Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
The last days of our trip in Vietnam, we stay in Ho Chi Minh City, which before 1975 was Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. But we don’t see much of the city, most of our time is spent tracing the country’s violent history.
In Cu Chi, seventy kilometres outside the city, an outdoor museum or experience park has been created at the site where the communist army’s secret tunnel system was excavated. Here, one can study the various methods that the NLF (or Viet Cong as the U.S. called them) used to combat enemy soldiers.
To capture Saigon and drive out the Americans was the ultimate goal of the NLF and North Vietnam. They had been preparing for it for a long time. Vietnam would not remain divided like Korea; the barrier between the south and the north would be removed, and the country would unite.
Therefore, they dug a miles-long tunnel system with storage rooms, armouries, kitchens, and bedrooms deep underground. The entrance could be very well camouflaged.
And the methods they used were many. The goal was to mutilate and cause pain to the enemy without directly killing them. When the soldiers of the USA or South Vietnam crept through the jungle, the ground could give way and the intruder would be impaled on sharp spears that shot up from the bottom of the trap. When soldiers broke down the door of a hut, a spear-equipped wooden contraption could come crashing down from the ceiling, injuring the enemy at both chest and knee height.
A clever solution to confuse trackers was the soldiers’ sandals. By turning the straps and soles backward they could deceive any tracker trying to see which direction the soldiers had went.
We also try crawling around in the tunnels, but it’s not easy for a tall westerner. The height in some places is barely a meter, so I have to shuffle on hands and knees, which leads to both claustrophobia and torn pants.
One of the most popular activities in Ci Chi is shooting with automatic rifles and other firearms in a shooting range. We are not so “trigger-happy” ourselves, so we refrain. But there is an infernal banging all the time from the course that is right next to a souvenir shop and kiosk.
From Ho Chi Minh City we head south and take a boat trip on the Mekong River delta. We are transported on rowboats called sampans, rowed by sinewy female oarswomen, and we glide through canals hidden behind tall aquatic plants. Which are actually coconut palms(!)
So we dock at a primitive pier and disembark. We are in some sort of combined restaurant and tourist information centre and hear local melancholic music played by a group of older men on traditional instruments. The singing is very peculiar.
The visit ends in a peculiar store that primarily sells coconut products. It’s everything from coconut cookies and coconut candy to coconut ice cream and coconut chocolate. But of course also bags and t-shirts and batik clothes. At the back of the room, some large glass bottles with a yellowish contents loom. It turns out to be rice wine bottled together with dead animals. We see a small cobra in one bottle and a scorpion in another. Traditional seasoning, we are told, and we try the one with the snake. It tastes like rice wine. Nothing strange at all.
In Ho Chi Minh City we take a stroll through the city centre where there are a few places we would like to see. We pass through a sparse but quite impressive park where some young people are hard at work perfecting their moves.
Two blocks away lies Independence Palace, a grand white building in classical style that was the seat of the South Vietnamese government before reunification. It is now a museum with signs in each room: “So-and-so met here,” “Ambassador xxx lived here.” It is incredibly cramped, sweaty, and moderately interesting. The park surrounding the palace, on the other hand, is very beautiful and many people stroll around here. In one corner, a tank is on display, serving as the backdrop for many selfies.
An additional couple of blocks away we search for the Notre Dame Cathedral, that is, Saigon’s version, from the French colonial era. Unfortunately, the church is closed for renovations, and it seems to be a renovation that has been going on for many years. We visit a food court and indulge in some delicious banh mi sandwiches instead.
We now leave Vietnam for a significantly less touristy neighbouring country, Cambodia. And we are leaving cities, both large and medium-sized, for a few peaceful days far away from civilisation. Join us!
