What was your most memorable independent/DIY experience in port?

[rkacruiser]

20 hours ago, iancal said:

Cu Chi tunnels were a highlight.  My spouse did more of the tour than me...I am somewhat claustrophobic.

 

I had a chance to do a tour to the tunnels.  Really considered it, but decided that such tight, cramped quarters might be more than I could take.  I did take a tour that went to the Palace/Headquarters from which the war was directed from Saigon.  The best area, the area underground, was closed that day I was there, however.  

 

Did you experience a water puppet show?  

 

18 hours ago, iancal said:

We spent four days in Hue.  Our hotel arranged a private tour in the countryside to the mausoleum of a former emperor.  It was amazing.  We enjoyed all the food we had in Viet Nam.

 

Yes, I remember that tour and I agree with your assessment.  As to the food that I had an opportunity to sample, the food was delicious.  Visiting some friends in Toronto, they took me to a couple of Vietnamese restaurants and I enjoyed there offerings as well.  Don't remember what they ordered for me, but each of the soups were certainly not "Campbells"!  Very tasty!  

[iancal]

Not a port tour really.  We planned to fly from Phu Kwok, and island in Southern Vietnam, to Saigon.

 

But we wanted to tour the Mekong Delta.  Instead of flying to Saigon we decide to take a chance and do a highly rated 'homestay'.  We flew to Can Tho and our guide met us for a two night stay with a family.  There were several other visitors.   Very rustic.  We shopped at the market and prepared dinner with the family.  Toured the water markets, the rice noodle factory, etc.   When we were ready to go our guide took us to the bus stop and made sure that we got on the right bus to Saigon.  Quite an experience and we were glad that we took the plunge.

[clo]

7 minutes ago, iancal said:

Saigon

Did you notice that NO ONE called it Ho Chi Minh City? Yay!

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, clo said:

Did you notice that NO ONE called it Ho Chi Minh City? Yay!

Why? It is their country, why should they not be able to name their own cities?

[clo]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Why? It is their country, why should they not be able to name their own cities?

I think it's great that people ignore the communist renaming. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

[iancal]

The locals told us plans were in the works for a number of years to officially change the name back.  They may as well because everyone we met referred to Saigon, not HCM.

[ilikeanswers]

1 hour ago, clo said:

I think it's great that people ignore the communist renaming. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

 

I wouldn't read too much into it. The government never really stopped the use of the word Saigon, even the airport website uses Saigon Airport. It doesn't seem the government was ever that attached to the new name. They say Saigon is a Vietnamese translation of the original Khmer name of the city Prey Nakor which referred to a tree that use to forest the area. When the Emperor of Vietnam conquered the area he renamed it to Gia Dinh but the locals still called it Sai Gon so even the emperor couldn't stop it😂. It's wide usage is why the French after taking Vietnam finally made it the city's official name. Clearly the locals have always been attached to the name Saigon from the beginning🤗. 

Edited September 4, 2021 by ilikeanswers

[donaldsc]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Why? It is their country, why should they not be able to name their own cities?

 

I totally agree w you that a country can change names of places and does change the names of places within their country often.  In this era of political correctness, how many locations in the US have changed their name.  As an example and I totally agree with this one as well as most of the other name changes that have been done is the fact that Mt.  McKinley no longer exists - it is now Mt. Denali.  Darrow Alaska no longer exists- it is now Utqiaġvik.  There is a big push not yet realized to change the name of Squaw Valley.  Consider the country of Myanbar - it used to be called Burma.

 

DON

 

 

 

 

[clo]

3 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

Clearly the locals have always been attached to the name Saigon from the beginning🤗. 

Thanks for the background. Recently I saw an Andrew Zimmern piece about Vietnamese food and he said HCMC. I actually posted that he may want to switch to Saigon.

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, donaldsc said:

Mt.  McKinley no longer exists - it is now Mt. Denali. 

 

Agree with most of your post except for this part.  Denali is the name of the National Park.  McKinley is the name of the mountain.  (I have read the naming dispute that existed on Wikipedia and understand how Mt. McKinley became Mt. Denali.  That does not mean, however, that I agree with the action of President Obama to have that change made.)

[donaldsc]

21 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Agree with most of your post except for this part.  Denali is the name of the National Park.  McKinley is the name of the mountain.  (I have read the naming dispute that existed on Wikipedia and understand how Mt. McKinley became Mt. Denali.  That does not mean, however, that I agree with the action of President Obama to have that change made.)

 

Please see this quote from Wikipedia -

 

"Denali established as official name[edit]

Denali seen from Byers Lake the morning after the rename

On August 30, 2015, Sally Jewell announced that the mountain would be renamed Denali, under authority of federal law which permits her as Secretary of the Interior to name geographic features if the Board of Geographic Names does not act within a "reasonable" period of time. In media interviews, Jewell cited the board's failure to act on the state's four-decade-old request, saying "I think any of us would think that 40 years is an unreasonable amount of time."[3][4][5][29][30]"

 

Also this on the National; Park Service site -

 

"Name-change efforts led by Alaskan politicians continued to be thwarted by Congress until President Barack Obama and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell took action in 2015 to restore the name Denali to the mountain. Secretary Jewell cited a 1947 law that empowers the Secretary of Interior to use authority when the USBGN “does not act within a reasonable time” as a justification to make the change."

