Vietnam - back to Ho Chi Minh City

We left the Mekong Delta after lunch and returned to Ho Chi Minh City in time to see the Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral.  The transfer time in the minibus was another 2 hours. 

another contender for the heaviest load on a single motorbike.  Note the child sitting on the verge having a drink.  The face masks are partly for the pollution and partly for the dust.

I couldn't help but observe the interesting/different approach to wires and street selling.  Note the washing hanging in the balcony

The impression I got during the transit times from one point of interest to another point of interest was of a very vibrant country where everyone appears to be going somewhere, and all at the same time.  This was probably because we were the ones going somewhere as well, but even in the cities, walking down the streets, the buzz of activity, the throng of people walking around the parked scooters, pedestrians meandering in and out of the slowly moving traffic and the invisible pavement (invisible by way of the pavement in the city becomes an impromptu extension of al-fresco dining or street selling), or weaving in and out of the the street-food stalls and diners, as well as the incessant traffic sounds, certainly made you feel - in a very visceral blood pulsing way - that you were truly alive. 

typical countryside  - bananas, rice fields, and I think our guide thought the raised vines were likely to be watermelon.

Our guide pointed out the graves in the middle of the countryside - the deceased would choose to be buried in their rice field - as a way of ensuring the family connection to that piece of land.  The state 'owns' all the land, but families lease the land (can't remember if it's 50 or 70 years), and then reapply when the lease is up.  By burying family members on the land they ensure that other families are less inclined to expand, and over development in the countryside is less likely.  It also ties the next generation to the land, but this becoming less of a bind, as the lure of better paid jobs in the city or overseas (Taipan) is quite powerful.

I'd not seen this before - the numbers count down to the change of colour of the traffic light - to indicate how much time is left until the light changes - so the red arrow turn left has 49 seconds to wait.  The green light has 45 seconds before it turns red.

this absolutely is the WINNER!  I like the counterbalance over the front wheel and between the driver's legs...

Back in Ho Chi Minh City, and the typical street scene looks something like this:

So we were shown the absolutely lovely central Post Office - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigon_Central_Post_Office, which had recently been painted on its exterior...

this statue must be post war - communist propaganda or Vietnamese patriotism?

Built 1886-1891 when the area was under French colonial rule and was called French IndoChine.  A little earlier they'd built (1863-1880) the cathedral - Notre Dame Basilica, which is still in use and survived the War - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saigon_Notre-Dame_Basilica

our group and Notre Dame

Another hot and exhausting day.  The children and J went back to the hotel to cool down.  Simon, R and myself then went onto the War Remnants Museum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Remnants_Museum)  which I'll continue with next time.

Night y'all.  Kat

Vietnam - The Mekong Delta adventure

Our guide said we'd need to set off early the next day as the drive to the Mekong Delta would be another 2 hours in the minibus.  I was quite happy to people watch / life watch from the windows, and made an effort to drink in the scenes that we passed, rather than catch up on snoozing or screen browsing/tablet/phone swiping.

not sure this trailer would pass our MOT - the bolt at his back had my attention....

and today's prize for the largest load on a single scooter goes to ....

glad to know I'm a Chuong Duong Tourist!

our boat for the trip... again, common sense prevails over H&S concerns

tourist with a snake

we went to the Coconut Candy factory ...

which like a lot of things in Vietnam is more or less 'open-air'.  Our hygiene inspectors would have had a field-day...

our small boy not convinced by the smell

The coconut candy itself was not unpleasant, and was available in a choice of flavours - durian, mango, chocolate, coffee, banana to name a few.  Here's a link to some web-images:  coconut candy images.

The next think they made was 'coconut crackers'.

this batter similar to coconut candy, but also similar to rice paper batter, and the process the same as rice paper...

the batter is poured and carefully spread onto muslin stretched over boiling water, a lid put over it and then steamed for 1 minute ...  (note the lady is fully covered, wearing two layers.  It was a hot day for us - 33 degrees in the shade...).

... before being carefully lifted and placed on bamboo racks

to be dried in the sun for a couple of days.

We bought some of these coconut crackers which were intended to come home with us, but didn't make it (we ate them!).  Yummy, coconut milk, sesame seeds, probably some sugar, a sort of caramel flavour in a very thin crispy biscuit-crisp.

