Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon is such a contrast from Hanoi. It is a city of 14 million, masses of motorbikes and sparking neon lights. Added to the regular lights are the decorations for Tet or Lunar New Years. This is a BIG event for all of the people and words really can’t describe it. Apparently the country basically shuts down for about 3 days as people travel to be with family. Huge amounts of money are spent on decorations and gifts - maybe even more over the top than Christmas!
The War Remnants Museum is a sobering place to visit. It is all about the Vietnam war although many Vietnamese call it the American war. The displays around the war crimes and Agent Orange take your breathe away and bring a tear or to your eye. War is so cruel!
The French influence from their occupation years is evident throughout the city.
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| Reunification Palace |
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| The famous post office |
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| Inside the post office |
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| Opera House |
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| City Hall and Ho Chi Minh at night |
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| Post Office at night |
One of the more memorable activities of this tour has to be the evening Vespa tour. Although advertised as a food tour, it was definitely much more. Seeing the lights of the city at night and passing over the bridges took us to places we would not have normally seen. We travelled through small alleys with locals out enjoying the evening- high fives and cheers aplenty. We travelled through the flower market - amzing displays of beautiful flowers. And of course we ate in little street stalls in different locations. The food was great, the noise level high and the locations were crowded. Fortunately we did this on the backs of vintage scooters and could relax, maybe, as our drivers weaved in and out of traffic. Seeing the traffic from the sidelines is a whole different experience than being in the middle of it.
The Mekong River flows into the sea south of HCMC. We only had the one day to visit but during that time we managed to visit Unicorn Island, taste a variety of candies, chocolate and honey from the delta, enjoy another delicious meal with elephant ear fish and ride down one of the canals in a row boat. The area is famous for its fruit, flowers and candies.
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| This guy was lunch |
The south definitely has a greater focus on the war. On my last trip I decided the Chu Chui tunnels just weren’t for me but when the opportunity came to visit this time I decided to go. I was glad I did. The site is more than just the tunnels as you see a lot from the ground of the weapons and ingenious approaches they had to keep safe and do harm to their enemies. The tunnels were dug by hand - 200 km underground of very small and twisty openings that allowed the VC to hide and escape. Our guide made it very personable as he talked a lot about his father who had fought in these tunnels.
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20 metres felt like an eternity After a lovely evening out with dinner in a little spot in a back alley and a stroll through the downtown core at night, it was time to bit farewell to Vietnam. Despite the wars and occupations, despite the economic sanctions that weren’t lifted until 1995, despite COVID, this is a country that shows remarkable resilience! The people are beautiful, outgoing, helpful and generally kind. More than once we were told they life in the present, not the past. I wondered what kind of chances I would see from 17 years ago and was thrilled that the experience was as positive, interesting, informative as it was then. And the people …. Still one of my favorite cultures I have experienced. |
And so Vietnam is behind us and on to Cambodia.
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