Phu My, Ho Chi Minh City
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| Taxi driver's itinerary |
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| Twin fans on the dashboard |
In the morning, the ship docked at the port of Phu My which is a two hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City.
Having already been to the city, and not wanting to spend 4 hours on a bus travrlling there and back, we decided to visit Vung Tau, on the coast about 45min drives south.
We hired a taxi for the trip there and back, sharing it with a nice couple, Louise from the UK and her partner Alan, originally form the US.
We initially visited the Thông tin chi tiết về Đình Thắng Tam (Whale Temple). "Thang Tam Communal House historical-cultural relic is a complex of three relics in Vung Tau, including Thang Tam Communal House, Ba Temple and Ong Whale Temple."
This place has a long history, established in 1820 and has undergone many renovations. Thang Tam Communal House is not only an important spiritual destination of Vung Tau but also a place to hold many unique festivals such as the Nghinh Ong Festival, attracting tourists from all over the world.".
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| Outside the Thang Nam God Temple |
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| Thang Nam God Temple |
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| Dragon sculpture |
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| Shrine in the temple grounds |
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| Whale sculpture - papier mache |
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| Whale bones |
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| Panel of the painted mural |
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| Panel of the sculpted mural |
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| Inside the temple |
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| Whale sculpture |
We then stopped at a Christian church, Christ the King Pilgrimage - parts of which are still under construction.
The Pilgrimage refers to the climb up to the giant Christ the King statue, a religious and tourist site on Mount Tao Phung.
The actual pilgrimage involves ascending around 800-1,000 steps to reach the 32-meter statue.
Given the heat and humidity, we decided not to attempt the climb.
Although it was Christian, the church applied the same modesty rules as Buddhist temples.
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| Entrance to Christ the King Pilgrimage |
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| Statue of Christ atop the hill |
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| Do's and don'ts |
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| Working safely |
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| Bass relief mural along Ba Cu |
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| Niết Bàn Tịnh Xá pagoda |
The driver then dropped us at a small Buddhist Holy Site and temple, Niết Bàn Tịnh Xá pagoda, on a hillside up the narrow street called Ba Cu.
Inside, the community was celebrating 15 February which along with the 30th of February are Buddhist holy days.
We were made very welcome and were invited to join in the feast of food brought by many of the worshippers.
This was a really nice experience and we got to try some really interesting local food – not what you get in Vietnamese restaurants.
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| Scene in Ba Cu |
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| Happy Lunar New Year |
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| Community having lunch |
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| Food offerings |
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| Reclining Buddha |
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| Interior scene |
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| One of the many shrines |
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| Shrine |
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| Shrine |
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| Bass relief mural along Ba Cu |
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| Street scene, Vung Tau |
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| Street scene, Vung Tau |
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| Frances at the "beach" |
Our last stop was a nicely air conditioned typical shopping centre - 3 to 5 storey buildings which include supermarkets, clothing stores, eateries and other facilities (including toilets) for the local population.
On the return journey, through the driver's phone translator we managed to convince him to stop at the small town of Ba Ria.
The town was nothing special, and as far as we could see there were some older style buildings. There was however a large three storey market complex which we visited and did a little shopping. There was almost nobody shopping at the time, so most of the stall owners were sleeping in hammocks or on flattened cardboard cartons in their shops.
Frances did however manage to buy a nice bag at a good price.
We returned to the ship for another pleasant dinner in the restaurant before retiring.
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| Shopping complex in Ba Rai |
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| Inside the complex |
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| A Singer and a Sinco |
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| Back on board at the port of Phu My |
The day was quite hot and humid, so the first thing we did when we returned to the ship in the early afternoon was to jump into the pool to cool off.
Later, we tried Pickleball for the first time, playing against two Scots, Ross & Walter.
They were very friendly and even provided us with a couple of drinks, courtesy of their drinks package.
