This morning we docked in Vietnam. The pilot joined us at the mouth of the river. Us going up this river is completely dependent on the tides. This river is really narrow and we have to make sharp turns. It was really fascinating because we went through really rural Vietnam. People were just chilling in their boats and fishing and we sail by in our huge ship. These poor fishing boats got taken out by our tidal wave of a wake.
We slowly moved from rural to urban as we got closer to Ho Chi Minh City. (Saigon=Ho Chi Minh City) I chatted with Dr. Aimee and Carter English for a bit. I then went to my cabin to get ready for the day.
Around 1130, because this is the SAS parent trip, all the parents were allowed on board. Katie’s mom came so we all went up to deck 7 to greet her. Katie looks and acts so much like her mom. It is so cute. She was so excited to see her mom. It was nice to have a mom around. It just makes you feel so much better.
We grabbed some lunch on the ship and then jumped on the shuttle into town. It dropped us off at the Rex Hotel, which is where the parents are staying and is also right in the middle of downtown Ho Chi Minh City. There was a large group of us. Most of the group was looking for tailors to make dresses or suits. Mackenzie and I decided to break off on our own and go to the Ben Than Market because we don’t have a lot of time because we are going to Cambodia. We thought we were going the right way, but we weren’t. We had to duck into the Park Hotel to get directions. Turns out we were going the wrong direction.
We eventually made it to the market and it was the most overwhelming thing ever, but awesome. I spent entirely WAY too much money. I bought a bunch, but I spent most of it on DVDs and seasons of shows because they are super cheap. Even though I spent a lot of money I justify it by thinking about all the money I am saving…right.
Mackenzie and I spent the whole day at the market. It was quite ridiculous. We made it back to the ship and relaxed for an hour before going out to dinner with Becky. We went and ate at Pho 24. Pho is a noodle dish with beef or chicken in some sort of broth. It is kind of like ramen, but way better. It was really good, but very funny to watch all of us try to eat it with chopsticks. We also got some spring rolls.
There ended up being a night market. Becky found a shop with a bunch of NorthFace jackets and I got a fleece lined one for $17. We walked and observed and made it back to the hotel by 1030 to catch the last shuttle back to the ship.
We got back on the ship and Mackenzie stayed in the room since Rosario is in Cambodia and we watched The Ugly Truth. It is probably one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time.