The Legendary Saigon

Now Ho Chi Minh City but only on government documents, everyone else still calls it Saigon. No longer is it a city of bikes, but rather motorbikes. We arrived in the mayhem after a 6+ hour bus ride with overland border crossing formalities. Upon entering Vietnam, we were directed to get off the bus and collect our belongings to be x-rayed, we suddenly worried that our beloved jackfruit snacks might be confiscated so hurriedly shoved them into the seat pocket so as to leave them safely on the bus and out of reach of customs regulations. Another hour or so and we were in the afternoon rush hour motorbike mayhem of Ho Chi Minh. We figured from our map that we were fairly close to the backpacker ghetto neighborhood so chose to walk and turn down all the waiting taxis. The afternoon consisted of exploring the surrounding neighborhoods and ended with a fantastic dinner of seafood hot pot at a local diner. The best part was not only the food and the price, but the chairs and tables of this and all restaurants around it would be found in the kid's section of any American furniture store. We fell asleep to some interesting music from a nearby bar floating in the window - covers of Nirvana, Jack Johnson, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The next day we started out by making train/plane/bus arrangements for the next few days of traveling north up the coast. It ate up our entire morning and after two hours we were stir crazy to get outside. We headed for the river and the fancy schmancy Dong Khoi district. But not before a dragonfruit shake and a banh mi (vietnamese sandwich) pork and the usual fixings of jicima, carrot, cilantro, pate, mayonaisse, soy sauce and hot sauce. In Dong Khoi I bought a few coin souvenirs in an antique shop and we stopped for a coffee in a place that refilled water as attentively as any fine dining establishment - much appreciated in the heat here. They even had a poster with the skyline of Seattle! We unintentionally ended up in the Saigon Zoo and had fun watching white tigers, rhinos, peacocks, and sunbears. Our intended destination was the history museum next to the zoo which proved to be an interesting overview of Vietnamese history and the continuous northern aggression. The water puppet show next to the museum as funny and lighthearted. Lunch was at a street stall and we shared another sandwich, this time with egg, and a noodle dish. The late afternoon took us to a few Buddhist temples, one closed and the other very active with worshippers and thick with incense.

The walk home was long but we decided to try a cyclo, the quintessential Vietnamese transport implement of a bicycle with basically a chair on the front. We had a blast the whole way but when we went to pay, had a dispute with the driver over a sudden change in the price. It ended very sour but we didn't get taken advantage of because we held our ground. We drew a crowd and the driver eventually walked away pouting. Not the best ending to a great joyride. Anyhow, we were exhausted and went to pick up our laundry from the hotel and relax for a bit. Dinnertime resulted in another street diner and was again quite savory. The owner lady lured us in with 10 dong (= $.50) Saigon beer - a big bottle! Clams in tamarind sauce and a stir fried rice flour dish (chunks of patty that looked like fish) with green onions and a ponzu-like sauce with a jicama-like shredded crunchy vegetable and chopped peanuts pleasured our palates once again.

The following morning we were hurriedly herded out of our lobby to get onto a bus we had booked a trip with. We were earlier than the appointed time and they were shoeing us on as if the bus would leave without us. We got on the bus and proceeded to wait for 45+ minutes before the bus even left the curb. This seems to be a theme here and either a cultural difference or a communication barrier because we always seem to be told we're in a hurry for things like this and then wait for ages while others mosey around. Despite the annoyance, the tour turned out to be fascinating. It was a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong hid and fought from outside of Saigon. We watched a propaganda video about the Cu Chi district and the "hoards of crazy American devils." Made in the late 60's it told in English about the peaceful rural life of the people and the horrific atrocities carried out by the American aggressors. Not something they show in high school history class.

We learned about all the types of weapons and booby traps used by the Viet Cong and even got to crawl through the tunnels. The whole time touring the area we heard gunshots, sometimes automatic weapons, wondering if it was sound effects piped in to create the right mood. Alas, no such atmospheric engineering, only a shooting range where I ended up firing an AK47. The most entertaining part of the tour was the string of women who were all friends and one after the other, kept panicking and getting stuck in the tunnel entrance, not knowing how to use their arms to lift themselves out. Kind of funny but kind of not.

Afternoon spent at War Remnants Museum which had a great photojournalism exhibition of the Vietnam war. The "war truths" room was quite interesting and the many galleries of children afflicted by mental and physical ailments caused by chemical defoliators was disturbing and sad, especially the new exhibit of photographs of disabled people, taken in May of 2010. The outside of the museum was populated by American tanks, airplanes and helicopters.

We rushed back to the guest house after the museum closed to make sure to be in time for our taxi to the train station where we were to catch a night train to Nha Trang, a coastal city 12 hours north. Again we were told to hurry, our taxi is waiting (it came too early) and arrived at the train station long before was necessary. We enjoyed a savory bowl of pho to pass away the time in the train station parking lot while watching a couple argue, hit each other, punch, roll on the ground, and attempt to run each other over by their motorbikes. Quite the show but was eventually ended by police intervention. Train left Saigon Station well after sunset but the lights on in each house rolling out of the city gave us an insider's view of what goes on in private living rooms after dinner, like a filmstrip consisting of short clips of many lives intersecting at a brief moment in time.

1. I want to put photos but every time I try, firefox/safari crashes. 2. This site is partially in Vietnamese and it's confusing. 3. Facebook is blocked here... I have to use a proxy and it only partially works.