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Saigon by night
Taken from the rooftop bar of some swanky hotel.A bus from Phnom Penh took us across the border and into Vietnam. Arriving in Saigon was amazing and I was struck by the many different influences of architecture. The buildings line up like a child’s Lego construction, blocks of all different shapes, sizes, and colours, it’s wonderfully eccentric. Decided to dump our bags at the bus company’s office and try to find a guest house on foot. Wandering in this sweltering city with no clue as to which direction to turn can be frustrating. It’s impossible to walk along the pavement for more than a few feet before a bike or someone eating their food or doing their washing obstructs your path. This adds time to your journey as you constantly slalom in between objects and people, it also adds to the city’s charm. However, stepping into the throng of pulsating traffic in the roads can be deadly. There is a knack to crossing safely, keep walking and the (mostly) bikes will simply swerve around you. Failed to find the guest house we were searching for so got a taxi.
Saigon by night is enthralling. After so long it was exhilarating to be back in a big, modern, noisy,
metropolis. No one could wipe the grin from by face as we ambled around the neon lit streets of the central area of the city. After sampling some of Saigon’s modern bars, we stepped back in time once more drinking snake rice wine on the roadside.
The nation is obsessed with a national dish called Pho (pronounced Fer). Pho Bo is the variant most widely available, on every corner there is a Pho eatery. Pho Bo is a hot, steaming, beef (Bo) noodle soup, falvoured with fresh herbs and chilies. It cost no more than $1 for a large bowl and is delicious and filling. Another culinary delight is Bahn Xeo a savory shrimp and bean sprout pancake served with a fresh bowl of salad and herbs. Watching the locals we realized that lettuce leaves are used as wraps to hold bits of pancake, herbs, and sweet chili sauce. Fresh do-it-yourself spring rolls are another favourate.
We took an organized trip out to the Cu Chi Tunnels. These are a network of tunnels stretching for miles that were used by the Viet Cong during the American War. Had an opportunity to crawl through a tunnel which I found
Rice Wine
A selection of rice wines. We chose Snake. very uncomfortable and claustrophobic. People lived down in the tunnels for years, quite amazing.
Independence Palace, the site of the Viet Cong’s takeover of power at the end of the American War was an interesting place. Looking at the Palace gates it was easy to recollect the famous footage of the Viet Cong tank crashing through them in 1975. A VC officer then raced to meet General Minh (who had only taken power of the South Vietnamese 48 hours before). “I have been waiting since early this morning to transfer power to you” announced Minh, to which the VC officer replied, “There is no question of you transferring power. You cannot give up what you do not have.”
Visited the War Remnants Museum. This was another trip that was disturbing but informative, with some of the most powerful photojournalism ever produced on display. Perhaps the most shocking photographs were taken of US troops at the site of the My Lai Massacre, were the American troops slaughtered an entire village of innocent men, women, and children. My naivety is deplorable, I was not even aware of this event?
One evening we decided to expand our Vietnamese culinary experience
Smoke and Coils
Inside a temple. a little further by trying snake. On reaching the restaurant a poor snake was pulled live from a box and manhandled while we were offered it for $50. Declining we returned to our seats, unsure if we really wanted to dine here after all, perusing the rest of the menu made up our minds to leave pronto. Bear, bat, horse, and a host of other ‘exotic’ animals accompanied the poor snake; God knows where they kept the bear?
Saigon is a great city and I honestly considered staying put and finding work there, however we still had the rest of the country to explore first.
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