I’m not too sure what to make of Ho Chi Minh City. I heard that it was crazy and action packed but I didn’t find it too different from Hanoi. The city was originally called Saigon but was renamed Ho Chi Minh City when the North vietnamese soldiers took over the south after the american war. It’s still called Saigon by the majority of the people in the country so I’m going to call it Saigon too – it’s easier to spell. Ho Chi Minh was the founder of communism in vietnam, he was educated in France and later came back to vietnam to free the colony from french rule and so the people see him as the father of the country. While in Saigon, we stayed in the Pham Ngu Lao area of District 1 which is backpacker central. We had accomodation at this little guest house which turned out to be great. Very clean, comfortable and the staff were excellent. All for $10 a night.
The city is definitely lively – there are bars, cafes and restaraunts everywhere and of course motorbikes. On the Friday we went to see the Reunification Palace which is where the northern vietnamese soldiers went to seize the south. However, we weeren’t allowed in there. We had no idea why until the next day when someone said that an ex-prime minister had died and his funeral was being held in the palace later on that day. That was probably the reason why the war museum was also closed. A bad day for sightseeing.
We booked a day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels ouside of the city. These tunnels were built by the vietnamese to initially help in fighting against the french and were then expanded during the american war. They are absolutely amazing to see. The village of Cu Chi is only about 2 hours outside of Saigon, the main base for american soldiers during the war, so having these tunnels to bring weapons and supplies to the vilagers and the viet cong was vital in helping the north win the war. We were quitelucky in that our tour guide for the day actually fought in the war, with the americans agains the communist north. He explained the tunnel system excellently and what it was like for the south vietnamese soldiers finding out that the people that they were trying to protect were actually helping the north.
He explained that the south vietnamese government only controlled the cities and the main towns in south vietnam (the educated people) whereas the people in the countryside were easily manipulated by the propoganda of the north. As a result they often declined to feed and help the souths soldiers, forcing the soldiers to take food and aid with the use of force. This news would filter through to other villages causing a lot of resentment towards the south. It seemed to be very difficult for them even in areas that were supposed to have total control.
The tunnels themselves are crazy. They’re brilliantly designed and almost impossible to spot from the ground level. I tried to fit down one and couldn’t, they’re tiny. Some of the tunnels in the area have been expanded or increased to double the size just for tourists like myself. Great idea as you can travel up to 100 metres through one section and even at double the size of the tunnels during the war, they are still pretty tight. Claustophobia would be a major concern.
After the tunnels we were taken to the Cao Dai temple, home of the eccentric Cao Daism religion. Cao Daism combines pretty much every religion into one – Jesus, Mohammed, Moses, Buddha, Confucius are all considered prophets of Cao Daism. Sure, why not?