Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon

When I was in Phnom Penh, I met a fellow who said Saigon reminded him of Phnom Penh on acid and I have to say, this seems fitting. It is a frenetic hectic place that Lonely Planet says is “a living organism that breathes life and vitality into all who settle here’ (p. 342). It’s a city of over 8 million people and most seem to own motorbikes. Once upon a time, Saigon was a part of Cambodia, and when it fell to North Vietnam, it was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

Our arrival into the airport went smoothly and quickly. The flight from Siem Reap was only an hour and 20 minutes. We decided to fly because we didn’t want to spend 12+ hours on a bus nor did we want to travel on a hot boat. I had emailed our hotel and was advised to take a taxi from the airport for about 8 dollars. A Sasco counter was just beyond the luggage carousels so we bought a voucher for the taxi and were on our way.

The city streets were well paved and we saw the usual mix of old and new.  We passed modern looking hotels like Moevenpick and the Intercontinental and independent places like ours. The city is divided into 16 urban districts and our hotel, Thien Xuan, is located in district 1, right across from Ben Thanh Market and within walking distance of some major tourist sites. The hotel is only two rooms wide but 10 storeys high. This is not an anomaly.  In a country with over 85 million people, I guess the best way to build is up.

This is an example of their unique buildings….

Stairs lead up to the reception area of our hotel (the downstairs is a motorbike park) and check in went smoothly. Reception kept our passports which is common in Vietnam. Our room on the third floor faced the street and has modern amenities. For lunch we left the hotel, turned right and ate at the first Vietnamese restaurant we found. It was air conditioned and busy. With our pho, we received a plate of sprouts, basil, lime, chiles, and onions to add to the pho as desired.

In his usual fashion, Ian scouted things out while I looked after trip planning.  It takes a fair bit of work planning things – the young backpacker might be willing to walk up and down the road lugging their packs around, looking for available accommodation but Ian and I are not interested in that – especially as you never know what kind of place you’re going to end up in. The internet and tripadvisor are my best friends.  

I was trying to sort out the holidays and Tet, Vietnamese New Years.  It’s rare that the Vietnamese people get time off together so places book up, travel is a nightmare, and restaurants close down for a few days so we want to avoid that whole scene. We’ve decided to head to the Philippines to do some diving. Ian is going to look after that planning but I need to get us to Danang by the date Ian has us flying out.  Unfortunately, the internet hasn’t been working so well here – it’s been a bit frustrating.

Down the street from our hotel is an open air restaurant that does a BBQ at your table so we went there for dinner. Our server was a pleasant guy and pointed out the Santas hanging from the tree above us. Both Ian and I have been surprised at the amount of Christmas decorations that adorn every single building. Carols are playing in stores, kids are wearing Santa hats and babies wear entire outfits. It’s bigger than at home…

After dinner we went for a walk and I could hardly believe the amount of scooters on the road – they outnumber the cars, and pedestrians, hands down. Apparently motorbikes are inexpensive which is why so many people own one. Bikes own the road. They split lanes, drive on sidewalks, go down the street the wrong way, run lights, go on either side of a car in the same lane, and do not travel in a line. Dozens of bikes bunch together in one lane.

This makes crossing the road an interesting experience. Pedestrians do not have the right of way here. Only at major intersections are there lights and there are no lit crosswalks like in Canada. To cross, you look for a break in the area closest to you and take a confident step onto the road. Then you walk slowly across, pausing as needed. Motorbikes will go around you so you can’t run or jump backwards because someone may be gunning it.  When we cross, I grab Ian’s arm and let him lead. I avoid looking at the traffic and keep my eyes straight ahead.

The city is fairly clean and has sidewalks. Malls and major stores have window displays with a Christmas theme and hundreds of Vietnamese crowd the sidewalks getting photos.  Couples, young females, and little girls in fancy dresses pose in front of Christmas trees, wreaths, and lights. I can’t help it - I find this most odd.  We thought it was a Christmas thing but our next night we saw young girls posing model style in front of Burberry, Gucci, and Chloe windows.  I kid you not. They would stand looking over their shoulders, or pose with their heads cocked to one side, or with their chin on their fist. These kids would get mocked at home.

Sleeping at night was difficult with the noise of the street below – street noise is something we’re not used to (just roosters and dogs and mosques).

Breakfast the next day was pho, bagels, and/or fruit. We got a very late start but eventually headed to the War Remnants Museum about a 10 – 15 minute walk away but found it closed for lunch from 11 to 1:30. We turned around and headed back to the hotel to wait – too early for our lunch. We looked up some recommended places to eat in our guidebooks and found Au Parc, close to the Reunification Palace and on route to the museum.

The restaurant was phenomenal. My lentil salad was probably the biggest salad I’ve ever had and Ian had a yummy grilled veggie sandwich. The place even has turkey sandwiches with onion stuffing –hard to resist but I needed my greens. After our fabulous lunch we headed back to the museum to see what it had to say about the Vietnam War. 

I believe the cost was around 20,000 dong (2 bucks) each. The museum is a large square building with an open air display on the ground floor. This display features propaganda posters and antiwar support from across the world. Other floors have air conditioned rooms exhibiting photographs of agent orange victims, acts of aggression, and the rebuilding of Vietnam after the war. The top floor was our favourite exhibit – compiled by Tim Page, it is an exhibition of the work of war photographers who were killed in the Vietnam War. Many of their photographs display both sides of the conflict and some were taken just hours before they were killed.

Once finished, Ian looked at the U.S. planes and helicopters outside and I headed into the prison exhibit housed in a small compound near the entrance.

Inside we found a guillotine, prison cells and iron cages called tiger cages.

The prison was used by South Vietnamese military to house Viet Cong prisoners on Con Son Island. Several posters told stories of the atrocities the prisoners endured during their time in prison – the guards tortured them terribly.

It was an interesting museum, not exactly what I expected but still glad we went.

 PS - We have had poor luck with the internet for the last month so I haven't been able to keep up with my blogging. I am hoping that I will be able to post them this week....