HCMC or Saigon as they still say

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If Hanoi was bad for the swarms of beeping mopeds then Saigon is twice as bad and the heat doesn't help the concentration as you edge across the road letting the young lads and lassies dodge you and keeping an eye out for anything big, like a truck or a bus. You can see where the money is at and this feels more like the capital than it's northern brother. The influence of the west is much more prominent here ane everything seems newer, brighter and more affluent. On the negative side, HCMC has a lot more hawkers selling books, postcards and other tourist paraphanelia which they push on you even as you sit eating a meal inside a restaurant. This was very annoying and you wonder why the owners tolerate letting these people constantly bother their customers - relatives? percentage of sale? just not bothered? The last one, I reckon.
After we located a quiet an reasonably priced room in the Le Le hotel, near the backpacker street of De Tham it was off to the International Medical Centre to see if they could tell us why Agnes was nearly coughing up a lung every 5 minutes for the last 2 weeks. No diagnosis, but the cough suppressants worked a treat and we could both sleep the whole night once more - what a luxury! The next day saw us at a vietnamese clinic for her chest x-ray which cost all of $4! Granted the saftety procedures did not seem too rigid as Agnes was led into a cubicle for the procedure I was seated just outside with the radiologist and not a lead apron between us. The clinic was close to Saigon's chinatown, so we headed down there to investigate the district where the biggest immigrant chinese community in the world (500,000) lives. It was all pretty much as one would expect with street after street of hole in the wall shops selling everything from chinese medicine to designer clothes and chinese characters much in evidence all around. Our departure was delayed by a sudden thunderstorm which was much needed to dampen the dusty streets.
As usual, our social outings with Kellee and Conor were full on affairs hitting the Lemon Grass, Camargue and a lebanese restaurant on various nights. Le Pub, around the corner from our hotel always had a good daily special (G&T s $1) and we always seemed to end our nights there. This meant that our sight seeing was often curtailed or suffered with foggy hangovers. We did manage a visit to the re-unification palace and the war remnants museum which were both enjoyable enough, if only to experience the rhetoric propaganda in which they describe historic events. After 4 days in the city our time was running short and we booked a 3 day tour through the Mekong Delta ending up in the cambodian capital Phnom Penh.

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Photos

Notre Dame of Saigon
When the pope's envoy celebrated mass here 10 years ago, the steets around were full of tens of thousands of the faithful.We stumbled upon it by accident as it is right across from the clinic where Agnes went about her cough.

Former Hotel de Ville
HCMC has wider boulevards and more impressive buildings than the parts of Hanoi we visited.

Roundabout in Cholon
Cholon is the chinese district of HCMC, where over half a million Viet Hao live and do lots of business - quietly.

The Reunification Palace
This is where the NVA tanks crashed through the iron gates on April 30th 1975 and "re-unified" Viet Nam. Replicas of the vehicles are displayed outside.

Inside the palace
Inside is 70's style furnishing, with a vietnamese touch here and there. Like something from an old James Bond movie.

On top of the palace
The seem to love American military hardware here. I suppose being the only ones to defeat the world's current rulers they like to remind us. They two red circles is where a Viet Cong spy in the south's airforce dropped 2 driller bombs in 1972. Sneaky!

Under the palace
There is a whole command centre with radio rooms, map rooms and an armoury deep under the building. Walking through these gloomy corridors, I couldn't help but surmise on interrogation rooms where suspected Viet Cong were "questioned".

War remnants museum
Curiously enough, at this museum most of the photos and accounts of combat are from western journalists about the G.I.s? The NVA and Viet Cong are portrayed as superhuman with no doubts, fears or after effects of the war.

Helicopter gun
Again, the majority of the hardware on display is american - are they still using their old stuff?

Dinner at the Camargue (Vascos)
Probably our most expensive meal since Russia and one of our last with Conor and Kellee. Great dining and drinking buddies while in Nam - gonna miss them, even if my liver doesn't!