Saigon before the Northern Communists under Ho Chi Minh 'liberated' the city in April 1975, and as you can guess, it changed it's name to HCMC. Well, I must say that we both liked the feel of Saigon/HCMC. The people are accommodating, polite and smiley, but as we said before not as friendly as Laos. We stayed in a very nice, friendly family-run guesthouse. It had a great rooftop patio that we found by accident one night when the power went out. It was nice to eat breakfast up there too overlooking the other patios and rooftops of the city, and marvel at all the television ariels.
One of the first things that we noticed about the city is the veritable sea of human mass all on 2 wheels. I think there are 8 million people and 5 million motorbikes in the city! Nobody seems to walk anywhere. Everyone is on a bike or moped. Crazy! Crossing the street is an adventure and is not for the weak, and you just have to basically walk confidently, and steady as the bikes flow around you. Hesitate, or stop and you will get hit! Women seem to cover up completely when riding on the mopeds too, wearing long satin gloves right up to where their short sleeves end. We also noticed (and loved) that when cars and trucks reverse, instead of the normal beeping sound to warn people, Jingle Bells or Happy Birthday tunes ring out!! ha ha! That's Asia for you!
We visited the Fine Arts Museum in a great colonial villa, Ho Chi Minh Musuem with some gory details about Vietnamese politics, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Hotel de Ville (French influence), but our favourite was the Reunification Palace. This drab, communist looking building was where the president of South Vietnam lived until the Communist tanks blasted through the gates in April 1975. The building was basically left as it was found that day, in 60's and 70's retro decor which we thought was cool and very stylish. Of course, the president's meeting rooms were great, but the cream of the crop were the games room complete with old barrel bar and circular couch, and the dance room which was on top in the centre as you can see in the picture. Down underneath the building was where the war rooms and bomb shelters were. Some great maps of Vietnam complete with war plans, and we snuck a pic of Michelle sitting in the President's old war room chair disregarding the sign 'Do not touch' - Ooops!
We witnessed some huge storms in Saigon, one in which we could only find shelter in a fluffy teddy bear shop for 45 minutes! We couldn't find a restaurant or bar! Once out of the rain, we also took in the War Remnants museum. Previously called the Museum of American War Crimes, and it pulls no punches. It is filled with photos and stories of gruesome acts perpetrated by the US in the American War (as it is called here). It is pretty eye opening and a little hard to stomach. We do realize that it is of course a very one-sided story, but when you see all the kids born with deformations from parents affected by agent orange, the countryside flora and fauna killed from the effects of napalm and agent orange, and the innocent women and children killed in the war, it is pretty hard to stomach. *Stub
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