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Published: March 8th 2010
Busy Bees
They all swarm together not only at stoplights, but on the road as well. Those masks are not because they are bandit but to ward off the Saigon polution.Our arrival in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) was about 9 PM and still hot. It was not nearly as hot as Phuket, but still a whole lot hotter than home in Minnesota. Our first order of business was to get local currency and we got lucky. The ATM made both of us millionaires! For a chance at the lifestyle of the rich and famous (well, at least rich) we asked for and received 2 million Dong at a total cost of a tad over $100 USD.
At least my new-found wealth was short lived as I paid 300,000 VND (Viet Nam Dong) for our taxi ride to the hotel. Oh well, easy come, easy go.
At all times of the day and night, the streets of HCMC (which Loren and I know as Hennepin County Medical Center, but here it Ho Chi Minh City) are filled with motor bikes. We thought there were a lot of them in Thailand but Saigon is doubly or triply so. There are 10 million people in Saigon and 5 million motor scooters. A motor scooter can cost anywhere from about $300 USD for a Chinese-made break-down waiting to happen to $10,000 USD
Bees at rest
You can just feel 'em straining to get back on the streets. for a top of the line Honda or Yamaha.
Many scooter riders also wear a mask like a surgical mask or a bandana around their face, not to look like Wild West bandits, but to ward off the ever-present air pollution in the city. Some of them are quite creative.
The kind (make and model) of motor scooter is very much a status symbol. A young man can’t get a date if he rides a Chinese scooter, so he must have a Honda if he wants to get a girl. The culture here is such that it is assumed that a man will have one wife and one or more girlfriends. Our first day tour guide, Tu, explained that in Viet Nam every day one eats rice. But occasionally, a man wants noodles too. That is the analogy to a wife and a girl friend.
As we talked with many locals about this they told us about their wife and their girlfriend so I had to show them pictures of my lovely wife, Cheryl, and my girlfriend, Lucy. Cheryl and I have been happily married for over 25 years (not bad since our wedding was 45 years
Tanks for the memories
I've only seen them in museums, Loren has more experience with these and the Chinook helicopter to the right of the picture. ago) and Lucy and I have been together for just a couple of years. Lucy stands about 2 feet tall (on all fours) has black and white fur and loves to sing to me and snuggle in my lap when we watch TV. She’s really our granddaughter, Lexi’s, dog but she has rapidly become part of part of our family when they came to stay with us while Lexi went to college.
Thursday found us out for a guided tour of the city. Our guide took us to the War Remnants Museum, the Reunification Palace, the central market and a couple of buildings of architectural significance - Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office. Both were designed by French architects in the late 1800’s and are beautifully restored.
The War Remnants Museum outside has US aircraft, tanks and artillery captured or left behind after the war ended in 1975. Loren remembers many days of riding in one of the Huey choppers to a remote location and being dropped on the ground along with his patrol to search out Viet Cong. The larger, Chinook, helicopter was used to transport more (up to 30) troops over a longer distance.
Map - S. Vietnam
Map of US installations during the war. Inside, the displays are a prime reminder of man’s inhumanity to man. The displays are, of course, written from the Vietnamese perspective often referring to GI’s as “American Aggressors”, Viet Cong as “Reunification Patriots”, and the South Vietnamese government as the “Puppet Government”.
I was a little concerned at first having Loren see this stuff from the North Vietnamese perspective. As many of you know, he spent 1967 in the hills of Vietnam wearing a green tuxedo. We are carrying backpacks of 12.5 -13 kilograms (27-28 pounds) but during his former “vacation” in Vietnam, he had a 40-pound pack plus, as the company radioman, he carried and extra 20-pound radio. The radio had a nice big antenna that screamed to the VC “shoot me, shoot me!”
Fortunately, he knew when to duck. He now has no hair and a lump on the back of his head. Nuff said.
Loren sez - “Vietnam sucked in 1967 and today it hasn't changed. It is a crazy place and I am glad to leave for Kuala Lumpur.”
The problem with leaving this blog unattended on my computer for any length of time is that somebody else can just
Taoist temple
not a whole lot different from many Buddhist temples. break into it and offer his own hairless thoughts. OK, back to our tour of Saigon.
Our guide took us to the Thien Hau Temple, a Chinese Taoist temple. I’ve seen Buddhist temples, Shinto Shrines, as well as mosques, Orthodox cathedrals, synagogues but this was different from all of them. There was lots of smoke from the incense and people milling about offering prayers to the statue at the front of the temple. It all seemed rather pointless to me - just a case of people trying to reach a god rather than letting God reach them.
From there it was on to the largest market in Saigon. This seemed to make more sense to me and is reminiscent of the huge, crowded markets of many of the other Asian cities I’ve visited.
After lunch (included in the $9 tour price) we met up with the rest of the group for a trip to the Reunification Place. This was residence and office of the President of South Vietnam up until the fall of Saigon in 1975. It was nicely appointed but not nearly as opulent as would be expected from the communist commentary associated with the building.
Gondola
canals in Venice it ain't We visited a workshop run by the Vietnamese government for people with disabilities - ostensibly all as a result of Agent Orange, the defoliant dropped from US planes during the war. The only problem with this story is that over half the people working in the factory are not disabled at all and those that are, seem to be of an age that the war would have had no connection with their disability.
The people in the workshop produce plaques with scenes created from crushed sea shells or other materials and then lacquered to a high sheen. They also produce lacquered bowls, vases and the like. At the end of the workshop tour, there is a showroom that I thought was huge, until I got to the far side of it, ready to exit and came upon a second room larger than the first. It all seemed a bit contrived to me in order to sell unsuspecting tourists high priced guilt-laden goods. It’s a good thing Cheryl is not along or the trip cost would just have doubled.
From there it was on to the two architecturally-significant buildings, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Central Post Office. I,
Snakes Alive!
I hope he doesn't get bit and I have to drag his body through the next 16 countries. having worked with architects for nearly three decades, was suitably impressed, but was hot, tired and toured out enough to welcome a chance to get back to our air conditioned room and lay panting in the cool air for an hour.
On Saturday, we were up bright and early in time to catch the all-day tour of the Mekong Delta. We boarded the bus about 8:30 and for the next 8 hours were treated to 2, 2-hour bus rides (there and back), plenty of time on a noisy open-air boat on the Mekong River, a 20-minute hike through the jungle, a pony cart ride, a ride in a canoe propelled by a man with a single oar (not unlike the gondolas in Venice, but not nearly so romantic) and two meals. This full day tour was also $9 and I have no idea how they can provide a big bus, boats, meals etc. etc. for that price.
The day was not nearly so significant as the tour of HCMC, but was still better than being cooped up in an air conditioned hotel room complaining about the heat. Actually, the heat in Saigon was not as oppressive as in Thailand. Our Friday guide told us that the temperature in Saigon is always 28-33 degrees C (77-85 Fahrenheit). Today it was about 35 degrees Celsius (88 F) and about 100 % humidity.
My highlight of the tour was watching Loren with a snake looped around his neck. I think this was at the little tourist trap where we boarded the gondolas for our ride back to the big boat and another meal.
I’m ready to agree with Loren and think it’s time to move on to Malaysia.
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Shelly
non-member comment
Get out while you still have your health!
Well, at least what is left of it. You guys have been sweating like pigs, practically chewing your air, eating God knows what made by God knows who on the side of the road, and now you are playing with snakes. Remind me to never go on vacation with either of you - I'll stick to the cruise ship where all I have to do is make eye contact with the waiter and I magically have another drink in my hand.