Indochina with Selective Asia - Chapter 4: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
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The flip flops and the tank
On arrival we
were whisked off to see the tunnels at Cu Chi. This labyrinth of underground
tunnels, on multiple levels, has its origin in the 1940s and was used by an ill
equipped local militia to communicate and avoid capture in the war with France.
Repaired and enlarged in the 1960s it is said to stretch 250km and was largely
responsible for the Viet Cong holding a significant area against South
Vietnamese and American forces. Whilst war is always a sobering topic, we
couldn't fail to admire the ingenuity in coming up with different ways to
conceal themselves and oppose a force that was throwing millions of dollars of
ordinance at them. The
tunnels were not just for getting about, hiding and communication but
incorporated kitchens, workshops, dormitories and infirmaries, all expertly
camouflaged. I got to try out a hide hole which consisted of a wooden trapdoor
under a large area of leaves and even though I knew where it was, I had trouble
finding it (see photo). I also navigated a stretch of tunnel which, enlarged
for westerners to try, was decidedly claustrophobic. The ingenuity included
some fairly barbaric booby traps, made from unexploded bombs, plus practical
items like flip flops made from used tyres.
On a lighter note, it's time I dealt with the subject of traffic in Saigon. With a population in excess of 7m, there are more cars here and a greater volume of traffic than we've encountered to date. Whilst perhaps slightly more orderly than some places, it's still a shock to us largely rule following westerners. So consider this for your trip; zebra crossings are more a piece of street art than any help in crossing and a t-shirt we saw in the market sums it up so well. Traffic lights in Vietnam:
Green = I can go
Amber = I can go
Red = I can still
go
Crossing the road
(all part of the fun once you get your head around it) we turned the corner and
found the Notre DameCathedral. We thought we'd taken a wrong turn and ended up
in France, but this 1880s brick construction is still looking fairly pristine
(in contrast with some of its European counterparts) and reflects the strong
French influence in the city. Across the road we admired some work by Gustave
Eiffel, who designed the Central Post Office with its delightful curved
ceiling, mosaic, tiled floor and historic maps painted on the walls. It also
had some old style wooden telephone boxes, perfect for me to change into my
superman outfit.
Time for a break
and our exploration of Vietnamese coffee continued in a lovely little coffee
house just off the market. Greeted with a complimentary iced green tea, we
chose iced coffee Vietnamese style to go with it. The filter coffee drips into
a glass with a little condensed milk in it, when finished pour the hot liquid
into a glass of ice, stir and consume.
Absolutely brilliant when it's 33C outside.
Suitably
refreshed, we visited the Reunification Palace. Possibly etched in most
people’s minds as the place where General Minh’s tanks crashed through the
wrought iron gates to mark the fall of Saigon (remember Sandy Gall reporting on
it?). Although the tanks are in the
grounds, they don’t reenact this event to amuse the tourists, instead you get
to peruse this quite lovely 1960s building, one of many that have stood on the
site. Previous incarnations were built for the French Governor General and
inherited by the South Vietnamese president. So hated was Ngo Dinh Diem that
one of his air force pilots bombed the palace in 1962 to try to dispose of him.
The current building is beautifully designed so that the air flows through the
building, making it open and refreshingly cool even without air conditioning. Opulent
rooms and a balcony that enjoys views over the lawn with a fountain, tell a
tale of a lifestyle inside the palace that was very different from the
lifestyle outside.
Part of the fun
of exploring a big city is to just wander and mingle with the locals. We found
the people of Saigon very friendly and much more tactile that in our cities. Wandering
through the crowded spaces of the market you’d often catch a friendly smile
and/or a brief touch on the arm. One guy even gave me a friendly squeeze on the
back - imaging trying that one in London! Rice is such an important part of the
diet here that there were more varieties of rice here than I even knew existed.
Western imports can be confusing, so informative signs explain that western
toilets are for sitting on, not squatting (see photo).
Before our
nighttime excursions it was back to the hotel to freshen up and we were staying
at the Liberty Central Saigon Citypoint. It was a lovely modern hotel in a
great position right in the heart of things. The staff were lovely and it had
all the modern facilities you would expect for a comfortable base in the city. The
stand out item had to be the bed, which was the biggest I’d ever seen. Even
when I laid left to right, there was still two feet of bed space left, bigger
than a king size, perhaps this was monster size.
Ho Chi Minh City is no slouch when the sun goes down and can hold its own with
many a big city as far as illuminations go. Aside for the more garish neon
lighting, I was more impressed by the statue of Ho Chi Minh against the
backdrop of the People’s Committee building. Both tastefully lit and worth
standing and admiring for a few moments.
Before dark
though, we’d settled into the bar at the 68 story Bitexco Financial tower. Described in the Lonely
Planet guide book as looking like ‘a CD rack with a tambourine shoved into it’,
that didn’t matter as we enjoyed the hazy sunset, sipped our cocktails and
watch the lights of Saigon blink on. Next stop was the Mekong delta, so we
suspected things might get a little more rustic from this point.
Silver Travel Advisor recommends Selective Asia
- Indochina with Selective Asia - Chapter 1: Hanoi
- Indochina with Selective Asia - Chapter 2: Halong Bay and Hue
- Indochina with Selective Asia - Chapter 3: Hue and Hoi An
- Indochina with Selective Asia - Chapter 5: Mekong Delta
- Indochina with Selective Asia - Chapter 6: Phnom Penh
- Indochina with Selective Asia - Chapter 7: Siem Reap
- Indochina with Selective Asia - Chapter 8: Luang Prebang
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