Saigon, HCMC, alive and kicking

Our tour included a bus to HCMC, so when we saw a nice new Mercedes mini bus we were pleasantly surprised and happy the 6 hour trip would be a comfortable one. Unfortunately the bus had an extra row of seats jammed into the back where the luggage would normally go and guess who was told to sit on this back seat next to two others....

As we started to get closer to the Ho Chi Minh city, bumbs suitable numb, the motos increased, the sheer number of the horns started to deafen and the utter chaos was to behold. After fighting the traffic for about an hour in what seemed like an endless city, we finally got dropped off in district 5, but of course we needed to be in district 1. We were propositioned by some Moto drivers, Dave negotiated, they agreed and then placed our packs between themselves and the handlebars and us on the back. It’s an experience to witness the utter craziness from the safety of a car or bus, it is quite another to join it, be a part of it and see how the organized chaos somehow works - for a full 20 mins! We’re not going to lie, it’s a hairy experience, thrilling and something we implore everyone to try one day as it’s utterly inexplicable unless you do it yourself.

Our hotel, a lovely quiet place plentiful with fish and ambiance was in the centre of the falang district, which was great as we could explore and find everything we needed on foot. But everywhere you walk you are hassled - for sunglasses, a moto ride, fruit, sunglasses, zippo lighters, sticky sweet rice, sunglasses and more moto rides. Apparently you’re not allowed to walk anywhere in HCMC, so you are constantly saying to propositioning moto drivers, ‘No thanks, we’ll walk’ to which they shake their heads in disbelief.

The city itself is what you would imagine a quintessential Asian city to look like, perhaps think of a scene from Tokyo Drift or Rush hour. Crazy is one way to explain it but this hardly helps you imagine a city that feels like it is probably has a heart somewhere beating.

City Peek hour

City electrical repairs

Night time traffic

Our street Bue Vien

We visited the sights to be seen - the Notradam cathedral (Catholic church)

 the Post Office (huge bustling PO, French architecture),

 (see Mr Ho Chi Minh on the wall)

the Reunification Palace (where the end of the Vietnam was signified), 

the War remnants museum (formally known as the American War Crimes museum),

 A seismic bomb wieghing 5.7 tonnes and destroying everything in a 3.2km radius, used in Vietnam from 1970

the Revolutionary museum, a beautiful French colonial building (a history about the fight for independence from the French and then the Americans)

 it was pretty quiet museum, sleeping on the job was understandable

and the Chu Chi Tunnels (famously tiny tunnels the Chu Chi people lived and fought the Americans from). 

 An entrance to a tunnel, rather small!

Chu Chi still bares the remnants of war

Inside a tunnel, widened 5 time so that western fatties can fit through. Even so It was very dark and very small crawling through!

After 5 nights we decided to leave, but we probably could have stayed another  5 nights as the Saigon is so easy to explore.