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Published: November 2nd 2007
Saigon
Near the river30 days just flew in Vietnam, perhaps because it seemed like more of a holiday to us than the whole "fighting for survival"in China. Saigon was our way of going out with a bang! The largest city in Vietnam, with over 5 million inhabitants and thus of course the most motos. We weren't sure how we'd like it, having heard stories of unending streams of motos, drive by muggings and general dodginess. But after 4 nights there we can say it is a fantasic, crazy-and yes rundown with a hint of dodginess- city.
Saigon and the surrounding area bore the brunt of the American War. Unable to defeat Viet Cong forces on the ground, Agent Orange was dispersed by the Americans over a widespread area in the South and the effects of it can still be seen in Saigon. There is a lot of poverty, a lot of amputees, war victims and veterans begging on the streets or selling books and souvenirs. The war is recent history but you don't get a sense of bitterness or animosity from the Vietnamese. They really seem to be an optimistic forward looking people with a strong entreprenurial spirit and nowhere is this more
Saigon
Kids fishing in the not so clean water in evidence than in Saigon. The city is cheap, you can eat and drink local draught beer for a few dollars a day. A large aircon room with ensuite and satellite tv starts at 8$. As a result there are ever increasing amounts of tourists and more chances for the Vietnamese to make money! The people are friendly and pleasant to deal with. We wanted to submerge ourselves in Vietnamese culture for our last 4 days in the country so we ate exclusively from food stalls, rolling our own springrolls in ricepaper, Eating baguettes for breakfast that came wrapped in a page of children's Maths homework and drinking the rather sour Bia Hoi- draught beer tapped from a keg and sold for 35 euro cent a litre.
A trip to Saigon also means an obligatory trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels, located about 30km out of Saigon towards the Cambodian border. In total the Viet Cong constructed 200km of underground tunnels and we had a tour of tunnels in their orignal state. It was fascinating. We both managed to squeeze ourselves into one of the original tunnel entrances. You need a waist size less than 34 inches. We saw
Saigon
Trouble shooting............... the various traps set by the Cong, which although certainly ingenious were very gruesome. We also crawled through 100m of tunnel in the dark. That was a claustrophobic, sweaty, scary experience. Whole families lived in those tunnels during bombing campaigns. We had enough after 10 minutes! After that experience we went straight to the War Remnants Museum, not because we're "dark tourists", just to have a better understanding. It was a very disturbing and humbling experience.
Overall we had a fantastic time Saigon and we absolutely loved Vietnam. Its such an interesting country and so optimistic despite everything. The people are charming and cheeky. The food is amazing, we've never eaten better seafood and everything is cheap cheap cheap! We're sad to leave but we'll be back...
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