Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

We cruised on a small ship up the Saigon River into  Ho Chi Minh City.  As Millennium is too large to cruise the river and go under the bridge, you will be docking in Phu My, about an hour and twenty minutes drive from Ho Chi Minh City. Click here for a google map.
 
Saigon was the capital of the southern Republic of Vietnam. After the South lost the war the city was renamed after Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the northern communists, who died a few years before the end of the Vietnam War.  Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known and still referred to as Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam.  The metropolitan area population is greater than 9 million. 

Ken and I were lucky enough to visit Ho Chi Minh City on our world cruise in 2001.  I remember experiencing a multitude of emotions and couldn’t believe that I was really in Saigon.  When first arriving, a terrible sadness engulfed me as I envisioned the soldiers during the Vietnam War, who didn’t comprehend that their lives would be forever changed.  There were a number Vietnam veterans on our cruise who bristled with hostility at what they call the “travesty” of the war.

Vietnam, shaped like an elongated 5, is roughly the size of New Mexico and borders China to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, and the South China Sea to the east.

The Vietnamese people were happy to see us and provided a hearty and friendly welcome and farewell from the pier.

There are approximately 9 million people living in Saigon and since 7 million of those people use motorbikes to get around the city, the traffic is chaotic, but moves along at a steady pace.   You will see entire families riding together on one motorbike.  I just loved seeing the women wearing the ao dai and long white gloves to protect their arms from the sun.  The ao dai is a tight-fitting silk tunic, with slits on either side, worn over pants. Almost everyone wears a mask to block out the toxic fumes from the swarm of traffic.  I was sure that I would see an accident, but thankfully I didn’t! By the way, one guide book wittily advises that if you decide to ride on any motorized contraptions, get a used GI helmet from the war surplus market, and notes that the bullet holes will provide good ventilation.

Another experience that I vividly remember is crossing the street in Saigon.  You can literally take your life into your own hands!   Ken and I, along with another couple, had hired a taxi driver at the pier to be our city guide.  My first “crossing the street” experience was memorable.  We disembarked (is that only a cruise term?) the van and he told us to all hold hands along with him.  And then he started walking into the multi-lane motorbike laden chaotically busy road.  What you do is just walk; once you make the decision to go, you walk and keep walking.    By walking at a steady pace, the motorbike drivers will decide whether to pass in front of or behind you. This is most definitely easier said than done.  I don’t think I closed my eyes, but I thought about it!

One of the places we visited was the Ho Chi Minh War Remnants Museum, which could perhaps be named the “propaganda museum”, as it’s a showcase for all the atrocities that the Americans perpetrated during the war and a tribute to the Viet Cong winning the war.  Agent Orange is a big topic, with photos showing terribly malformed people, a visual testament to the ramifications of its use.  Interestingly, there is not one shred of evidence of the atrocities the Viet Cong perpetrated against our soldiers.  It is a bit “heavy” but lets you see the war from the Vietnamese point of view.

Another highlight was the Ben Thanh Market.  Fun, busy, and chaotic, you can put your bargaining skills to work!  Yes, it will be crowded but it’s an assault on the senses!  We saw live chickens being sold…. And in one stall, killed, plucked, and cooked! 

Of course, we had to go to the famous Rex Hotel, a hangout during the war for many of our GIs.  The hotel was made famous during the Vietnam War, where a daily press briefing occurred in Saigon at the Rex Hotel that was sponsored by the United States Public Affairs Office. “Five o’clock Follies,” was the term given to these military press briefings by cynical journalists.   Its rooftop bar was a well-known hangout spot for military officials and war correspondents.^[1]

Of note, the Ben Thanh Market and the Rex Bar are two of the places listed in the book “1,000 Places to See Before You Die”.

On the second day of our visit, we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels, which are located outside the city.  During the war these underground tunnels gave the Viet Kong the ability to control areas, stretching from the Cambodian border to Ho Chi Minh City, covering over 250 square miles.  Since the consistency of the earth’s red clay is like rock, the tunnels could be built several stories deep.

For more information, click here for a condensed YouTube video of a tunnel tour. And Click here for a more extensive YouTube video of a tunnel tour.  Here's a wonderful Washington Post article about the Cu Chi Tunnels.

We had a Vietnamese guide, dressed in a gray green military uniform that was rumpled from the heat of the day.  He guided us along a path through a jungle filled with tall slender trees, which provided a canopy overhead.  Once in a while, he would stop and ask us if we could find an entrance to one of the tunnels.  We would look down at the tangled underbrush, but see nothing but dried leaves and twigs.  He watched us and with a slight smile, pushed aside the fallen leaves, revealing an opening that was no more than a foot square.  He then demonstrated how the Viet Cong were able to enter and exit these tunnels.  He held both arms above his head and lowered himself down into the dark opening.  Only someone with a small build would be able to accomplish this. 

So that tourists can enter the tunnels, a portion has been widened.  Most of those in our tour group decided to lower themselves into the dark opening for a tunnel “crawl”.  It’s dark, hot, claustrophobic, and challenging; but it was a highlight of my visit.  If you’re at all claustrophobic, you won’t be happy crawling through the tunnel… and it is an option; you don’t have to go in!  Somehow I got separated from those in front of us and I became the lead tunnel rat.  It was so dark and I couldn’t see anything.  We came to a fork in the tunnel and I didn’t know which way to go.  Fortunately, we made it out… with a big sigh of relief!

One story from our guide tells of the tunnel coming up right in the middle of a US Army camp.  The Viet Cong were able to enter and leave as they pleased, to either spy on or quietly murder GI’s in their sleep.

We saw mockups of booby traps used by the Viet Cong during the war.  These pits, invisible to the naked eye, are built into a seemingly innocent pathway and filled with bamboo stakes, pointing upright, and sharpened to a razor edge.  The unsuspecting would endure a horrible death after falling into this pit. 

The countryside was amazing, as we passed patchwork landscapes of green rice paddies, where women, thigh deep in water and mud, are bending low to plant rice in string straight rows.  The farmers’ houses, built on stilts, sit on dry land; but in monsoon season, the water may flood the houses.

Most everyone from the farmers to the city folk, wore the pointy conical hat, the non la, made from dried palm leaves to provide protection from the sun or the rain.

We visited an area where people lived and worked on boats, very poverty stricken.  Our guide let us take a couple of photos from the opposite side of the river and then quickly ushered us back into the van as no photography was allowed and tourists were discouraged from visiting these areas. 

Shopping!  Before returning to the ship, I was able to shop a little!  And what a find!  I purchased a pair of handmade, lacquer shoes, sized on the spot for me!  Vietnamese lacquer art is an extremely labor intensive and time consuming work. Every Vietnamese lacquer shoe usually goes through 20 stages. They are so beautiful that I have never worn them!  They are in display in my home where I smile each time I see them.  Other finds included Vietnamese silk paintings (I think I paid $1 US each).  They depict wildlife, nature, scenes of everyday life, religious symbols, most anything.  They are beautiful and easy to pack.  I had them framed once I arrived back home and today they decorate my bedroom walls.  On our first day there, we tried to find a tailor so that I could have an ao dai tailor made, but just didn’t have the time to make that happen. 

We had a great visit in Ho Chi Minh City and found the Vietnamese people to be very friendly and welcoming.  We just weren’t there long enough!