Superb Siagon...


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Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City
March 29th 2009
Published: April 2nd 2009
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Leaving Vinh Long was very easy after being picked up from our hotel by a lovely air con minibus.. arriving in Ho Chi Minh City was not so great as we got dumped in a random road with no idea of where we were or how to get where we wanted to go. This is the second time minibuses have dropped us off in places that are not bus stations and we will not be getting one again. Thankfully there was a Vietnamese Tourist office near where we got dropped off and they told us that it was cheapest to catch a bus so after a bit of wandering round to find a bus stop we managed to get on the right bus and arrived in district 1 safe and well.

Finding a hostel to suit our budget was also surprisingly easy and for $10 we got a big room with tv and hot water.. it was also pretty quiet which was something we haven't been used to for a while. We had lots of things to do on our list while we were here but spent our first afternoon getting to know the backpacker area of Pham Ngu Lao
TankTankTank

this is one of the tanks that famously broke down the gates of the Reunification Palace and was seen on tv all around the world in 1975
which is where we were based. It's quite a nice area but very very busy with tourists and with tourists come the street sellers so you have the constant annoyance of walking one step and being offered sunglasses.. another step and a hammock... eating dinner and you get 10 people selling books or chewing gum. We have learnt to be quite patient with them and smile as it must be a rubbish life doing that day in day out but one day Sophie did lose her rag with a hammock selling man and told him plainly that "no she didn't want a F******g hammock" and Dale had to apologise as it was touch and go if she was going to be on the wrong end of the hammock sellers fist!!

Our first full day was museum day and our visits to the War Remmants Museum and the Independence Palace both of which were excellent and well worth the 50p entrance fees. The War Remmants Museum is much as it sounds and gives good but gruesome information on the war between Vietnam & The US. There are some excellent photos from the war zones there and Sophie was amazed at just how much they resembled all the films she'd seen in the past. The main part of the museum is quite sobering though and really can't be much fun for any American visitors. It basically shows the massacres the soldiers carried out as well as the after effects of the Agent Orange and other toxins they covered the countryside in. It's quite sad that even today babies are still being born horiffically deformed because of this and to drill it home they even had 2 feotesus in a tank to show us alongside the photos. As with most historical events Dale was very informed about what went on in the war but yet again Sophie found that actually being in the country is the best form of learning you can get and her knowledge on this war has improved greatly.

The Independence Palace, a strikingly 60's designed building, also made for a good visit and you can look around a large part of the palace and see how the president conducts his business in the grand rooms throughout. We found the basement tunnels the best bit and in one room ignored the 'do not touch' signs to get a
Post OfficePost OfficePost Office

in Siagon
photo of Dale speaking on a cool telephone in the bunker.. he nearly pulled it off the table and broke it though so this is obviously why you are not allowed to touch!

The one major thing to do in this neck of the world is to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels which are about 70km outside the city so we booked ourselves on a 1/2 day tour to go there and see what it would have been like to be a Vietnamese Soldier living & fighting in such small spaces. The tour is very very touristy as you would imagine and there are a number of exhibits to look at before you reach the tunnels themselves. We also had a talk on the tunnels and found out that in this area there are 200km of them reaching from almost Siagon to the Cambodian border which is pretty incredible, they are also on 3 levels with the deepest being up to 10m down. We got to see a trap door for the tunnels which was so tiny and very easy to see how the US would have missed them when covered with leaves. Some people had a go at getting in and out but Dale was far too big and Sophie was worried about being trapped down there so we both gave that a miss! A trap was also on display which was basically a revolving platform with bamboo spikes underneath which would have meant a slow and painful death of which we were told there were many, people didn't jump to have a go on this one! You also have the opportunity to shoot guns here but as Dale had done this previously and it wasn't on Sophie's list of 100 things to do before you die we also skipped this part.

So finally we came to the tunnels and were both pretty excited to go down there and experience it for ourselves. There is 100m of the tunnel open to tourists with exits at every 20m for those who think it's too much. We were both keen to do the 100m but that didn't last long! The tunnels are a lot lot smaller than we had both imagined, also bear in mind that these have been widened for us bigger Westeners so we can't think how small the originals were! Sophie could just about crouch walk but Dale had to go on his hands and knees for the whole distance. At one point the tunnels get even smaller, these parts are traps the Vietnamese put in in case the US got in, they made it just big enough that they could squeeze though but there would be no chance of a US soldier getting though, again these have been widened but even Sophie had to crawl though these bits. To make it worse parts of the tunnels were in pitch black, there are a few lights but they have spaced them carefully so you get a real idea of what it would have been like being down there all the time. At one dark point the tunnel sloped down and we all nearly ran into each others bums as it caught us out. After 40m for Sophie and 60m for Dale we'd both had enough and escaped glad to be back in the open air as it was really hot & sweaty down there.

It was in Siagon that we both discovered that Vietnam offers probably the best and cheapest shopping we have come across. They have such beautiful gifts that it's hard to know
Soldier in a tunnel entranceSoldier in a tunnel entranceSoldier in a tunnel entrance

This is how they beat the US!
what to buy when you don't have enough to buy everything! Dale loved the War Surplus market best with it's worn in Zippo lighters, flasks, boots and helmets all completely authentic and from the Vietnam War.. hhhuuummmm!! He did find an exact replacement for his beloved combat shorts that had faithfully served for 10 months straight and although the shorts he purchased started off as trousers this is Vietnam and there was a lady with a sewing machine standing by to convert them to trousers in 5 minutes flat. Sophie fell in love with all the laquerwear and Vietnam embroidered materials but has hedged her bets that it will be cheaper up North and is going to wait to get some perfect cushion material up there.. in the meantime she settled on a few bags to keep her going!

So we loved Siagon but sadly could only stay for 4 days because our schedule in Vietnam is quite tight due to the 4 week visa and us not getting it extended. All shopped out and having learnt a lot about Vietnam and the history of the country we left on an open tour bus bound for the central highland
Delicious bowl of PhoDelicious bowl of PhoDelicious bowl of Pho

Our usual lunch
city of Dalat where we were looking forward to some cooler temperatures and a bit less smog!


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Tiger cellTiger cell
Tiger cell

typical of what prisoners were kept in


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