30th October Good Morning Vietnam

Woke up around 0530 hrs cruising down the Mekong delta towards the docking pier at
Phu My.

Birds of note already Intermediate Egret,Little Egret,Purple Heron,Black winged stilt,Greenshank and Pond heron.

It's hot already the stilts and greenshank are calling and it's 25 mins to disembarking.
This morning we have approached the Vung Tau pilot station from the south west and embarked
our local pilot up the Mekong river towards the berth at Saigon terminal of note House swift and
Cormorant.
Left the boat around 0715hrs noted a few birds on route to Ho chi minh city or Saigon.
Smyrna kingfisher,Tiger shrike,Cattle egret,Great White Egret etc.

First stop was the Thien Hau Temple in China town dedicated to the Sea Godess.Next up
was the Minh Phuong Lacquer workshop where the art of lacquering process was on view.

We then stopped to photograph the Notre Dame Cathedral(yes the French left their mark here).
and the Rex Hotel.

At the reunification hall I was pleased to photograph the tanks that rumbled in to Saigon
to end the war,as I crossed the lawn I saw Rufous woodpecker.

At the museum here there were four levels outlining the Vietnam conflict ,photos on the
wall depicting JFK and tank 834 gave an idea of the times.

This war was fought during my lifetime so this was a great insight in to it.

Lunch was at a down town restaurant comprising of Western and Vietnamese dishes,followed

by a visit to the history museum with artifacts going back many years. Finally a
a performance of the Vietnamese Water Puppets was spendidly done,back to Port

around 1600hrs. Thank to the puppeteers for a great perfomance and a great day in Saigon.