HO CHO MINH CITY (Saigon)

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HO CHI MINH CITY (SAIGON)

Saturday 1^st March

We’ve been to the north and now the centre so our next move is to the south. Saigon here we come! After a delay of half an hour Vietnam Airlines ferried us on to Ho Chi Minh City. We were impressed by the airline with its very new planes and the on board service.

By the time we were settled in the Sheraton Saigon Hotel and settled down, we were ready to step out and look around. Saigon has a population of around 8 million but, even so, it is more orderly than Hanoi. There is a population of 90 million in Vietnam and 35 million motorbikes and scooters. The real challenge is cross the road with cars, motor bikes and push bikes coming at you in all directions. Believe it or not, the trick was to simply walk. Amazingly you reached the other side after traffic had ducked and weaved around you as you went. A bit scary at first but you eventually get used to it.

Our room in the Sheraton was very nice and a two night stay appealed. Dinner tonight was in the hotel in the form of an international buffet. Enjoyable.

Sunday 2^nd March

Today is a big day for the Aussies. And for us even more so as we have close friends in our minds as we head for the site of the Battle of Long Tan near Nui Dat and Vung Tau. Some people chose to go to the Viet Cong tunnels at Cu Chi but we felt that we needed to visit the zone that our soldiers fought in during the Vietnam War.

It was a lengthy drive by bus to Nui Dat. Our guides in the area met us and they turned out be Australians that live in the Vung Tau area and run businesses there. Needless to say, all of the buildings and structures created for the Australian and New Zealand troops are now gone the our guides were able to recreate much of the events of that time for us. Nui Dat is still there of course because it is a ‘mountain’ (more like a hill) and the Luscombe Bowl where Col Joye, Johnny O’keefe, Dinah Lee, the ABC Showband and Little Pattie performed.

We drove down the road towards Nui Dat and later discovered that we had been on the Luscombe Airstrip. The rubber plantations too were new as they only last forty years but it was easy to reconstruct the area using the descriptions of our guides and the two Vietnam Vets travelling with us. The area was small in terms of the Vietnam nation but was significantly an area of strong affiliation with the Viet Cong. The battle of Long Tan was only a short one that came about by an accidental meeting of troop from both sides but the Australian soldiers acquitted themselves well in spite of being hopelessly outnumbered. Their reputation was much respected by the Viet Cong after that conflict.

Although I must say that we better understand the futility of Australians engaging in the Vietnam War and more importantly feel guilty for our lack of empathy for those who served in an extremely difficult war. The VC made life frightening for the Aussie soldiers by planting land mines against them that had been stolen from minefields laid by our men. Additionally, who was VC and who was just a local South Vietnamese? They both wore the same clothes when the VC went about under cover. It must have been really hard.

We then went to the Discourtesy Rubber Plantations to visit the Long Tan Cross that was still evident as was the memorial to the battle of Long Tan. John and Bruce (the two Vietnam Vets) laid a wreath at the memorial and a stand-to held in respect of the young Australians who fell and those who risked their lives to defend our democratic way of life. Very moving!

As we neared lunchtime, the bus took us around to Vung Tau to a Restaurant owned by the Aussie guides. Word was out that the footy was on the TV upstairs. So off I went to explore. True, it was a live broadcast. However, the ground was a bit rough and the players looked a bit different. It was a live game of Aussie Rules being played by Vietnamese in Vung Tau. Of course, the bloody umpires were hopeless! How did I know? Well because the players were pointing out to them on countless occasions that they should have been given a free kick! You know, throw out your arms when you reckon it’s in the back. Good fun.

After lunch it was time to bus it back to Saigon and to the Sheraton for dinner. We talk a walk around the corner to enjoy a Luke Nguyen inspired degustation dinner. The food was beautiful and provided a wide range of appetisers and main course tastings. He is really clever with his Vietnamese cuisine.

It was a long day and sleep came easy.

Monday3^rd March

Today has been changed! The Vietnam Government has decided that there will be no more Rickshaws in Saigon city! So our walking tour with an hour long Rickshaw ride is to become a short bus ride to the Reunification Palace and a walk back to the Hotel. Oh well, such is life.

The Reunification Palace was the home of the South Vietnam President until the Communist Government took control. In the grounds we the saw two armed tanks (one supplied by Russia and one by China) that played a significant roll in taking over the Palace in 1975. The then President officially conceded control to Ho Chi Minh. It is a beautiful building with substantial meeting rooms and accommodation for a leader of a country. Of course it is now a tourist attraction but used occasionally for high level talks in Saigon.

We then moved on down to the Catholic Church. It is called Notre Dame and is designed as smaller replica of the original Notre Dame in Paris. It is an impressive building that is now in need of renovation.

Virtually across the road (still dodging those motor bikes!) is the Post Office. It is a big building with a huge clock on the façade. In fact, it looks like a railway station. Internally its high domed ceilings and cavernous main business area is very impressive. There were many clocks of the world displaying times in the various cities and it was interesting to note that the Canberra time was behind by six hours! Is there a message here?

On the way back to the Sheraton we passed the Opera House although we didn’t go in. It is a very attractive building so it proved to be a photo opportunity.

The rest of the day was taken up with registering for our Mekong Cruise to Cambodia and boarding RV Amalotus after a 1.5 hour bus ride to the embarkation point at the My Tho Port.

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