13th February, 2017

A thousand apologies, I have been very remiss and really have very few excuses other than that I am on holiday! I am typing this in Bali, so I still have to cover HCMC and Singapore. Well, here goes, I will see what I can achieve today.

We made our early flight from Da Lat to Ho Chi Minh City aka Saigon (and henceforth referred to as HCMC) and were met by our last guide in a long succession of guides, this one being called Wing (“as in chicken wing” as he informed us!), an extremely amiable and informative chap with a plethora of jokes and views on all matters Vietnamese. As it was so early we set off straight away for a bit of sightseeing round HCMC, a city very different to Hanoi, with wide straight streets, some degree of order, lots of traffic and lots of lush green parks. Hanoi has its French Quarter, but HCMC feels much more of a complete French city. It does not have an Old Quarter of meandering, bustling streets and alleyways and, for me, lacked the excitement and old world charm of Hanoi, though Val preferred it. It is supposed to be much more fun compared to conservative Hanoi and it is certainly attractive possibly because it is warmer, sunnier and generally much more cosmopolitan than the capital in what was the communist North.

Our first stop, which almost seems to be compulsory, was the War Remnants Museum, not a destination for the faint-hearted as it is a distressing compendium of the horrors of war, in this case almost exclusively that imposed on Vietnam by the Americans (though the French do not get a very good write-up either). Outside there is an impressive collection of captured American artillery, a tank, helicopter and  fighter planes. Inside there are a series of halls presenting a grisly portfolio of photographs of mutilation, napalm burns and torture. There is a whole gallery on international opposition to the war and support for the North Vietnamese and Vietcong with another that looks at the war correspondents who catalogued the wars and often died in the attempt. Some 63 to 71 (the figures are debatable) were killed during the 20 years to 1975 (which matched the number killed in the Iraq war between 2003 and 2006. For information 67 died Inc WW2 and 18 in the Korean War).

Anyway, it was pretty one sided, though there was an attempt to show the efforts to reconciliation by all sides. That said, it was not at all complimentary to the US in particular and the tactics they used, especially Agent Orange. It would have been good to have had some historical context, but perhaps understandable if you are on the receiving end of the conflict). It did not lend itself to many photos, but here you go…

It was a short drive to the Reunification Palace, our next stop. This building became most famous possibly when two Vietcong tanks crashed through the gates on 30th April, 1975 (they have examples of the tanks, though not the originals, in the garden). Inside the palace the president of only two days, Duong Van Minh said to the victorious General Bui Tin “I have been waiting since early morning to transfer power to you”, to which the General replied “Your power has crumbled. You cannot give up what you do not have”. To the point! I have unearthed a report on YouTube by none other than Sandy Gall (remember him?) on the last days of Saigon. Compulsive viewing! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IdR2Iktffaw.

The original palace was a colonial mansion built in 1871 for the governor-general of Indochina. It was appropriated by President Ngo Dinh Diem but suffered badly in an assassination attempt by two disaffected south Vietnamese pilots who bombed it in 1962. It was pulled down and a building erected that my guidebook suggests has all the charm of a municipal library! Fascinating inside though and still used for high-ranking visitors and important occasions. It still has a US helicopter on the roof and the bomb shelter in the basement with all the old maps and communications equipment (some of which Val recognised from her early working days!). The cinema and games room from the presidential days have also been preserved. As my excellent Lonely Planet guidebook once again says, hitting the nail on the proverbial head, ‘it’s hard not to think that you’ve strayed into the arch-criminal’s lair in a James Bond film’ and it certainly is a time capsule of Sixties and Seventies kitsch in places.

We departed and went on a drive and walk of some of the main sights of the city, starting with general post office (possibly by Eiffel, though it depends on who you read), built in the 1880s. Inside there are some old murals of Saigon and environs in 1892 and telegraph lines of south Vietnam in 1936. There is also still an old chap, Mr. Duong Van Ngo, who usually sits at the end of a long wooden table underneath a mural of Ho Chi Minh, behind the sign “Information and Writing Assistance”. Mr. Ngo has been working here since he was 17, (he was born in 1930), as a polyglot public letter writer. Being the last letter writer in old Saigon, he’s a source of stories of how he connects people across the planet with his fountain pen. Sadly he was not there when we visited! Sorry to build up the anticipation like that, I was partially quoting from other sources. I have sourced a photo of him though.

Just opposite is the Cathedral and a short drive away the Hotel de Ville, the opera house (now called the Municipal Theatre) and other colonial buildings, many of them hotels then as now (the Rex, Continental and Caravelle) and often made famous as drinking haunts of Vietnam War correspondents. In front of the Hotel de Ville there is the wonderful Nguyen Hue Street, which has two lanes with a large ‘walking square’ in between with the statutory statue of Uncle Ho at one end and stretching a good half kilometre down to the Saigon River.

It was now time to check into our latest abode, a nice modern hotel with all the usual amenities. Stand by for standard hotel room pictures!

Our day was not finished though as we were booked in to see a show at the Municipal Theatre, called the A O show, showcasing the talents of what are called here the minority people. It was absolutely breathtaking and the best I can do as there was no photography allowed (or even silent!) is to direct you to this trailer http://www.luneproduction.com/teh-dar which should give you a flavour. Quite Cirque du Soleil and utterly mesmerising. I think the production company does tours and I can heartily recommend it. Here is a view of the stage at least (plus a pair of very unusual shoes and the meal we had after the show)!

We then walked through the walking square admiring the fountains and avoiding the sight line of would-be David Baileys snapping their girlfriend would-be Kate Mosses posing in front of almost anything and the forest of selfie sticks. Lots of fun and very lively and jolly with the traffic pouring past. As ever, a mass of motorbikes all jostling for position and at times resorting to the pavement for those vital extra metres.

I enjoyed this photo – not sure what a tax supermarket is though!

Ok, one day down, but Val is looking for a game of table tennis, so I must leave it there for now. More soon, promise!