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Published: March 19th 2011
Continuing on we flew from the Danang Airport (near Hoi An) to Saigon. Some of you may recognize Danang as the city where the U.S. troops were dropped off. After an hour flight with Vietnam Airways on a huge plane we arrived in Saigon.
Saigon (population 8 million and 6 million motorbikes!) was re-named Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the revolutionary leader, however many people still refer to it as Saigon especially in the central district #1. Well, we got a surprise with the traffic. We thought we had seen it all in Hanoi, but Saigon is even crazier. It is just nuts!! I took a video that I will try to put on the blog that might give you a bit of an idea of what it is like, but I don't think any picture can really capture it! We were also surprised at how modern and posh the city is compared to Hanoi. However, there are still sections thạt have the open markets and food stalls on the streets. There are places close to where we are staying that resemble NYC with very modern buildings and sky scrapers.
Our hotel has a plaza surrounding it
with 4 nice hotels, outdoor bars and upscale clubs. A few blocks north is the famous day and night markets where you can buy anything under the sun for very cheap. My only problem is my suitcase is already hit it's maximm so I have to be selective! However, I plan to buy a plastic zippered bag that I can carry on to the plane that might help!! Close by is a very good street kitchen with hot pots, barbecues at your table where you cook your own meal in a pot or clay barbecue. Very fun. Average meal is $3!!
With our tour group we ventured to the Ca Chi Tunnels. A very interesting and eye opening experience. This is the area where many of the Vietcong (the northern communists spys) hid, lived and fought the U.S. army in the south. It is astonishing to see and crawl through some of the 200 km. of underground and leveled tunnels. These people thought of everything from bamboo sticks camoflaged under a tree trunk for airways to smoke disquised from the kitchen to deadly traps set up in the bush to catch the american soldiers. In the end they outsmarted
Vietcong Tunnels
Can't imagine working in these all day long!! Of course the Vietnamese were small. They had to widen them for the tourists!!the Americans everytime even through heavy bombing, famine and agent orange. The Vietcong also recycled and extracted gun powder from the used American bombs. The program was somewhat biased against the Americans and in favor of the Vietncong gorillas but we are starting to realize the war in Vietnam may have been senseless and was it imperative that America enter the war to save the world from communism????
We continued in the afternoon on a cyclo tour of some of the city's attractions. One of them that left us feeling sad and depressed was the War Museum. Again it portrayed only the Vietnamese side and depicted the Americans as killers. We saw hundreds of protest documents from many countries around the world denouncing the U.S. The pictures of the agent orange victums were devastating. Children still in this generation are being born with severe malfomations. The only light bright is that in 2010 Obama announced 300 million to help these people and many Vietnam vets are still over here digging and cleaning up chemicals in the soil. There now you have had your history lesson for today!
On Saturday we went with our tour group to the Mekong
Taking a Cyclo Ride In Saigon
I'm telling you this was a hair raising experience in the traffic, bt we have yet to see an accident. Amazing how they move around without incident! Delta. This area is where the Mekong River gradually empties into the sea, flowing from Laos, Thailand, China and finally Vietnam. The land is very fertile and everything is connected by canals. The Mekong Delta people are a closely knit culture who are very friendly and more traditional. We spent the day touring through the canals by boat and riding bicycles through the flats. The floating market was very impressive. Farmers come from up to 100 km in their boats to sell their fruits and vegetables at wholesale prices to the local market people. They anchor their boat and other smaller boats come up to purchase their produce. Each boat only sells one type of fruit or vegetable so they hang their produce on a bamboo stick that protrudes from their boat so you know what is for sale! Very clever!
On the Delta Tour we also visited a rice/candy/coconut/salt factory where everything is made by hand. Here we saw them making rice paper (used for spring rolls), puffed rice (like in rice krispies), rice & peanut bars, coconut candy and sea salt. Quite amazing. We got to try all the products and were served a cup of jasmine
tea. The coconut candy was our favourite!
Saturday evening we changed hotels to Mme Cuc in the backpacker area. A very unique experience. Since there is no elevator at the hotel, they connect your bags on a giant hook and a pulley lifts your bags up to your floor. We were on the 8th floor so it was fun watching it go up!! The room was very clean, moderate size, A/C, T.V., fridge for $20 which also included breakfast and dinner! The staff are very friendly and treat you well.
We found out that school runs in two shifts in Vietnam as to make use of the buildings. The first shift goes from 7:30 a.m. until 11:30 and the second shift goes from 12:30 until 5:30. This also avoids the lunch situation. It seems most of them attend a local school and walk. They sure are cute in their little uniforms!! Warren has had many flashbacks to his days of teaching Vietnamese kids after the war when they came as refugees to Saskatoon and many attended Mount Royal. He says some of them look exactly like someone he taught and could swear it was them!!!!
Tomorrow we
take a bus for a 4 hour journey to the beach town of Mui Ne where we will spend the next week. They have the coolest sleeper buses for people who prefer to travel through the night and avoid a hotel. They are big and the beds look very comfty. About 36 beds in a double decker.
Thanks for reading. Until next time.
Mallory and Warren
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Sheila Dalshaug
non-member comment
What an amazing historical journey your are on in Vietnam! So interesting. The pictures are just amazing! Again, I love the hats!