It was a 07.45 am start since today we were also to join the RV AmaLotus for our cruise on the Mekong River.
There had been much discussion the previous evening as to who was brave enough to select the ‘Saigon Motorbike Tour through the bustling streets of Saigon’! The ‘softies’ chose the Walking Tour but those hardened to Vietnamese culinary culture through the Phở Chilli sauce test opted for an hour or so of sheer terror…. I mean excitement as the pillion rider on a Saigon Motorcycle taxi!
You have seen many photos in this blog of whole families on their motorcycles but this morning it would be me riding shotgun! It took a few minutes to feel that I didn’t need to cling to my motorcycle driver like a limpet and to begin to enjoy the excitement of racing through the traffic of Saigon.
Our first stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral, officially Basilica of Our Lady of The Immaculate Conception, located in the downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Established by French colonists, the cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880 and has two bell towers, reaching a height of 58 metres (190 feet). All building materials were imported from France with the bricks for the outside walls coming from Marseille. During October 2005, the statue was reported to have shed tears, attracting thousands of people and forcing authorities to stop traffic around the Cathedral. The top clergy of the Catholic Church in Vietnam, however, confirmed that the Virgin Mary statue did not shed tears. This failed to deer thousands of people flocking to the statue for days after the incident.
From the Cathedral it was a short ride to the Central Post Office (See photo) and then on to the China Town district of Saigon to visit the Binh Tay Market (No photos). We spent and hour or so mingling with the crowds in this busy market place with its narrow winding alleyways it was easy to get lost and several; of our number did!!
Our last stop was at the Sea Goddess Pagoda (Known in English as the Goddess of Mercy). The pagoda was dark and filled with the thick sweet smell of incense and the light – and heat - of hundreds of candles that amply demonstrated how important religion is to the daily lives of the Vietnamese (See photo).
It was then a 20 minute, high-speed ride back to the hotel, mostly beside the stinking and heavily polluted Saigon River.
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