Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

backpacker street 

Now known as Ho Chi Minh City by the Vietnamese government, people are still split on whether to call this chaotic, motor-biked dominated city its pre or post-communist name. Though this is a communist city, I really did not feel a difference from other South East Asian countries I’ve been to.

The city is divided into districts, much in the same way that Paris is. We were confined to District one, as it is where most of the tourist attractions are and the backpacker street is. Crossing the street here is absolutely terrifying, as there are minimal traffic rules and more motorbikes driving around than people cruising the streets. On my bus ride into Saigon I did a little experiment: for 10 minutes I counted the cars I saw. I saw 30. Everything else was a motorbike, truck, or minibus. That’s how many motorbikes there are in this city. It is something you can’t even fathom unless you see it. luckily, almost everyone wears helmets, so safety seems to be taken a bit more seriously here than in other places I have visited.

bikes on bikes on bikes

The backpacker area is a long road filled with shops, street vendors, neon blinking lights, restaurants, travel agencies, and hotels. The sidewalks are so crowded that pedestrians need to walk in the street that is also filled with traffic. It is absolute chaos. We absolutely loved it. many of the guesthouses, including ours, were down side alleys, which were mazes filled with colorful buildings and residences of the local vendors. In a way it reminded me of Bangkok because of the excitement and the knowledge that anything could be laying behind the next corner.

Rodeo Drive of Saigon

Me, Kate, and Uncle Ho

Saigon's Notre Dame

Our first day in Saigon (I will refer to HCMC as Saigon because a. I think it is a much cooler name than Ho Chi Minh City and b. we had an incredible tour guide that will forever call it Saigon) we decided to just wander. As written about before, we went to the War Remnants Museum, which was incredibly touching. We then headed over to the Notre Dame Cathedral (the French occupied Saigon for about a century) and saw the old French-style post office. Our walk back led us to the Rodeo Drive of Saigon, which is a couple of mall complexes comprised of shops such as Chanel, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Hermes…you get the picture. Surrounded by the wealth is a statue of Uncle Ho himself. As soon as we passed the Rodeo Drive area, dozens of women approached us selling piles of fake wallets from all the real designers we had just passed. We then hit the central market, which is not really a “true” Asian market, as it is really just a large building with billions of souvenirs. It was extremely overwhelming and after seeing about 5 stalls, you had seen it all. So we exited and found ourselves in a park. Walking through we had to dodge people playing badminton, a hacky-sack like game where two people kick back and forth a little ball with a feather attached, and of course Vietnamese zumba classes (one of which had a large white man joining. Such a wonderful sight). Though our long walk only took us through district one, it is apparent that Saigon is a clean and lively city.

yes, they really wear these hats

The next day we woke up at the crack of dawn and made our way to the Cu Chi tunnels, which are about an hour outside of the city. Our tour guide was a war veteran named Jackie, who fought for the south. Though he lost the war, he is the most optimistic man I have ever met and loves his country. He is so eager to share his story and learn of others. He understands that every person is entitled to their beliefs, and even though people may have different beliefs, we are all people and have the right to fight for what we believe in. Though the people who lived in the Cu Chi tunnels were Viet Con, hence his enemies, he knew people who lived down there for 3 years and had 7 friends who died in the tunnels.

according to our tour guide Jackie, this was an appropriate
pose

The Cu Chi tunnels were home to Vietnamese communists who lived in the south and had to build an entire community underground to protect themselves from the Americans who were bombing their villages. The tour began with use being seated in a room and watching a film that taught Viet Con how to kill the enemy…AKA Americans. IT was very interesting watching this film as an American because we were basically being taught how to kill our own soldiers. We were then shown the tactics the Viet Con used to kill soldiers, which was often through booby traps that ended in a gruesome death by large, pointy spikes. We also learned that since the Viet Con did not have rifles, they sharpened bamboo sticks. They were able to puncture the enemy’s throat with one end and then use to butt end to knock out any one who tried to approach them from behind. As brutal as this sounds, the Americans were off killing civilians all over Vietnam with chemicals that still affect the population today, and completely wiped out all the vegetation in the area of the Cu Chi tunnels with chemicals. The area was so toxic that no tourists were allowed to go until 1990 when the chemicals were no longer active.

Bai guyz. Going into the tunnels. See yaz

The coolest part of the tour was actually going into the tunnels. They were so small most people in my group got claustrophobic and had to exit after being down there for about 20 seconds, I was able to make it through the entire way. I was down there for about 3 minutes, crouching, crawling, and a little bit afraid I was lost since everyone in front of me and behind me had left. It’s amazing that some people lived underground for 3 years, getting from room to room or getting reading for combat through these impossibly small passageways.

shooting an AK-47 from the Vietnam War...along with some
bullets from then too

Unfortunately, my stay in Saigon was a bit tainted when a man on a motorbike zoomed by and snatched my bat right off my body. I am always extremely careful, but it was a wake up that I’ve gotten very comfortable traveling in SE Asia, which is good, but that there is never a moment when your guard can be let down. I was wearing a cross-body bag that thankfull came off my body easily and only left a small rope burn mark on my arm. I could have easily gotten caught in my bag by my neck and dragged by the motorbike, which was going about 30 MPH. thankfully everything is replaceable and I was out at night so I did not have very much money on me and it will not debilitate my finances for the rest of the trip.

would not wanna get caught in this deadly booby trap

I was overall very impressed with Saigon. It’s amazing that only 30 years ago there was a devastating war in Vietnam and now Saigon is this clean and thriving city. It was hard for me to envision GIs, tanks, and bombs going off in such an exciting city. I am currently driving to a beach town called Mui Ne, and you can certainly see the effects of war. Though it’s the dry season, entire hillsides are brown and barren  with young trees sprouting up. Saigon was a great place to start our tour of Vietnam and I can’t wait to explore more of this country.