Getting our Pho Ba on in HCMC

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(Still trying to figure out how to embed photos, apparently you cant do it with a Macbook, and a few other things to make this thing easier to read and more engaging. . . . . stick with us, we may have to balance ourselves between the laptop and internet cafes)

. . . . Ho Chi Minh City

There was a little bit of preparation for our Vietnam sojourn, namely online Visa applications that dont seem to mean very much upon arrival into HCMC. It cost about 30USD per person to get a pre-approval for a Visa and unbeknown to us, we thought we could just skip through customs and start smashing a few Saigon beers. Not so fast Aussie's, you now have to wait in line for your pre-approval to be processed into a formal visa- so go and wait on those stainless steel benches for us to process this plane load of passengers from India and we'll call your name. . . . oh yeh, and it'll cost you another 24USD per person for this. Not so fun!!!!

The lesson here is that if you have time and are willing to send cash and your passport to the Vietnamese Embassy in your home country then you can bypass this rigmarole.

We were also a bit worried because we had a pick up from the airport and told them that we were landing 10am and didnt factor in the 90minute Visa wait- hopefully we would not have to run the gauntlet with the taxi mafia that was much maligned in many of the trip advisor websites and the guide books for taking you to a hotel with a similar name and getting extorted by either the hotelier or the driver for more coin.

Not to worry though, our driver was waiting patiently and we were on our way to our guest house.

JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE THE TRAFFIC IN THIS PLACE, CHAOTIC DOESNT DESCRIBE IT!!!!!!!

- and one other thing, you cant get on Facebook very easily over here. The proxy server Ultrareach is what everyones uses here, except it isnt Macbook compatible which doesnt help us much.

. . . . District One, HCMC- the backpacker area

This place is quite cool, reminding us a bit of Phuket or Koh San road in Bangkok. It didnt seem so developed from a pushy touristy perspective with screaming vendors trying sell you authentic trinkets and fake t-shirts and board shorts- for us the annoying bits of Bali and Thailand. There was however, a good balance between bars, restaurants, street vendors and a local vibe that suggests to us that in another 5 years time this local vibe may be over run with Go Go Bars and maggot westerners in Good Morning Vietnam singlets. Im sure you know the type!!

Another striking thing about Vietnam for us was the value for money. Having travelled extensively thru SE Asia, you often hear people judging the value for money of the place by how cheap the beers are, but for the best part you usually end up paying a premium on drinks at the resorts and popular bars anyways. Well let it be known, we can categorically confirm that you can get a beer from anywhere from 3000 Dong (15c), with the average price being 15000 Dong (80c). Yes, you want aircon, an ice cold beer, a place to hook your iPod up to the sound system, a pool table and sport on the tv with a bit of staggered conversation with local bartenders who dream of the magical country that you come from then Vietnam is for you!!!!

. . . . The Cu Chi tunnels and War Museum

One of the major attraction of Saigon is the tour to the tunnels of the Vietnam War and the War Museum. Both very interesting and you gain a definitive perspective from the Vietnamese side on what the war meant to this country and its people. The tunnels were the critical factor for the Viet Cong in casting defeat over the US War Machine. We were very impressed by the ingenuity and simplicity of the Vietnamese with their tunnel system and associated traps and ambush techniques. The tour was very cheap and you had the opportunity to scramble through an expanded (read: for fat tourists like me!!) tunnel system to get a hands on view of a day in the life of the VC. After spending most Friday nights as a kid watching Tour of Duty at 730pm on TV, actually being here was one of those 'connect the dots' from your childhood type of experiences.

The War Museum was quite emotional for us, and as we mentioned above, an excellent Vietnamese perspective on the war. You get a a bit of propaganda which is expected, but what is undeniable is that this was another unjustified war by the US fought on ideological grounds (as opposed to one of resources as in the Iraq War), where the level of atrocities committed by Uncle Sam were disgusting. 900mn litres of Agent Orange (Chemical Warfare) was used on the fertile grounds of Vietnam and to this day, three generations on, the offspring are being born with defects resulting from contaminated groundwater and soil. An interesting fact is that for much of the contaminated land, the Vietnamese are growing Australian Eucalyptus trees which is the only thing that will grow in these parts. The thing that is quite evident is that usually a 15year old Eucalyptus should be huge, but these trees are quite stunted. It is hoped that with subsequent Eucalyptus plantings, the soil will begin to regenerate.

Apart from the military weapons, planes and vehicles there is recognition for non-military groups and people such as Dead or Missing War Correspondents from various countries like Australia and Japan, some graphic pictures of displaced people and the aftermath of villages that had been involved in fighting, a deformed fetus from the chemical bombs and images of other disadvantaged people that were such as a result of the war, and pictures of the non-military casualties of massacres such as My Lai. We had tears in our eyes for much of our time reading about this stuff and makes us hate war- especially non-essential and unjustified ones.

. . . . Nha Trang by Overnight Train

We booked ourselves a soft sleeper ticket for our train journey that left at 8pm and arrived at 530am into Nha Trang. It was all looking very promising when the train left and we were the only two passengers in a four person cabin, save for the fact that Jez was on a diet of bottled water and Imodium tablets- and his bowel movements would require a few quick runs to the toilet over the next 10hrs. We'll update our time in Nha Trang soon. . .

JK

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Photos

The Saigon Tower
The tallest building in Saigon. A good way to see how vast the city is with 10mn people and not alot of high rise buildings.

Jez and a few AK47 rounds
This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine . . . I love movie quotes!!

Drive By Kiara
A big gun for a little girl!

Chillin with the VC hommies
@ the Cu Chi Tunnels

Kiara- Built like a Viet
Not everyone can fit in these tunnels.

Comments

[Fordy]

The Nam
The Museum would be a very humbling experience, glad to see you are both well and enjoying the sites.

[Kellyansapansa]

The War Museum sounds really moving. I had a similar experience at the Sandakan War Memorial in Borneo. It really makes you appreciate the sacrifices previous generations made for our way of life.