Day 10  Walking Saigon

The breakfast in the hotel was a vast improvement over yesterday’s intro to Saigon.  If we don’t gain a ton of weight on this trip it will be a miracle (or some really bad GI problem which can still happen).  We made sure to be early for our morning meet up- didn’t want to get a rep.  

Our Vietnam guide, Dat, is very gregarious and energetic, and his English is excellent (though he does have some difficulty with pronunciation and meaning at times).  I guess he’s in his 30’s, and has 2 young boys.  His family was originally from North Vietnam, and his father was a member of the NVA during the war.  He is married to a woman from South Vietnam whose father fought for the South Vietnamese army and who went through “reducation” after reunification.  All this gives him and interesting perspective on the Vietnam (or American depending on to whom you are speaking) War.  He claims the Vietnamese people bear no ill will toward Americans, and that the hardships of war are just part of life.  We certainly encountered no animosity anywhere, in fact people were overly friendly (but not overbearing like the Japanese).

                                                 

Our first stop was the Saigon Opera House just a short walk from the hotel.  The Opera de Saigon was built in 1897 by the French and contained 800 seats.  It is a great example of French Colonial architecture.  It was used by the Lower House Assembly of the South Vietnamese government from 1956 to 1975.  It fell into disrepair after reunification, and was renovated in 1995 again as a theater.

On the next block, Dat pointed out an old apartment building which looked vaguely familiar.  It was, in fact, the site of the famous photograph of the last American helicopter evacuating personnel from CIA Saigon Headquarters. 

Across the street was the Caravelle Hotel that housed many western journalists throughout the war, and was bombed by the Viet Cong in 1968.

                                       

The Saigon Post office is yet another example of French Colonial architecture.  It still functions as a post office, but is a huge tourist attraction.

It is a favorite spot for wedding photos.  Wedding photos , here, are taken days or even weeks before the actual wedding, and most brides rent their wedding gowns from the photographer.  I guess they don’t have to worry that their daughter won’t want to wear mom’s wedding dress down the aisle.

Some couples also wear traditional Vietnamese wedding attire.

                                                     

Notre Dame de Saigon is across the street from the post office, and a Sunday Mass was going on when we got there.  The Catholic Church was pretty much outlawed by the communist government immediatey after reunification in 1976, but as we all know, things have changed dramatically in Vietnam in the last 20 years, and there is no longer a ban on practicing any religion.

Many Hmong, one of the 54 ethnic minorities in Vietnam, wear traditional hand woven fabrics for church services.  They live in the mountainous area of Vietnam, and had early contact with missionaries.  This led to their predominant religion being Catholicism rather than Buddhism.

 

We walked through a large park near the cathedral that was packed with young adults many of whom attended one of the many universities in Saigon. There is still plenty of propaganda everywhere in the shape of posters as well as loudspeakers admonishing the population to emulate “Uncle Ho”.  There were also “Tourist Police”  whose sole jobs were to help tourists across the street and to help them if they get lost.  It’s kind of like a roving Walmart Greeter.

Our last stop on the walk was just opposite the park, the old presidential palace, now called “Reunification Palace”.  It was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was the site of the end of the Vietnam War during the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates symbolically ending the Vietnam War.

Our next stop was to the Chinese market.  There is a large Chinese population in Saigon, though relations with mainland China are somewhat strained at the present time.  The market is enormous and and as Dan and Whit’s says, “If we don’t have it, you don’t need it” (in Chinese, of course).

One of the more disgusting things we saw were skinned frogs that were still hopping, 

A stop at another Buddhist Temple gave Molly and Rich a chance to buy a wish by lighting these weird spiral incense coils ( I think they are actually mosquito repellent that the monks get people to buy).  Molly was worried that her wish wasn’t going to come true because she forgot to put her birthdate on the coil.  Dave pointed out the fact that if there was some power that could grant the wish, it could certainly figure out her birthday.  Sometimes, logic just doesn’t cut it.  I think Rich was shooting for a Miss Universe title, wishing for world peace (he actually never told us his wish).

One thing that struck all of us as we drove around Saigon was the condition of the power lines.  (Gary, if you or Karleen are reading this, we thought of you.  You’d need to come out of retirement to sort this out. ) Dat told us that this was nothing compared to Hanoi!

After MORE food, we finished our time in Saigon with a visit to the Truc Mai House, the home of Mrs. Tuyet Mai and her brother Mr. Dinh Linh, who have both studied at the Vietnam National Academy of Music.   
                                                  

They have a passion for traditional music and have been representatives of Vietnam performing in countries around the world. Their father was a renowned flute player and had won international recognition before his death.  Tuyet Mai’s three sons also play and accompany her and her brother on a variety of traditional folk instruments including a single stringed  monochord zither,

A bamboo xylophone,

and one made from 3,000 yr. old rocks.

                                                   

After there performance, they allowed us all to try out the instruments, though I have to say, they sounded a hell of a lot better than us.

After we all had turns making noise with the instruments, we were back on the bus to the airport for a quick, one-hour flight to the 19^th Century capital city of Hue. Flying out was pretty easy, the Vietnamese were pretty laid back with security.  I got the briefest pat down after triggering the metal detector with my hips.  They did go to the same TSA school as our inspectors with the same dour face and bored expression.

Hue is the complete opposite of Saigon.  The airport is just slightly bigger than Lebanon, and the numbers of cars and scooters is a fraction of what we saw in Saigon. Hue lies almost exactly in the mid point of Vietnam from north to south. Beginning in 1802 it was the imperial capital of the Nguyễn Dynasty.  This lasted until 1945 when Emperor Bao Dai abdicated and a communist government led by Ho Chi Minh was established in Hanoi in the north.

The central position close to the border of North Vietnam made Hue  extremely  vulnerable during the Vietnam War.  In 1968, the Tet offensive saw  some very serious fighting in this area and destruction of many historic buildings.  US forces attempted to avoid damaging these areas, especially the Citadel and Imperial Palace, but NVA troops and Viet Cong used these areas for cover and US troops were forced to use heavy bombardment leading to severe damage tot hese important historic buildings.

Since we got into town finally around 8pm, we went straight to dinner, God forbid we should miss a meal.  Finally checked into the hotel, Le Residence, at around 10.

Tomorrow, we are cycling again.  Washed out my cycling clothes, and I hope they dry by the morning.