Saigon, a film set and the Cu Chi tunnels

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Saigon

Our Easy Riders were desperate to drop us in the city and get out before rush hour began. For the last 80 kms of our journey, they really had their foot down and we each had a few near misses as they weaved their way through the increasingly busy traffic, even driving down a 50m stretch of payment (along with a horde of other motorcyclists, to be fair) at one point. We were really anxious to get to our hotel as well as our bums were so numb and we were flilthy with dirt. After taking a few photos they were off into the sunset lit smog of Saigon. Saddlesore, we slowly walked into the lobby of our hotel, the Golden Dragon., wondering what it had done to earn a rave review in the Lonely Planet stating it was almost luxurious.

Our room was grubby and rough around the edges, but we expected little better for 20 USD a night. We had deliberately booked in the heart of backpacker land, with a myriad of cheap restaurants, internet cafes and travel agents within a stone’s throw. Hawkers wander the streets, and you are incessantly bombarded with requests to take a ride on someone’s bike, or buy newspapers, fake sunglasses, novels, or marijuana/opium (if it’s night time) or use the services of an escort (if you’re a unaccompanied man).

The next day we found a new hotel - a quite modern little ‘boutique’ hotel tucked down a sidestreet. The next afternoon, whilst we were sitting in the lobby surfing the internet, a smartly dressed Vietnamese woman came in, who was a casting agent looking for foreigners to be extras in a Vietnamese film that was shooting the next day. The pay was 35USD a day, a significant amount for backpackers like us! Kat hummed and hawed over participating as the call time was so early, but Ed insisted that they do it so we were signed up!

Lights, camera, action!

At 6:30 am the next morning we met at our appointed place nearby, wondering what on earth we had got ourselves into. Half an hour later, a rag tag bunch of other foreigners had arrived, including one woman from our own hotel, a few elderly british gentlemen (who looked like they were participating to top up their alcohol budget) and couple of Frenchmen. The ‘casting agent’ seemed to have lost the ability to speak English, and after much confusion, we boarded a minibus which dropped us in a nother district of town at the side of the road. It turned out this was the ‘wardrobe’ area and that other parked traffic on the road were big trucks full of costumes for us. It turned out that we were to play French country folk who are evicted from their homes by maruding cruel Japanese troops. The film was called ‘Hooves of the Southern Army’ and was a pretty budget effort destined for TV.

To add to the disorganized and chaotic scene (people stripping and getting changed at the side of the road, wondering where to put their valuables, people not having shoes that fit etc), noone speaking English, a crazy maverick director was thrown into the mix. Having found ourselves some choice clothing (see Katherine’s dress especially), followed by lovely hair and makeup, we were herded in front of an old colonial style house in the centre of the Saigon Zoo, that was our set for the day. Looking like wooden dummies, we were arranged in front of our colonial home where the scene of some army troops shouting at us and marching us off, was repeated time after time as the director and producer were unable to get it right. After standing in the sun and walking around for take after take for about three hours, we were beginning to realize why extras get paid relatively well. After a few other scenes (reminscient to me of abad episode of ‘Allo Allo’ - note UK sitcom from the 70's) we broke for lunch.

After lunch, Kat and the rest of the foreign women were released for the day. Us men stayed on, and after a change of location, all became French army officers in another coloncial style building in a different part of town. No longer being a French peasant, my beard was no longer appropriate and I was sent to ‘wardrobe’ (i.e the side of the road) to get a shave (into a goatee it turned out) by the makeup ladies. Lightening does seem to strike twice for me- the shaving foam they had was really cheap local stuff that seemed to just disappear. I was squatting in a mirror trying to shave one side of my face, whilst one of the women set about the other. Having no proper foam, I tried to ask for water and was given a cup of water that stung like hell when I tried to soften my beard with it (I later found out it was the stuff that they spray on your hair in hair salon to make it easier to cut thats full of chemicals and saltwater!)

