Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
Pete Writes: Previously known as Saigon this city is constantly on the go. It has a population over 8 million, and it seems as if each one of them has a scooter. It is crazy, and to make it even sketchier the black and white road markings (very similar to a zebra crossing) don’t give you the right of way! You have to literally take a deep breath, look ahead and walk (don’t run…) the scooters then cruise past you like a well oiled machine missing you by inches 
We spent a good few hours chilling in bars watching the city moving to the sound of horns and revving engines, it was very hypnotising (or was that the beer, or maybe the fumes.. who knows?)
During the 4 days in HCMC we decided to go on a couple of tours, a day around the Mekong Delta and a day at the Chu Chi tunnels. The tunnels were used by the Viet Cong to hide from the Americans during the Vietnam War. There are 3 levels underground with the deepest being 8m. With a 200km network there were plenty of places for the VC to hide. We had a chance to crawl through the tunnels, it was a tight squeeze and a little claustrophobic but you got a real feel for what it was like for the VC.
A walking tour of the city took us to the war remnants museum that was a very solemn experience. It had loads of photos from the war and the devastation that it caused. It made us both feel exhausted; it was a big eye opener to see the Vietnamese portrayal of what happened. The country has been involved in wars for 125 years (to protect there own country) which finally stopped in 1980, and through all the things that they have been through they still smile
Chloe Writes: Like Pete said, Saigon is a crazy city. We have spent the last few days dodging scooters, eating very very pricey, but delicious, western food (Vietnamese food is not my favorite), drinking, being shepherded on guided tours (not a fan of being a sheep but it had to be done) and generally being swept up in the madness of the city, it’s been fantastic and I am sad to leave, but if we don’t we’ll be broke and on the next plane home.
We’ve both learnt a lot about the war and the communist regime in our time here, what with visiting the reunification palace (claimed by the communists on the day they won the war), the war museum & tunnels where we had a very enthusiastic guide who fought on the side of the Americans during the war and had many many many (interesting at first but you do tend to switch off in the end) war stories. I have also read a fantastic book I recommend called ‘the girl in the picture’; it was photocopied and was missing 10 pages but a very good read none-the-less
Our trip to the Mekong delta took us to the floating market (where traders had finished trading for the day, you have to get there at 6am to see the market in its full glory), we saw how rice paper and puffed rice was made, had a row boat and cycle ride. We also soaked up some culture and watched a Vietnamese water puppetry show. It was highly entertaining and a must see if you visit Vietnam . Were still trying to work out how it’s done.
After just a week and a half in Vietnam it is time to move on. We wish we had more time here as there are lots of things we would have loved to have done but as it stands we now only have a week to spend in Cambodia.
Page Gallery
A rather quite River Market
Floating market 2
Our boat rower
Bridge on the Mekong
Making puffed rice
A rather interesting relative to the lychee
Booby Trap around the Chu Chi Tunnels
Entering the Chu Chi Tunnels
Sniper hole
Rupert in the sniper hole - Sorry Rup, lifted for your site, Pete & I didn’t fancy it
More Water Puppetry
Crazy Saigon Traffic - no picture could ever do it justice
Bus driver Chillin’
