2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: Mekong River (I)

The Mekong River, which terminates in Vietnam, is the world's twelfth longest river by length, passing through China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.  It length is estimated at 3,090 miles/4,909 km.  Annually, it discharges 114 cubic miles/475 cubic meters of water (For comparison, that is the volume of Lake Erie).

We took a bus ride to the transit location.  The small white structure you see in the field is a tomb; traditionally farmers were buried by (or on) their fields:

I do not think one of these was our ship, but similar enough:

What is a tropical cruise without fresh coconut?

Technically we are edging into (or in) The Mekong Delta Region.  There were a series of small islands as we set out farther into the river.

As you might imagine, the Mekong River is a water highway for commerce:

Getting closer to an island, where we will disembark:

2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: The Venerable Thich Quảng Đức Monument

 In A.D. 1963 Thich Quảng Đức, a buddhist monk (A.D. 1897-1963) engaged in an act of self immolation to protest the Southern Vietnamese government's perceived treatment of Buddhists (President Ngô Đình Diệm was Catholic).  

It is hard for me to comment on this without "taking sides" one way or the other.  I can only direct you to the Wikipdia Article (here) which discusses the incident as well as having photos, some of which are the most famous of the war (even I remembered having seen them).

His last words read as follows:

" Before closing my eyes and moving towards the vision of the Buddha, I respectfully plead to President Ngô Đình Diệm to take a mind of compassion towards the people of the nation and implement religious equality to maintain the strength of the homeland eternally. I call the venerables, reverends, members of the sangha and the lay Buddhists to organize in solidarity to make sacrifices to protect Buddhism."

This monument is built at the intersection of the event.  

Indirectly (at least), this incident led to the fall of the Diệm regime.  

The car in which he drove is still kept at a temple which we will visit later.

As an interesting note, below are attached the rules of the park.  Worth blowing up and reading them.

2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: A Lunch In Saigon

As part of our pre-group tour day in Saigon, we went to  lunch.

The location was on the second story of a building; this is sort of thing I imagine would be in this part of the world.

Vietnamese Iced Tea.  A lot like Thai Iced Tea:  Heavily sweetened with the addition of some form of condensed milk.

The main dish:  Shrimp....

Flambe!

Vietnamese lettuce wraps, a make your own sort of taco with lettuce as the wrapper:

Just a painting I liked:

2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: Saigon (IV)

 The Basilica of Our Lady of Saigon was built between A.D.1860 and 1880 using materials all shipped in from France (although interestingly, the clock on the front is from Sweden).  The two towers were built in A.D. 1895.  The statue of Mary is from much later, A.D. 1959.

The former South Vietnamese Presidential Palace, now the Independence Palace:

Back to the Central Post Office - this time with interior views:

2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: Saigon (III)

The Ben Thanh Central Market was original a market location that predated the arrival of the French in the 19th Century.  The building was rebuilt in A.D. 1914.  

It is an indoor/outdoor market, which includes a wet market and a wide variety of items for sale.

...including coffee stands:

Ho Chi Minh (or "Uncle Ho" as we heard him referred to more than once) is in a lot of places: