Tuesday, Feb 7 – Early morning on the Mekong River. The Mekong River flows from China through Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam into a broad delta before entering the sea. Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon is about 4 hours up the river from the sea. The Seabourn Pride is small enough to navigate all the way up to the inner city. Larger cruise ships need to dock in the industrial harbor. The river is a very busy place with lots of fishing boats, container ships, small cargo river boats, dredging barges, hydrofoil ferries, and house boats. The ship had to constantly be blowing its horn announcing its presence with the river boats not obeying any particular rules of the road. Eventually the ship comes to the city which has a very modern skyline with one building over 60 stories high. Of course, we think of the Viet Nam War and what life must have been like on the Mekong River with gun boats and in Saigon itself. It is now an emerging city of 8 million people with a rapidly growing industrial base.
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