Saigon

After being reunited with Leah and spending a few days in Cambodia, it was time to move on to the next country...Vietnam! We boarded an overnight bus from Phnom Penh headed for Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, depending on who you ask. We had been advised by a number of people that we would only need a day or so to see the city and to prepare ourselves for the intense level of Anti-Americanism. We arrived early in the morning and immediately headed out into the city....

Our first stop, The Reunification Palace

This was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, or the "War of American Aggression" as it is referred to in Vietnam. It was also the site of the end of the war when the North Vietnamese Army tanks crashed through its front gate in 1975.

From there we made our way to the War Remnants Museum, or the Museum of American War Crimes. It's a four story building, housing multiple exhibits displaying photos and propaganda paraphernalia from the war. It was a very hard museum to go through. The pictures were very graphic and heart-wrenching, but it was impossible to not notice how one-sided the story was being told. The worst part was the exhibit showing the effects caused by the "Agent Orange" chemicals used in warfare. I only made it through a portion of that room. We definitely did not leave this museum with a good feeling in our stomach. 

We spent that night soaking in some of the nightlife and trying to wash away the intense day with a few curbside beers at places that I refer to as "PCMT": Plastic Chair Metal Table establishments. These are small places literally set up on the curb serving up beer to locals and backpackers alike. 

The next day we continued our Vietnam War Theme and headed out on a day tour of the CuChi Tunnels. They are an immense tunnel system about an hour outside of Saigon that were used by the Viet Cong in their guerilla warfare. I barely made it through the introductory video without walking out. It was the worst Anti-American propaganda we have seen in all of Vietnam. But luckily, our guide was a war veteran who fought for the states, so we actually got a dual-sided view of the war, with a little humor thrown in every now and then. We were shown through the area of trap doors and boobie traps,

Trap door of the tunnels

 made a stop at a shooting range where we passed on the opportunity to shoot an AK-47 and then it was to the actual tunnels. They have altered a 30 meter section of the tunnel to be a little wider and taller for Western tourists. Well it wasn't quite wide enough for this tourist...I made it 2 steps inside the tunnel before my claustrophobia kicked in and I couldn't get out of that tunnel fast enough! In fact, only 3 people out of our group made it through the whole 30 meters! I can't imagine how they spent months at time down there!

Entrance to the tunnels


Overall, our stay in Saigon was very enlightening, since Leah nor I had much knowledge of the Vietnam War, even if it was hard to bare at times! We enjoyed soaking in the sights and sounds of the city, and playing an endless game of "Frogger" crossing the street, trying to avoid the thousands of motorbikes crowding the streets of this enormous city! Our last night there we purchased our open bus tickets and would start our two week journey up the country, ending in Hanoi, the next morning!