I wasn't too sure about the animal welfare of the ponies on the ride to the stream... still I suppose they provide an income from the tourists, and they seemed hardy little things.

at this point the children haven't seen Apocalypse Now, or The Deer Hunter, or any of the Vietnam films, so this boat ride seemed innocent enough to them...

The authentic 'tourist' Mekong Delta boat ride experience

 the end of the stream

taking it easy, Mekong Delta style

semi al-fresco lunch in Mekong Delta - fried fish ready for rice paper wrap and roll

 water buffalo. Say no more.

me trying to be artistic  -  the colours of the boats were really typical.

 That's the Mekong Delta done.  Trip back to Ho Chi Minh City next time - we'll visit the Post Office, Notre Dame and then the adults went to the War Remnants Museum..

Thanks for reading,
Kat

Vietnam - Easter Sunday, Ho Chi Minh City

Cordite?  (the smell of spent ammunition, not dissimilar to the smell of fireworks).  Anyway, back to the trip...

So after the Cu Chi tunnels, we returned in the heat of the day, in the comfort of the minibus, to Ho Chi Minh City to have lunch and then visit the Palace of Reunification, also known as:  Independence_Palace which is where the Vietnam War officially ended, in April 1975 (when I was 9 years old).

Palace of Reunification, Ho Chi Minh City, constructed 1962-1966

Our guide Hoi was very knowledgeable on points of political and wartime history and also the architecture of the building, and explained that the sun screens at the front of the building were meant to resemble bamboo canes.

 

As well as resembling bamboo canes, the bamboo has a symbolic meaning in Vietnam as it grows tall and straight.  This was thought to have been a good omen, in that it would influence those powerful men inside to behave in a gentlemanly way, and be upright and upstanding in their behaviour and actions.

The palace has been unoccupied since the Reunified Vietnamese government consolidated itself in the north - in Hanoi, the seat of government for the country.

We were taken round the building which had hosted many international delegations to South Vietnam  in its brief tenure of government and had the requisite opulence you'd expect in a building of this stature.

 

When we got to the roof however, we found a helicopter, and the following writing:

April 1975 was when it was all kicking off big style in old Saigon.  This was one of the actions that preceeded the Fall of Saigon on 30th April that year.  So it was interesting to be there in April this year, on or around the 40th anniversary of modern Vietnam's creation.

After the visit to the tunnels in the morning, followed by the Palace in the afternoon, everyone was bushed, so we returned to our hotel, freshened up and went out to find something to eat.  R. was much happier to be eating off menu rather than with the standard set menus included in the tour.  I'm not sure our children were that impressed by the steamed fish (which had been brought to the table in a plastic bag for inspection prior to cooking - it had been fished out of one of the fish tanks we'd looked at on the way into the restaurant...)  On the way back to the hotel I took this video clip....  which gives a good sense of the traffic at night in Ho Chi Minh City.

Better get to bed, another busy day to blog about tomorrow - when we visited the Mekong Delta (which was fantastic) in the morning, and then cram in the Post Office, Notre Dame and the War Remnants Museum back in Ho Chi Minh...and if I remember correctly, we finished the day off in a Pizzeria!

Night y'all!  Kat.

Vietnam - Easter Sunday (part two)

I almost forgot the wackiest bit of the Cu Chi Tunnels.  The reason I almost forgot it is I didn't take a photo as they were prohibited.... see notice below...  ho hum.  

As we walked along the tour trail, we could hear the sound of gunfire in the distance.  To my middle-class, middle-aged, female white English ears it seemed a little tacky, a little bit 'side-show-ey', a little sensationalist.  But, hey, did it add to the atmosphere?  Well, yes, it did, actually.  There was the birdsong, the filmtrack sound of the tropical insects, the heat, the dust and the shots echoing through the trees.  It may have been a pre-recorded soundtrack, but the random stutter of the gunfire didn't seem to be taped, and grew louder the further into the forest we went.   It didn't occur to me that there would be a firing range at the end of the trail.. 

