Ho Chi Minh City, HCMC, Saigon, Prey Nokor, Gia Dinh etc.

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Hello readers,

I'm slowly but surely catching up on all the lack of blogging recently , and this article is one of those on the in tray. Having arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (from here on in HCMC) the day before, which we treated as a more relaxing one, today was all about sightseeing (why am I always lumbered with these?!).

We got up relatively early and headed to breakfast. Leaving the hotel, our first port-of-call was a bank. We traipsed all over District 1 (the central part) looking for a bank to change Elana's travelers' cheques, before discovering that they were closed. Of course they were, it was a SUNDAY! Our inability to remember what day of the week it was left me wondering whether I'll forget that the 12th is my birthday

Having only taken out about 625,000 Dong ($30 USD), I was worried that we wouldn't be able to afford the entry to museums, let alone buy lunch. My fears, however, were quickly allayed when we discovered that entry to most of the museums on our list for the day was only 15,000 Dong ($0.75) each.

Our first visit was to the HCMC Museum, housed in a beautiful colonial-era building, which was thankfully barely a minutes walk from our hotel as the temperature was already 30+C at 10.30am! The building itsef had quite an important history to it, as it was used as the home of Diem, the leader of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) in the early years of the Vietnam War, before he was overthrown and assassinated.

For all of this, however, the museum was rather disappointing with only a few exhibitions of any note, largely on the war. The museum was also frustrating to get around because various couples were having wedding photos taken there.

From here, we decided to move on to Reunification Palace, again used by Diem during the Vietnam War, it was destroyed by heavy bombing and rebuilt in the 1970s. It is still used occasionally for state visits. Rough Guides described it as looking like 'the villain's lair of a James Bond movie', and I have to say that the description is quite apt. One could certainly imagine Ernst Stravo Blomfeld living there, particularly when we reached the roof-top bar area, and when we descended into the underground bunker. In the courtyard were two tanks, one of which actually smashed through the gates of the palace signalling the end of the Republic of South Vietnam, and a US fighter jet. The flag which was hoisted on top of the building after this event is still kept inside the building today.

Moving on from Reunification Palace, we went to HCMC's most popular attraction, the War Remnants Museum, which really does not need an introduction. Entrance was super-cheap once again (just 15,000 Dong), and in the courtyards were all sorts of US artillery and vehicles from 'Nam. We saw helicopters (including an enormous Chinook) and planes such as the enormous B-52 . . . .

The museum was split into various levels. The ground level was dedicated to opposition of the Vietnam War on the part of the US, with posters, placards and other memorabilia from nations around the world who were dedicated to opposing the war. One display came from a Vietnam Vet (not a veterinarian) who had sent in his medals to the museum to demonstrate his retrospective opposition to the war. Of course, this sort of display had purposes, but was not entirely unwelcome given the tendency to learn about the Vietnam War from the US-side through Hollywood films and books. From a historical perspective, it was certainly interesting, as there is a growing move on the part of western historians to more openly condemn the actions of the USA.

The 1st floor was filled with various pictures and other media documenting the 'US attrocities'. These are no secret, of course, but it would be wise to remember that both sides committed attrocities, not just the US. War does that sort of thing.... The pictures were not exactly a sight for sore eyes, one or two were extremely graphic and left nothing to the imagination (need I write more?), whilst many of the rest showed torched villages and suspected vietcong prisoners. This was the first time that I had ever seen pictures of the effects of such actions, many of which were deeply disturbing, such as Vietcong prisoners being pushed out of hovering US helicopters, children being shot at the wayside, and victims of mine attacks (just to put it in perspective). The rest of the room was filled with the weaponry of war: Thompson sub-machine guns, the M16, the BAR, and an enormous bazooka. Another room was dedicated to the effects of Agent Orange, although I can't report much about this as I didn't go into the room. I did, however, see disturbing images of babies who were born without limbs or were of stunted growth.

The 2nd (and final floor) of the museum was more balanced- an attempt at reconciliation and peace. The bulk of the floor was taken up with an exhibition of foreign correspondents and journalists who had been killed either during the First Indochina War (when the French were involved in the 1950s) or during the Vietnam War of the 60s/70s. Many of the journalists featured ultimately lost their lives, including a Jewish photographer called Robert Capa, and an Englishman called Larry Burrows. In some cases on display were the last frames ever taken by the photographer in question, which was moving. Other photographs were of soldiers who were to die only a few days after they were snapped. The final room of that floor looked at the cost of the Vietnam War, both in terms of human life, and in money. Various graphs and tables highlighted the increase in machinery, men and expenditure of the US from WW2 until the end of the Vietnam War.

Upon leaving the museum, we were approached by a cyclo driver, who wanted to take us back to the hotel. His first offer was ridiculous- 150,000 Dong per person for what was really at most a 10 minute walk! This was also outrageous compared to our guidebook, which suggested a price of around 10,000 Dong per cyclo! Still, fair-play to the chap for having the balls to pitch his price so high. Ultimately, we paid over-the-odds according to our guidebook, but settled on a total of 30,000. The ride itself was pleasant enough, although the cyclo was not big enough for both me and Elana, and consequently she had to sit on my lap. Regardless, the cyclo is a symbol of Vietnam, and we were both glad that we got to take one.

Once back at the hotel, we changed and decided on a restaurant called Le Mekong, which was meant to serve good French food. We were really looking forward to the meal, but it turned that the place had closed down. In the end, we had a nice Vietnamese meal at a restaurant nearby (also in RG) called Lemongrass. The meal was nice, accompanied by a traditional Vietnamese musican, and I got to try my first bowl of the most famous dish, Pho (pronounced 'Fur'😉. I had wanted to try some sooner, but frustratingly it was most commonly made using beef stock. For dessert, we went to the bakery next door where Elana picked up a white chocolate cake and I picked up a chocolate/vanilla cake.

The night being still young we decided to take a cocktail on the rooftop bar of the hotel, which was famously used to billett the first 400 US troops to arrive in Vietnam in 1961 and where the daily press conference was held by commanders during the War, known to journalists as the Five O'Clock Follies. What a treat we were in for! We arrived at the bar, and were greeted by what can only be descibed as a cacophony of noise, for, standing on a small stage was one of the WORST bands I have ever had the privilege of hearing. It was so bad that frankly the whole thing was a joke , demonstrated especially by a rendition of Empire State of Mind (particularly watching the chap try to imitate Jay-Z) , and some songs which led various old people to dance around the place, one woman even jumping up onto the stage to join them. . It was, quite simply, cringe-worthy. Having written this, we both had a good time, mostly laughing at the pathetic band. I had a LIIT (Long Island Iced Tea), whilst Elana had something (but I can't remember what) .

Having spent the best part of the day walking from museum to museum, it was nice to be able to end it having a laugh (albeit at the expense of others). I don't remember much else, but probably fell asleep in my clothes....again .

Michael

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