And Then Some News

Thursday's Essay Preview

This is the sixth of 17 essays that cover our Southeast Asia cruise (March, 2010).  The first paragraph of the sixth essay reads as follows:  "I hesitated before using that title [Vietnam I: Saigon is a City of Filth and Poverty] for this essay, but, unfortunately, the negative value conveyed by the title is well-deserved and well-earned over and over.  I asked a couple seated next to us in the diningroom for their impressions of Saigon (Ho-Chi Minh City) and they said, “the tremendous poverty and filth.”  It is inescapable and omnipresent.  One problem for us is simply that our last port was Singapore, which is completely the opposite: by 180-degrees.

Thursday's Essay Excerpt - from the last two paragraphs of the essay

Our self-tour of Saigon included seeing Reunification/Independence Hall, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Opera House, the Rex Hotel, and the local market (covered, hot, dark, ventilated with small fans, full of all kinds of merchandise from souvenirs, fresh produce, fish, and food for lunch).  With aisles barely wide enough for a single person, it was smelly and dirty.

The filth and poverty could not be escaped or overlooked.  It was an eye-opener, and as our Princess cruise lecturer, Petra, explained to us when describing Vietnam, it is a genuine “step back in time.”  Indeed it was.

And Then Some News