 

DON

 

DON

[clo]

7 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

Denali 

 

 

[rkacruiser]

28 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

Please see this quote from Wikipedia -

 

"Denali established as official name[edit]

Denali seen from Byers Lake the morning after the rename

On August 30, 2015, Sally Jewell announced that the mountain would be renamed Denali, under authority of federal law which permits her as Secretary of the Interior to name geographic features if the Board of Geographic Names does not act within a "reasonable" period of time. In media interviews, Jewell cited the board's failure to act on the state's four-decade-old request, saying "I think any of us would think that 40 years is an unreasonable amount of time."[3][4][5][29][30]"

 

Also this on the National; Park Service site -

 

"Name-change efforts led by Alaskan politicians continued to be thwarted by Congress until President Barack Obama and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell took action in 2015 to restore the name Denali to the mountain. Secretary Jewell cited a 1947 law that empowers the Secretary of Interior to use authority when the USBGN “does not act within a reasonable time” as a justification to make the change."

 

DON

 

DON

 

Thank you.  I read that on Wikipedia.  I was not suggesting in my post that the name change was done illegally by President Obama and Secretary Jewell.  Whatever its name, the mountain remains a significant and magnificent landmark on the North American continent.  

[ilikeanswers]

4 hours ago, clo said:

Thanks for the background. Recently I saw an Andrew Zimmern piece about Vietnamese food and he said HCMC. I actually posted that he may want to switch to Saigon.

 

I don't want to go too off topic but if someone calls the city HCMC there is nothing wrong with that. In Vietnam he is a very popular figure so there is no anger over the official name change. The name you use is not an issue to the Vietnamese so you don't need to make it an issue to everyone outside Vietnam. 

[clo]

2 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I don't want to go too off topic but if someone calls the city HCMC there is nothing wrong with that. In Vietnam he is a very popular figure so there is no anger over the official name change. The name you use is an issue to the Vietnamese so you don't need to make it an issue to everyone outside Vietnam. 

Thanks. I appreciate that.

[awhcruiser]

Woodwind Snorkeling excursion in Bonaire.  Best ever!

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, awhcruiser said:

Woodwind Snorkeling excursion in Bonaire.  Best ever!

Woodwind is fantastic.  Our first post COVID cruise in March 2022 includes Bonaire and we (party of 6 including my 2 brothers and spouses) have already made reservations with Dee and Ulf.

[awhcruiser]

2 hours ago, capriccio said:

Woodwind is fantastic.  Our first post COVID cruise in March 2022 includes Bonaire and we (party of 6 including my 2 brothers and spouses) have already made reservations with Dee and Ulf.

Same for us in April 2022!

[Hlitner]

On 9/25/2021 at 6:23 PM, awhcruiser said:

Woodwind Snorkeling excursion in Bonaire.  Best ever!

Have long been a big fan of Dee and her Woodwind boat :).  If I was limiting this post/thread to the Caribbean I might agree about it being one of the best.  But there is a big world beyond the Caribbean 🙂

 

Hank

[awhcruiser]

Just now, Hlitner said:

Have long been a big fan of Dee and her Woodwind boat :).  If I was limiting this post/thread to the Caribbean I might agree about it being one of the best.  But there is a big world beyond the Caribbean 🙂

 

Hank

That's true.  I hope to get beyond the Caribbean one of these times!

 

[Hlitner]

Just now, awhcruiser said:

That's true.  I hope to get beyond the Caribbean one of these times!

 

Like many cruisers we started our cruise life with short Caribbean cruises (and loved every cruise).  As we got older and had more time/means we gradually expanded our cruise world to Europe, then Asia, Australia/NZ, etc.  Now we are true world travelers but the Caribbean still holds a special place in our hearts and we try to return at least once every year :).  So be patient, enjoy every trip, and look forward to the future.

 

Hank

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Like many cruisers we started our cruise life with short Caribbean cruises (and loved every cruise).  As we got older and had more time/means we gradually expanded our cruise world to Europe, then Asia, Australia/NZ, etc.  Now we are true world travelers but the Caribbean still holds a special place in our hearts and we try to return at least once every year :).  So be patient, enjoy every trip, and look forward to the future.

 

Hank

We must be odd.🤣 our first cruise was a Western Mediterranean cruise for 9ur 25th anniversary. I had suggested a cruise for that anniversary which would be in the summer of 2002 in late 2001, and who wanted to fly at that point so I suggested Bermuda as we could get to the airport without flying. DW said no (we have since cruised there). She suggested Alaska (we have since cruised there). I said no.

 

I sent away for a brochure and saw a Barcelona to Barcelona cruise, and I knew that DW who was and still is an elementary school art teacher would love that. So much for not flying.🤣

 

We actually did do a Caribbean cruise for our second cruise focusing on Mayan ruins in Mexico and Belize.

 

[Alvarado Cruiser]

In Puerta Vallarta we slept in late, so it was near 1 PM when we wandered off the ship. All the tours were long gone. About a block from the dock we found a guy who was obviously an independent guide, just hanging back. Offerred him $100 for the next 4 hours to guarantee I wouldn't see another white person's face. It was great! He took us to his favorite restaurant,  ate with us while we chatted, took us to an ancient church where his grandfather had been a priest, took us to his house to meet his parents, etc. It was like we had gone there to see an old friend. 

[clo]

2 hours ago, Alvarado Cruiser said:

Offerred him $100 for the next 4 hours to guarantee I wouldn't see another white person's face.

OMG, that's the perfect guide and the perfect tour. For you and for us. I understand that not everyone feels that way. Thanks so much.