We spent the rest of the day and evening shooting a few 30 seconds scenes from a meeting with the colonel, and had to a few scenes again because one of the Frenchmen pointed out that he had been addressing another officer as ‘Colonel’ the whole time but had the stripes of a lieutenant on his shoulder! The day ended about 9pm when we were all exhausted with our casting agent having a screaming row with the director and producer (something to do with money it looked like) and her bundling us foreigners off in a taxi shortly afterwards clutching brown envelopes into our hands as we left. Luckily, they contained most of the money we were owed- though not all we were promised.

Another amusing thing happened when we tried to check out- the receptionist tried to claim 10%!o(MISSING)f the money we had earned as a commission. She had in fact mentioned this to Kat on day one, but Kat had thought she was joking. Coincidentally, when out for dinner the next night we bumped into the casting agent hob nobbing with a group of westerners (she was now happy to converse in English), one of whom told us that the fight at the film set had been because the casting agent had had her camera stolen (the memory card in which apparently held all her contacts?!) by one of the film crew, who was apparently a well known gang member. Sometimes ignorance can be bliss………..

Cu Chi tunnels

Most of you will have heard of the Cu Chi tunnels, which are a huge network of very narrow underground tunnels (totaling some 450km in length) dug by the Viet Cong and the local inhabitants to shelter from the US air attacks and to mount attacks against the various US bases in the region. The scale of the achievement, and their effectiveness against the US operations is staggering. I can’t really do justice to the bravery and suffering of combatants on both sides but can promise you find it fascinating if you delve into it further- the following is a good starting point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cu_Chi_Tunnels

The Vietnamese have built a museum on the site of a major nexus of tunnels- at one stage the tour takes you into the jungle to a very small clearing where the guide tells you there is actually an entrance to atunnel hidden. Low and behold he reveals a wooden hatch about two foot across which people had been standing on hidden by leaves, and another assistant demonstrate how to enter the tunnel in complete secrecy.

In another area a 100 m stretch of tunnels have been significantly enlarged and a few lights put down there - Ed and a bunch of men, and a couple of energetic little Chinese girls decided to try it out - we shuffled along the first section of the tunnels in near darkness before all taking the first exit out (rather than going along the whole stretch) back up to ground level. Entrance to the museum is quite cheap- there is a shooting range inside where you can fire a variety of weapons from the period (AK-47, M-16, M-6o etc)- I suspect they make more money from the rounds people fire here than anything else. Certainly, there is no unnecessary expenditure- the ‘ear defender’ provided at the shooting range are actually battered old stereo headphones!

The War Remnants Museum

If you ever go to Saigon, the War Memorial Museum is an absolute must see. Speaking as someone who considered himself relatively well informed, the contents of the museum is an eye-opening and sobering (albeit one sided in places) experience. There is far too much to describe but we’ve included a few photos to try and give you some idea of the folly, suffering, and political context behind the war.

In one area outside the museum, the authorities have physically recreated some of the cell areas (‘Tiger cells’ they were called, I think) where captured VC and communist sympathizers were held and tortured by the South Vietnamese. On the walls are artists impressions of various gruesome procedures and detailed explanations (Chinese water torture, electrocution, dismemberment and cutting off of genitals, eyelids etc)- while we were in there, a group of American teenagers were also in there and strolling around making totally inappropriate comments ( ‘Dude- look at this- they’re totally cutting his head off’ etc and Ed very nearly lost his rag and said something to them). Later, I saw another more mature American couple wandering around looking absolutely aghast at what had gone on during the conflict.

Another thing I found staggering is that the US, as well as until very recently resisting attempts at compensating the Vietnamese people who were effected by its chemical weapons bombing programs (Agent Orange and the like), has also resisted paying compensation to US servicemen who have been effected by their exposure to the compounds (birth defects in their children, premature births etc). Just like the UK government refusing to acknowledge Gulf War Syndrome (caused by the cocktail of drugs given to troops and the depleted uranium particles caused by the US munitions fired in the desert), in fact. Plus ca change………

On a lighter note, there is a touching exhibition at the museum of a number of oil paintings created by children on the subject of peace and war. If we could all be a little more child like, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

Next stop Cambodia!

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Photos

Hair and makeup
a la roadside

French army staff meeting
..with some guy with a dodgy goatee in the middle