The City - once again

They Finally Came For Us...

Finally, we were able to contact VietNam Tourism. Our guide and driver were named Hiep and Humg. They picked us up at 09:30 and off we went, past the old U.S. Embassy, scene of that famous attack during Tet of 1968. The first stop was the Museum of History. Our guide explained with pride the ancient peoples who lived here and the continual invasions from China and elsewhere. He traced the efforts to unite the countryside and the peoples of north and south. It is history our leaders could have used in the 60's. The passion for one country was not a recent idea of the communists, but is considered an ancient destiny, or so goes the party line.  (Actually, the people of the south settled VietNam from the Cham west, and are very different people than the Chinese who settled the north.)Also traced were artifacts and civilizations in various areas going back 200,000 years. A great bronze drum was used all over Asia 2300 years ago. The scholars have long wondered where they were cast, since they seemed to be from the same family of molds. The answer was discovered when the molds were found here. Interesting also was the history of battles to free the country from the Chinese, who ruled for 1,000 years, especially in the north. The north was settled by tribes moving down from southern China, bringing Buddhism of the Greater Vehicle. The name Viet Nam means southern man, which is what the Chinese called them. The people of the south were from Cambodia and brought with them Hindu practices and the Buddhism of the Lesser Vehicle. They include Chams and Khmers, both of whom left their marks upon the land. 

The next stop was the "Reunification Hall". I had seen this modern state house when it was first opened in 1966 as "Independence Palace" (Doc Lap), the residence of President Thieu. Diem, who began the project, was killed in 1963 with CIA and President Kennedy's blessing, and never got a chance to use it. The visit was interesting. The guide, Heip, showed us the subtle oriental signals used in power politics. Colors, designs, heights of chairs, arrangement of furniture, etc were all used to send messages to visitors, diplomats, subordinates, and so forth. 

One of the most interesting discoveries was that the president did not live in the nice top floor living

quarters. He left his family up there and slept in the bomb-proof basement. On the roof are two large red painted circles where two bombs hit when a North VietNamese pilot captured a F-5 Freedom Fighter. A plane of that type sits today in the trees near the building, as does a tank which entered the grounds on the day Saigon fell. At that late hour, President Thieu's political opponent became president for a few hours while Thieu and his family got their gold out of the country. His name was General Duong Van (Big) Minh, who waited in the large main level hall of the Palace to surrender the country. The NVA officer was Colonel Bui Tin, who replied, "You cannot transfer what you do not possess." Ironically, Bui Tin is now a defector living in Paris, as is General Minh. In the basement of the palace was the war room. It was interesting to see the maps still on the walls showing intelligence estimates of 1975. What struck me about the maps was that the names of places were familiar to me. they were in use prior to the communist take over. Afterward, the names of places, streets, etc. were changed. On the way out, we found a display of the fall of Saigon. One of the displays was a map showing the battle plan for taking the city. One of the northern thrusts was begun through Phu Loi, where I spent much of my time in 1966 and 1967. I felt something very powerful as I looked at a large arrow thrusting through my place. I pointed to it and said, "They finally came for us, John." 

The palace was built on the site of the old French Administrative center of the mid 19th Century. In the time of the war, it was discovered that the building was constructed on the head of a dragon and that the French designed boulevard which led to the front entrance represents a sword aimed at the head of the dragon. This is a bad sign and insures the downfall of the hours and its master. Calling in an expert Geomancer, it was determined that the threat to the dragon could be mitigated by placing a turtle on the end of its tail. That location was skillfully determined and a building containing a giant turtle was constructed some 4 blocks away. Even though the regime fell in 1975, there was an explosion destroying the turtle house in 1978 when counter revolutionaries sought to increase the risk to the dragon and thereby overthrow the communist government. When this did not happen, Geomancers explained that eh dragon had now moved to HaNoi. The really interesting part of this story is the discovery of counter-revolutionary activity after 1975. We certainly heard nothing of such. We went to Cholon (Chinatown) for lunch, not very good. John and I ordered the cheapest dishes at 15,000 dong each. The bill came to 81,000 dong, however. We were mystified until we found that the largest part of the bill was for air conditioning. We visited a Chinese temple, built in 1760, about he time Saint James was finished. There, we discovered that our guide is Chinese. He was 19 in 1975, but was a student and not called to the army. I wonder if it was because of VietNamese distrust of the Chinese. 

Walking around the streets, I discovered why bicycles and motor bikes come from all directions. When making a left turn, things get blocked up in the intersection, so bikes begin to cross over to the wrong side of the road 1/2 a block ahead of their turn. Then, they turn left, again facing oncoming traffic. Finally, they cut across to the right side of the road. It happens for all left turns coming from all for roads entering each intersection, so the result is unbelievable. We are not talking about a few motorbikes doing this, but as many as a hundred at one time in one intersection. This doesn't count the fact that many people just use the wrong side of the road anyhow. There also is no expectation that anyone stop before entering an intersection, such as at a stop sign. Everyone just enters any road or turn without looking and then deals with the result. It makes crossing streets a memorable experience.

Click to go to:  ChuChi