At the end of the trail was a gift shop / snack stop / rest room / seating facilities and a firing range (of course!).  They were happily taking the cash of the people who were eager to try firing original authentic weapons from the War and live ammunition.  The firing range dropped off to the bottom of the slope and the targets were positioned a good distance into the de-forested hillside.  I couldn't see the targets from the cover of the shop canopy, but I could see the dust raised from the shots fired.  

What you couldn't mistake was the sound of the live fire, the lingering smell of the spent ammunition  and the quickening of your heartbeat when one of the more eager shooters let off a round of rapid fire (no doubt re-living Apocalypse Now or The Deer Hunter in his mind's eye).  Surreal.

Whilst I didn't take photos of the weapons available to hire, I did snap the cabinet at the entrance to the tour - with weapons used / recovered on display - your original AK47 and others... 

I would write more, but after two days back at work the jet-lag's getting the better of me, so it's an early night tonight.  Glad I didn't forget the gunfire at Cu Chi Tunnels.  Easter Sunday afternoon sees us back in Ho Chi Minh City to visit The Palace of Re-unification.  More on that next time.

night y'all,

Kat.

Our Vietnam Adventure - day two

Easter Sunday, 5th April, and we went from Ho Chi Minh City to visit the Cu Chi tunnels - approximately 2 hours drive by minibus.  Ho Chi Minh City in April is the dry season, hot and dry.  Hot.  Vietnam travel guide weather  It made for an interesting experience leaving the hotel, walking through 33degrees, into the air-conditioned minibus, and then out into the sweltering heat again to see whatever it was we'd gone to see.  Sensibly water bottles were carried on the minibus to aid in coping with the heat.

Hmm.  Where to start?  Driving in Vietnam is a crash course - in not crashing.  It would be alarming were it not so funny.  The Health and Safety inspectorate were obviously on holiday at the same time as we were - in so much as there was no evidence that they exist in Vietnam.  Hold on to your hats, here's an idea of what it's like, taken on the way....  (and this will be good if it works, first time uploading video to the blog!)....

Anyhoo, we'll see how that looks later.

In the meantime, on the way to the tunnels we stopped for a quick history lesson from our guide, Hoi, about the rubber plantations which were established by the French (Indo-Chine) colony.

Back on the bus and we arrived at the Cu Chi tunnels mid morning.  Hoi took us around the site, following a well worn route, along with about 10 other tours being guided along the same route at the same time.  This was interesting in itself as there were other groups from France, America, and Vietnam - evidenced by the sometimes clashing narration from the other guides.  You had to be on your toes not to lose your guide.

The Vietnam War is an obvious point to bring tourists to, and still feels fresh in the consciousness of the country.  Our guide was matter of fact in her explanations of the site, and did not express an opinion either way.  She didn't have to, it was incredibly powerful to witness.

Will he fit?

Apparently yes he does!

Can you see him now?

Ta-dah!

Whilst this was a fun participation experience, the reality of the reasons for the tunnels being there was demonstrated further into the forest...

 Escape, evade and capture....

... in 1970 I was 5 years old...

The Viet fighters used every trick they could devise to target their enemy - this door trap would ensure that if the victim survived he would never be a father.  'Stand back!' this guide said, whilst he demonstrated it.  Again, the H&S police were nowhere to be seen...

Unexploded enemy bombs were retrieved, taken to makeshift workshops, and recycled (not without danger) into weapons to use against the enemy.

The Americans bombed to try to disrupt the tunnels - which were 3 tiered and could be up to 6 meters deep in places, dug into hard clay and unmapped - so the enemy couldn't get very far without becoming lost.

as buildings appeared from outside - often with secret entrance to tunnel in corner of 'room'

hospital - dug into the ground, and roofed with simple structure of frame and leaves

kitchen - VERY hot in here!

staple diet of fighters - Manioc (tapioca root - tasted like potato), peanut dip, and jasmine tea

fighters often supplemented their equipment with plunder from American soldiers...

And then we were on our way back to Ho Chi Minh for a late lunch.  The journey gave us more opportunity to see the traffic, and the insane wires...

We stopped for lunch and then went to see the Palace of Reunification.... more of that tomorrow, and this was all on 'Day One' (well, day two if you must, and for us day three since leaving home).  It was all on Easter Sunday.

Phew!