April 16 Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City

Our visit to Saigon (most people here still refer to the city by its former name) began in the evening of the 15^th with dinner in a small local restaurant just across the street from our hotel.  We then got an early start the next morning, heading to the Cu Chi tunnel complex.  The tunnels were first used by the Viet Min in the war with the French. The network of tunnels was enlarged during the Vietnam war and was the scene of several military campaigns.  The tunnel system was the Viet Cong’s base of operations during the 1968 Tet Offensive. They were used by the Viet Cong soldiers as hiding spots during combat as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon cashes and living quarters. The tunnels were very small, some have been enlarged by about 40% to allow for tourists to experience them.

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On the way to Cu Chi, our guide explained the reason behind the dog statutes you see on the gates of many houses we passed.  These are to scare off the spirits of those who died outside the home.

We returned to the city for a tour of some of the sites.  We first went to the Jade Emperor Pagoda.  Built in 1909 in honor the supreme Taoist god it is spectacularly atmospheric, stuffed with statues of divinities and grotesque heroes.  The scent of burning incense fills the air.  There are exquisite woodcarvings and the roof is encrusted with elaborate tile work.  The temple, now a Buddhist place of worship, includes statues depicting characters from both Buddhist and Taoist lore. 

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We then moved on to see what was the Presidential Palace, built in the 1960s, and is now the “Palace of Reunification”.  Some other sites were the cathedral of Notra Dame, a smaller replica of the one in Paris.  It was an odd coincidence that we were there the day of the fire in Paris.  Very sad.  We also stopped by the Post Office building designed and built by the French.  We noted that the old telephone booths had been converted to ATMs!

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Our guide pointed out this innocuous building that had served as the HQ for the CIA. This is the building in that famous 1975 picture of the last helicopter taking off.

Then it was back to our hotel for a dip in the pool, which was just outside our room, before we headed out on a Vespa food tour of the city for dinner.

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I was a little nervous riding around Saigon on a motorbike.  There are over 5 million of them in the city and they all seem to be in one place.  So, the prospect of being in the middle of that was a bit scary.  As it turned out it was quite fun, despite a few close calls with other bikes and a couple of cars.

Our first stop was by the river where we had some cocktails.  Then we headed to a spot for appetizers.  This was a street side restaurant, with tables and plastic chairs set out on the street.  We had some wonderful food including the clams in a broth flavored with lemongrass.  To Cathy’s surprise, I even enjoyed them.  There was also prawns and a salad with vegetables and fried squid.

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Our next stop was a restaurant for pancakes and hot pot.  Our guide expertly showed us how to make the rolls with the pancake and then filled the hot pot, which was a broth of coconut milk, passion fruit and chili, with mushrooms, vegetables and some beef.   It was delicious. 

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Finally, we stopped at a local bar for some after dinner drinks, tea and some music before heading to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.  Next, we head to Seim Reap Cambodia!