus or Truck.

We drove by a variety of places including several parks and churches and hundreds upon hundreds of little stores and a wide range of vendors.  We also drove through two distinct areas of Chinatown, by both a flower, vegetable and fruit and also a fabric and clothing markets.

The major food markets were very busy with people shopping.

Overall the city looks quite similar to what we saw in 2008.  The biggest change might be that there were almost no bicycles on the road with almost everyone in motorcycles.

All of the Pedicab Drivers wore the same shirt.

One of a few Catholic Churches that we saw along the way.

This was one of the small parks that we drove by during our swing around the city.

This was one of several vendors selling Military like helmets.

We drove by the fabric market with several different stores selling a wide range of fabric.

Part of the Fruit and Vegetable Market.

This is the entranceway to the famous downtown market.

A family out for the day shopping.

The good news is that since today was a Sunday there was far less traffic than there normally is on a weekday but there was still plenty of traffic to make the trip exciting.  Often we would go through circles and various intersections without traffic lights and there were times where the best thing was to close your eyes and hope that either the motorcycles or the buses or trucks did not ram into you.  

After the Pedicab tour was over we were driven back by bus to the Crystal Serenity.

This evening we are back in the Crystal Dining Room and we will post more about that tomorrow.

TODAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....

"Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living."  - Miriam Beard

Keith and Anne Marie