Saigon / Ho Chi Minh – A Blur of a Visit

When we arrived in Saigon we were welcomed by running into the beautiful Kaleena (from Kaleena’s Kaleidoscope and if you haven’t read it yet you should instantly follow this link and read all of her fantastic tales). Running into someone in a huge city should have been a huge surprise but the secret of Saigon is that it is mainly contained in about 3 streets. These three streets are located in the area called district one and are the main travellers hub.
We also met up with another friend from Korea who has recently moved to Saigon. She showed us the sights but mainly the gin…oh the gin!
We did see the war museum , or as Lee thinks it should be renamed ‘A photographic history of hating America’. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t’ truth on the walls of the museum. It just means that its a very one sided and extremely gruesome history told from the winners perspective. Please don’t get me wrong though, it is a horrifying history and needs to be told but it is worrying when rooms are called things such as ‘The real truths’ or when tanks are labeled ‘Americans death machine’ while Vietnamese tanks are labeled ‘Vietnamese liberation vessel’. It would have been fantastic to see a un-biased account of event which would still show the horrors the Vietnamese people and the Americans both experienced. But I don’t have a degree in History so definitely don’t have the right to an opinion on this place. It is still an interesting place to see either way.
We also indulged in our favourite past time and headed to the cinema. It was great. Quiet, cheap and with fantastic salted popcorn. The Vietnamese had a great sense of humour and laughed at everything which made it a great experience.
We also managed to see the 1920’s style post office as well as the Notre Dame cathedral. but we mostly spent our time eating and taking in the city. We sat on many tiny plastic chairs and guided our way across the terrifyingly busy roads.
I think it’s definitely a city to live in rather than visit…UNLESS you know some people to enjoy the city with. There is so much to do here but it’s more relaxed things that require insider knowledge.