Saigon (HCMC), Vietnam

Our last big city in Vietnam, Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City), did not disappoint. With 9 million people and 3.1 million motorbikes, we honestly expected to hate it—but in fact we found the opposite. We loved Saigon. It’s hard to pinpoint why this city is so charming, but its air of “I don’t care what you think, I’m Saigon, and I’m proud of it” is truly infectious. It’s the quintessential example of an unconditional patriotism found all over Vietnam: The intense pride the Vietnamese hold for their country despite it’s depressing—and often times bloody—history is evident everywhere you go. In other words, it doesn’t matter that they were occupied by the Chinese for a thousand years, colonized by the French, occupied by the Japanese, divided North and South under different governments, and then destroyed by the U.S.; they are still intensely proud to be Vietnam. What’s more, they don’t hold grudges. Initially, we thought we would keep quiet about our American roots so as not to provoke any hostility, but we soon realized that no one cared. It seems that the Vietnamese are just so happy to have finally become a unified, peaceful, self-governing people, that the past is not worth dwelling on. It's an incredible testament to the power of optimism.

 The main backpacker street at night.

We got in pretty late to Saigon from Dalat, so besides finding a guesthouse and getting dinner, our first day was uneventful. Our next day in Saigon, however, found us at the Cu Chi Tunnels; an interesting, but emotionally draining experience. The Cu Chi Tunnels are a system of underground pathways and bunkers used by the Viet Cong (communist Vietnamese) during the Vietnam War. Seeing as we were taking a tour of a Viet Cong stronghold, the tour was more than a bit biased, proudly boasting a display of greusome “American traps,” and a documentary that referred to U.S. soldiers as “a gang of devils”. As hard as it was to see, we realized that we have never learned both sides of the Vietnam War, and we owed it to ourselves—and to this country that has been so hospitable to us for the past month—to learn more.

A local demonstrates that it is actually possible to fit into this tiny hole in the ground. It was a secret entrance to the tunnel network.

Jessica's attempt at a "neutral" facial expression while in a claustrophobic Cu Chi tunnel... She saw herself looking differently in her mind, but this is what the camera caught.

Preston, on the other hand, apparently LOVES tiny, enclosed spaces.

Jessica shooting her first gun... It just so happened to be an AK-47. Holy cow.

Not Preston's first time shooting a gun, but he added to his experience by looking devious.

Our next day in Saigon found us at the War Remnants Museum (formerly known as the American War Crimes Museum). This was an even harder pill to swallow. We were bombarded by images of Agent Orange victims and their severely affected children, by stories of American brutality, by statistics on how many bombs were dropped, and how many Vietnamese people were killed. It was an eye-opening experience to see the war from this perspective, to be sure.

Outside the museum were over a dozen US planes, helicopters, and tanks.

Preston taking in some of the museum.

Later that day we went to the Independence Palace, which was once the "White House of Southern Vietnam" before Saigon fell to Ho Chi Minh in April of 1975. Our tour through this building was interesting for the fact that those who lived/worked in it before Saigon fell were allied with the US against Northern Vietnam (and by association, China and Russia).

Outside the Independence Palace.

The roof of the Palace, where two bombs were dropped by the Viet Cong (aimed at the Prime Minister). The bombs did not get their target, but Ho Chi Minh soon thereafter won the Palace by running two tanks through the front gate of the grounds. The Prime Minister fled from the scene in the US helicopter pictured above.

Preston overlooking Saigon from the roof of the Palace.

Later that day, we headed for the Ben Thanh Market, full of cheap knock-offs and strange foods galore! It was a great market, but it was also chock-a-block full of amazingly pushy sales ladies. Preston actually got slapped on the shoulder by a sales lady after he told her he wasn't interested in buying anything from her. Later that day he got his leg hair viciously pulled by a little girl. That scenario went a little like this:

Little girl: Buy something? [shows us basket containing mainly cigarettes]

Us: No, sorry, we don't smoke.

Little girl: [wounded look on her face] You buy something? Cigarette?

Us: No, sorry hon, we don't smoke. 

Little girl: [vicious leg hair pull, runs away]

Us: [shocked, but laughing]

Jessica at the Ben Thanh Market.

Preston getting slightly ripped off by the lady selling knock-off designer jeans. At least she did it with a smile on her face.

Since this is almost our last stop in Vietnam, we thought it important to make a couple important lists. First of all we will attempt to elucidate the "Vietnamese Rules of the Road":

1) Drive a motorbike. Cars are much less fashionable, and not as easy to park on sidewalks.

2) Pass at all costs. You should NEVER stay behind a slow moving bike/car/semi/bus in front of you: waste of time. Passing is especially important when on a curvy two lane road on a blind turn. 

3) Lanes are relative. There is ALWAYS an invisible center lane that you can travel in until something larger starts coming from the opposite direction. Then swerve out of their way.

4) Speed limits are relative as well. Go as fast as possible.

5) Make ample use of your horn. If you're feeling nice, give a two-beep warning before passing, if you're feeling crazy, hold down your horn as long as possible while passing to get maximum "freak out". 

6) Sidewalks are also meant for motorbikes. Didn't you know?

7) Never make quick movements; someone is almost guaranteed sitting in your blind spot. At the same time, mirrors are not necessary, and neither is checking your blind spot. They'll honk if you're about to hit, anyway.

8) When taking a left, you must cross all the oncoming lanes, reaching the far left side of the street, make the turn, then cross all oncoming lanes again to reach your side of the street. How simple!

9) You can carry anything, and I mean ANYTHING on a moto. (See below)

10) Last and most important: NEVER show emotion. Scared? No you're not. Just barely missed a head on collision doing 30? Who cares. 

Note: It's actually scary how quickly you get used to these rules. I guess fear is also relative.

 One man, one mission: Toilet paper, and lots of it.

Another list we'd like to make (more for ourselves than anything) is of the amazing foods we've had in Vietnam:

1) Fried sticky rice. This sounds weird, but it's literally mouth-watering.

2) Cau Lau. This dish has everything. Noodles, fresh lettuce and mint, a few slices of marinated chicken, roasted garlic, and a brothy dressing. (A specialty of Hoi An)

3) Pho (pronounced "fuh"). Especially good when it costs less than 50 cents. 

4) Country Pancakes. This is hard to describe, but it's basically a potato pancake, folded in half with meat, sprouts, tofu, and other stir-fried veggies inside.

5) Lychee. Jessica likes this coconut-grape-orange tasting fusion of a fruit more than Preston, but no one can deny that it doesn't look cool. (Pictured below)

A batch of fresh Lychee.
(You peel the outside off, and inside is a grape-like fruit with a pit.)

This, however, is NOT something that we enjoyed, nor did we even try. It's dried squid/octopus and it's sold EVERYWHERE.

Side note: Above is an example of the "pajama style" we've seen all over Vietnam. At first we thought women only wore these in the morning, you know, the whole "just rolled out of bed" look, but they really wear them all the time. I guess it's comfort above all else.