March 21 - Saigon (AKA Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

When I last wrote we’d sailed from Manila.  Since then we stopped at Coron, Philippines (didn’t get off the ship there) and had a couple of sea days. I’ve nothing spectacular to report of those days except that I had a wonderful time.

Yesterday and today we’ve been In Saigon, Vietnam.  Officially the name of the place since 1976 is Ho Chi Minh City, but to me, and evidently to many of the people who live here, it will always be Saigon. Books have been written about the history of this place and country, particularly about the last 150 years or so. I’m not even going to try to do that.  I will write a little of what my wonderful guide Lee told us yesterday on the private tour I’d booked with Tours by Locals. I haven’t fact-checked everything he told us but it sounds mostly right to me.

Lee said that historically Vietnam and China have been enemies, or at least not friends.  A few years after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, in 1978 Vietnam went to war with Cambodia because the Khmer Rouge government of that country with the backing of China was massacring Vietnamese living in border villages.  The Chinese briefly made an incursion in 1979 into northern Vietnam as a result of the fighting. They withdrew but full diplomatic relations between the two countries weren’t restored until 1991.  According to Lee to some extent the Cambodia-Vietnam conflict was a test of Chinese versus Soviet ability to protect or influence Southeast Asian affairs.  The Soviets were backing Vietnam in this instance.  I think everything told me by a guide has to be taken with some measure of salt but a lot of what he said rang pretty true.  Lee continued that after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Communist government of Vietnam lost the financial support of their primary backer.  According to him, that government decided to go in the direction of a socialist oriented market economy.  People were allowed to own land that had been confiscated and private ownership of farms and factories was encouraged.  There is still government control as evidenced by lots of pictures of the late Chairman Ho around, but people here have free access to Google, YouTube and other social media outlets.  Lee showed us on his iPhone he could access the websites of news outlets in other countries like the BBC.  So it seems that now there’s kind of a hybrid form of communism here.  I’m not sure I understand exactly how it operates and I may have to look into it more to get a better understanding.  

Anyway, a lot of what Lee told us tracked with my own experience with Saigon.  I came here in January, 1995 on one of the earliest western cruise ships to visit.  The Saigon I saw then was bustling and had a few high-rises.  The Saigon I saw today looks like a boom town.  There are modern skyscrapers rising everywhere, including one that looks like it was modeled after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Interspersed between the glass and steel structures are old colonial era buildings with elaborate wrought iron balconies and fading colors.  The old buildings have spots of mold on them because the heat and humidity take a toll on the stucco.  In the more modern sections one sees none of the spiderwebs of wires hanging from poles along the street in the old parts with smaller webs going to stores and apartments along the way.  Everywhere there are sidewalk vendors and motorbikes parked in every available space.  On the streets there’s an absolute chaos of traffic.  There seem to be no lanes and the driving looks like every car, bus, or bike cuts in front of whatever’s in the way with no fear of getting smushed. Saigon has about 12 million people in the city itself and I’m guessing there are at least that many motorbikes. In the incredible heat women ride their bikes with their faces and bodies totally wrapped up in layers of clothing because it’s a status symbol to have lighter skin.  It means you’re not a laborer on a farm or in a village.  It’s really difficult to paint a picture in words of what this city is like.  You have to experience it with all your senses to get a little understanding of the place.  I still have trouble adding videos, but I’m going to upload some photos to remember at least the sights of Saigon.

So back to our tour yesterday. I got up at 6 AM (ugh!) because I wanted to see us sail up the river.  We got here a few hours late because of heavy boat traffic as we sailed up the Saigon River and docked right downtown.  Lee met us with a van and driver (whose name I can’t remember) and we took off.  The first place we went was an enclave of tranquility in the midst of the chaos.  It’s a park of sorts which has areas showing traditional Vietnamese country life.  There are lotus ponds and a small rice paddy. There are some small houses built like the ones in villages with bamboo walls and roof supports and thatched roofs made of straw or palm leaves.  We saw how rice is harvested and dried and then a traditional mill. This place has large areas where families can come and picnic or eat in sheltered open air structures where prepared food can be bought. It was a delightful place in the city but away from the noise.  

The sun was already up but I liked the sky and the reflection in the water

People live in these boats

A fisherman on his way out.

Look at these old colonial style houses with the modern high-rises behind

The entrance to the park.  The structure is typical of what a house in the countryside would look like.

A lotus pond in the park.  Every part of the lotus is used from the tuber to the seeds and flowers

This is what a kitchen in a village house looks like

A waterwheel to aerate the lake for the fish living there

An old mill to separate the rice from the leaves

Rice drying.  The rice has not yet had the hull removed

I just thought this flower on one of the trees was beautiful so it's here for no reason other than that.

I guess you could say I loved this park and so all the photos to keep the place in my memory.

Our next stop took us back into downtown Saigon to a Buddhist-Confucian temple.  In the courtyard was a large golden happy Buddha next to a fishpond with great big catfish swimming around.  Lee told us that people bring big fish to donate to the temple because it’s supposed to bring the donor good luck.  The fish aren’t eaten; they’re living the good life in the pond being fed by the temple monks.  To enter the main parts of the temple we had to remove our shoes and hats and big signs said no photos were allowed.  My friend and I followed the rules but a group of Germans came in and were taking pictures everywhere.  It was quite disrespectful because there were quite a few locals praying.

The Happy Buddha outside the main temple entrance

A happy catfish lazing in the pond in the temple courtyard

I could just get a glimpse of a side altar in the temple from outside

We drove around the downtown and passed what is today the American consulate; the embassy is in Hanoi.  We made a stop at the main post office.  It was built by a French architect named Alfred Foulhoux between 1886 and 1891 during the French Colonial era.  It’s impressive and looks like it could pass for a late 19th century railroad station with its vaulted roof.

The main post office

Doesn't this look like the main hall of an old railway station?

We drove past the War Remnants Museum, which I didn’t want to visit.  I went there last time and it was sad and depressing.  Instead we stopped and walked through a book street. Katie would love this place.  It’s a short street with nothing but book stores for a whole block.  At home brick and mortar book stores are going the way of the do-do bird but not here.  At the end of the street we turned left and walked a little way and there rising above us, dwarfed by a giant glass skyscraper behind it, was one of the most iconic buildings I’ve seen in my lifetime – the roof of the former American embassy from which people scrambled into the last helicopter flying people out of Saigon on April 30, 1975.  The last marine who climbed onboard had the  embassy flag neatly folded and in a brown paper bag.  And so ended our nearly 20-year involvement in the country. At one time we had over 500,000 troops there.  More than 3 million peopled died in that war including more than 58,000 Americans.  Any adult alive remembers seeing the famous photograph.  

The Book Street

This is the iconic photo from April 30, 1975 - the last helicopter from Saigon

The building in the middle ground is that building today

Our final stop was a lacquer ware factory.  Lacquer is made with a wooden base on which coats of paint are applied and then either seashell  (pearl and abalone to provide iridescence) designs are created or duck eggs shells and powder are applied to create traditional designs.  Some of the works were fabulous and I bought a couple of small ones.  Then it was time to get back to the ship because there was a special event planned for those of us doing the whole “Grand Voyage.”  I’ll tell more about that in my next entry.

One last thing. While he was explaining about the life in the fishing and farming village he lives in in the Mekong Delta, Lee showed us some photos of some of the favorite things to eat and drink in his family. Much as I hate them I have to include the photos so I'll never forget.