Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

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After getting through the border, we were on a bus heading to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), which is better known as Saigon. First thing we noticed was the traffic! In Asia, we have found traffic to be pretty heavy but Saigon was particularly hectic, and we were continuously dodging motorbikes and cars. We checked into a hotel and went out for a drink at a nearby bar before exploring the area to get a general feel for the city. We really liked the interesting architecture, which consisted of very tall and thin buildings. We enjoyed ducking into the narrow backstreet alleys, which had pretty balconies stretching above street level and was always buzzing with locals. Vietnam is a communist country so there are flags of hammer and sickles everywhere and lots of propaganda posters, showing a significant change of culture.

On our first full day, we went to Notre Dame Cathedral before spending the day wandering around and stopping for drinks in the surrounding cafes. We also went to War Remnants Museum, which has tanks, planes, guns and helicopters outside. There were several exhibitions but the most disturbing one was a series of photographs surrounding the American use of 'Agent Orange' during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange was used to destroy forests or anywhere that Viet Cong could be hiding. Many locals were exposed to the poison as it contaminated the water supplies. As a result, future generations have been born with severe deformities. It was very hard to look at the photographs. Afterwards, we spent time in the Requiem exhibition, which looks at the work of journalists and photographers during the war. It was inspiring to see the lengths that they went to in order to report an accurate description of the war to those back home. We did find the museum to be pretty biased especially on its attack on American war crimes. Although justified, it was clearly an one-sided view and ignored Viet Cong attacks on civilians.

We also went to the Reunification Palace but was disappointed as it seemed more like a series of conference rooms! The palace has been left exactly how it was on the day of the communist victory. Most interesting were the tanks that were left on the Palace grounds. We went to Chu Chi Tunnels, which was a series of underground tunnels that was built and used by the Viet Cong during the war. These stretched all the way back to the border of Cambodia and was vital for supplies. We went down into the tunnels, which were very small and narrow and it was incredible that people would live, eat and sleep down there for years. We had fun crawling through but you wouldn't enjoy it if you were in any way claustrophobic. Our guide took us around and showed us bomb craters from where B-52s were dropped as well as telling the history of the area.

Saigon was a great introduction to Vietnam as it is becoming a modern city but maintains its identity. We had lots of Pho Bo, which is beef noodle soup and a specialty in the south and looked forward to our next stop Mu-ine.

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