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AKA Ho Chi Min City
Vietnam Day 1
Today's Travel:
Air: 175 kms
Tuk Tuk: 10kms
Car: 10 kms
Map: Today's trip
Before today's lunchtime flight to Saigon, we had an opportunity to look around the Russian Market (so-called because after the days of the Khmer Rouge, most things were made in Russia, or most visitors were Russian - opinions differ) as well as an adventurous ride in a local Tuk Tuk (see photo).
Madame Sue, our guide, Sing, and Your Humble Scribe in the 'carriage', plus the driver, all propelled by a 110cc scooter through 'interesting' traffic in downtown Phnom Penh.
The Russian Market is divided in to sections (clothing, footware, motor cycle engines, etc) and is chock-a-block with all manner of items you didn't know you couldn't live without.
A quick trip out to the airport for a shortish flight to Saigon and the realisation that the traffic in Phnom Penh was nothing compared to Saigon!
Our hotel for the first part of our stay in Saigon was the Hotel Continental (I'll refer to it as Saigon as that's what all the locals seem to call it, despite the name change after the end of the 'American' war.). Those who have read or seen the Graham Greene book/movie, 'The Quiet American' will recognise it. It was built when Indochina was a colony of the French, and reflects a French colonial style.It is right next door to the Saigon Opera House in the central business district. During the war, both Newsweek and Time magazines had their Saigon bureaux here.
The hotel was built in 1880 and has had a number of renovations but still kept the original style.
The view from our balcony across to the Opera House
The view across the bedroom to the balcony
These two Frangipani trees in the outdoor dining area are 140 years old!
It was here that we met up with the majority of our tour companions for the Vietnam section of the tour.
Vietnam Day 2
Today's Travel:
Bus: 5 kms
Walk: 1 km
Off to a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch, then a bit of a walk around the hotel area and a lesson in how to cross the road while avoiding hordes of motor scooters whose grasp of road rules tend to be at odds with those observed by Western motorists.
The day ended with a Vietnamese cultural music and dance show at the Rex Hotel (another wartime hangout which hosted the US military command's daily conference) followed by a few drinks on the roof overlooking Saigon.
Skyline from the rooftop bar of the Rex Hotel
The impressive façade of the 1908 Saigon Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), now the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Head office
Our impression was of a very progressive city and not something one would associate with a Communist state. As our guide, Zen, loved to say, 'Vietnamese are flexible'. With the official population of Saigon of around 9 million, and an unofficial one of about twice that, there was a sense of prosperity that we really weren't expecting. The building work at the bottom of the rooftop photo was a new Metro system built in association with Japan. There were high-rise buildings everywhere.
Vietnam Day 3
Today's Travel:
Bus: 120 kms
Map: Today's trip
A bus trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels was today's major outing. These are a preserved set of tunnels used by the Viet Cong during the war and are an example of tunnels that stretch across a large part of Vietnam. More Info: Cu Chi Tunnels
We had a very interesting walk through various (and devious) methods of incapacitating enemy troops (Ho Chi Min believed that it was better to incapacitate an enemy soldier as that takes more manpower to give aid, than to just kill them outright).
A hinged, camouflaged trap
Note nasty spikes at the bottom.
Now you see me...
...now you don't
There is a section of tunnel you can crawl through that is made larger to fit a more Western stature (ie: fatter / taller), and a few had a go at it. It is certainly NOT for the even mildly claustrophobic!
It's not just humans that are out to get you in the jungle.
You could fire off a number of weapons (AK47, M-16, etc) but at USD$1 per round, I passed.
I never found out how much it would cost to fire one of these...
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