The Vietnamese can't seem to make their minds up what to call this place. It's name was changed from Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City (after the former president) in 1976 when the country was unified, and it appears this way on all maps and travel books. Yet, when you book a bus or talk to many of the people, it's still known as Saigon. Anyway, I'll refer to it as Saigon, a city that well and truly puts Hanoi in its place when it comes to motorbikes. I've been told there are over 4 million of them here alone and I believe every word. It really has to be seen to be believed.
Day 1: Nightbus from Mui Ne arrived at about 7am. Didn't get a great deal of sleep on the bus so after a long search for a cheap enough guesthouse, I settled down for another couple of hours kip. Feeling a bit more refreshed late morning, I set off to explore the city and of course, get lost. After eventually finding my bearings, I'm ashamed (not really) to say I had to go for a KFC to give me some energy for the day. I've been really good up to this point and have had mostly local food everywhere, but there's only so much rice and noodles you can take!
I got chatting to a couple of locals whilst in there, who were interested in where I was from, my trip so far and my plans for Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. Had a long talk with them and got some good tips (and directions) for the city. I went to visit the Reunification Palace (also renamed in 1976), which is massive and very impressive. The whole building is immaculate and would be a great place to live - makes you wish you were rich to be honest. Bumped into a couple of American ladies I'd met in Hue so I also caught up with them. One had had a lot of money stolen on a nightbus a couple of nights previous. My guard will be up even more than it normally is for the next one.
A completely different experience in the afternoon as I went to visit the War Remnants Museum. I've been to all the main museums throughout Vietnam but can safely say this is the best, if also, the saddest. The outskirts are filled with old military vehicles, weapons and the famous ''Tiger Cages'', that were supposedly used to detain and torture Vietnamese prisoners of war. This whole area is pretty horrifying.
Inside the museum, it doesn't get much better. The building is filled with hundreds of images from the war and of the many deformities that were caused by the chemicals used during it. There's obviously a strong vietnamese slant on everything you see and the descriptions and quotes that run throughout the building, but you can also fully understand why. Truly horrific and so sad. I spent a few hours working my way through there, needing a break every so often because it's very heavy going. Humbling at the same time though and I'm glad I went there.
Feeling quite drained, I then went to check out the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is just round the corner. My technique for dodging the motorbikes is pretty nailed on now (it's the cars you need to worry about) so I got there pretty fast but unfortunately, it was closed when I arrived. Nice building though so I got some good pics and started heading away when I was stopped by 3 young schoolgirls, who asked if they could interview me for some sort of school work. I was intrigued and happy to oblige so they asked me numerous questions about where I was from, my time in Vietnam and my impressions of the country. Only lasted about 5 minutes but they were made-up I helped them out.
That evening, I took another walk around the city and was swiftly reminded about the amount of hassling you are exposed to. Still annoying at times but I've developed a partial immunity to it by now. Saigon is really nice at night and much easier to walk around than Hanoi (they actually give you some pavement to play with here). Had a walk around some of the night markets as well. All in all, a good day mixing with the locals and checking out the sights. The museum is very harrowing but definately needs to be seen if you're ever in this part of the world.
Day 2: Up early for a day tour to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels, which were used by the Vietnamese for fighting and living during the war. Met a nice girl called Hannah (New Zealand), who was staying in the same hostel and had booked on the trip as well. We chatted most of the way for the 4 hour journey. A good tour guide again (Chi - easy to remember given the destination of the trip), who tested our war knowledge on the way and gave us a briefing on the sort of things we were going to see.
We arrived at the site and started off with an introductory video, giving us more information on the war and the role the tunnels had to play in it. Chi then showed us a map, which illustrated the sheer scale of them (over 200km of tunnels in the area of Cu Chi alone). Quite incredible. After the video, Chi took us on a tour of the site to show us the key areas. There was a selection of basic but brutal boobie-traps that were used and also a Foxhole, which we all got into one-by-one. Pretty snug in there and whilst getting in was easy, getting out was not so for me. Forgot to put my arms out first and ended up getting my shoulders stuck - a lot of good I would be trying to spring a gun on someone quick!
The tour also included an old tank and a selection of ''ant hills'' (air-holes in disguise). Before we reached the tunnels, everyone had the opportunity to fire lots of different types of guns (AK47, M60 etc). I've fired an assault rifle before and the bullets were quite expensive here so I decided to give it a miss.
The final stop was the tunnels themselves and they are amazing. Chi told us that 16,000 people had lived in them for 20 years and once you get inside, you can really appreciate how hard that must have been. I did the Vinh Moc tunnels in Hue but the Cu Chi tunnels are far better and a great experience. We had a 100m stretch to go through, which had the option to get out every 10m if it got too much. I'm not claustrophobic but I definitely felt it after about 30m. The tunnels go down 3 different levels, which makes it even tougher at times and they are so small that I only had room to crawl through. I was determined to make it all the way and I'm pleased to say I did. It's a great experience because of how uncomfortable it makes you feel. How those people survived down there so long, I do not know - I think I'd go insane after 20 minutes, let alone 20 years.
End of the tour and the bus dropped us back in the city. I went to meet Jakob and Miriam briefly as they had just arrived. I then spent the rest of the evening chatting to the hostel manager, Duncan (Reading - small world). He had been travelling in Vietnam 10 months previous but then saw the vacancy at this place and hasn't moved on since. Had a good chat with him, mostly about football. He also filled me in on some of the corruption that takes place in Vietnam, namely the fact that he has to make a cash payment to the police at the same point every month to ensure the hostel has ''protection''. He also told me about some run-ins he's had with the local mafia. Good to know! Anyway, a great lad so we swapped contact info and said we would meet up for a beer if he ever comes back to Reading. He seemed pretty settled though so something tells me it might be a while yet.
Day 3: Lazy morning and then I decided to be a kid for the afternoon and went to visit Saigon Zoo, which is massive. A huge selection of animals (Lions, Tigers, Leopards, Monkeys, Elephants, Hippos, etc) and it took me a good 3 hours to get around the whole place. The best were the Gibbons, who are constantly swinging all over the place and have a strange walk that reminded me of the killer from Scream (if you've seen it, you'll know what I mean). Unfortunately, a lot of the animals didn't exactly look happy in their surroundings either.
That evening, I met Jakob and Miriam for a pizza (skipping the local food again I know) and then made a call home to Mummy Bowyer. Jakob was a bit ill so me and Miriam went out for a few drinks and to play some pool. While playing, a local guy pushed past Miriam as she was about to take a shot. After both initially thinking how rude he was, we looked again and noticed he had blood all over his neck and shoulders and a huge piece of glass sticking out the back of his head. He was obviously in quite a panic and his mates quickly got him in a taxi and off to hospital. Some tourists on the other side of the road then gestured as if to say he had been attacked - we didn't get the full story. Reassuring after my conversations with Duncan about Police corruption and the local mafia the day before!
That evening, me and Hannah also booked the next stage of our travels. A 2-day tour of the Mekong Delta.
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