Saigon -- Day 2

Finally! I get to go shopping. We took the shuttle into the city and got dropped off in front of the government department store.  Last year, this building was full of independent vendors selling clothing. I had planned on getting some gifts here, but since the change, I decided to get my shopping done at the Ben Thanh market, the largest market in the city.

We walked along the cobbled streets, carefully picking our way through and among the various vendors on the sidewalk.  At one point the sidewalk had been torn up and we had a tiny path to make our way across the rubble.  I was carrying an umbrella for shade protection from the hot sun, but it did not help with the heat.  The market is a huge building with many external doors which are numbered;  we entered door number five.  This market is in a large building and various vendors are organized by type of item that they sell.  The outer ring around the whole building is mostly clothing items and watch stores.  Both of us were on a mission to obtain the desired objects for gifts as well as a few goodies for ourselves.

I found the items I was shopping for right away, but Michael headed over to door one where his favorite watch dealer was located.  He had orders from people who wanted authentic replica watches at ridiculously wonderful prices. While he was watch shopping, I found some beautiful Asian style silk pajamas for Isabelle in a bright red with gold trim.  I bought her a pair last year and she likes wearing them.  I wandered into the interior of the market and I found the hair doodad section.  OMG, now that I have long hair and generally wear it up or twisted, there was no end to the beautiful barrettes and combs and rubber bands and headbands -- all with sparkling jewels.  I now have a bag full of these items and I exercised remarkable restraint and passed them up. I was on the hunt for a new iPad case as mine has become worn out and torn.  I finally found one but it was unfortunately pink instead of red.  Oh well.  My shopping was done.  I ran into several people I knew and everyone was looking and shopping for watches. I finally found Michael and he was grinning from ear to ear with the purchases he made.  He turned out to be a really tough negotiator, getting the price he wanted for the watches he bought.  I am the lucky recipient of a gold diamond encrusted Rolex watch, a very good-looking authentic replica.

We finished our shopping earlier than anticipated and headed back toward the main street near where the shuttle dropped us off.  Our plan was to go to Lemon Grass, a restaurant that we ate at last year and had a fabulous meal.  By the time we reached the shuttle area, it was way too early for lunch and both of us were very hot.  We decided to go back to the ship.

This has to be one of the most boring entries I have ever done. We returned to the ship, had lunch, went in the pool but the water was way too hot to stay in it, took showers, and then played bridge for the afternoon.  And that my friends, was our second day in Saigon.