We meet our guide in the hotel lobby, and then head for the
Cu Chi Tunnel system several miles away.
The tunnel system was used by the Viet Cong (South Vietnamese communist
soldiers) during the Vietnam War, as far back as when the French were fighting. An extensive system of tunnels was created.
Inside the tunnels, there are dining areas, sleeping areas,
and rooms for cooking, with the smoke channeled far from the various
entrances. The Vietnamese are generally
small, so the tunnels have been enlarged to allow for Western tourists to enter
and move through them. Even with the
enlargement, there is not a lot of extra room.
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| Me coming out of tunnel |
At the site of the tunnels, there are also displays of some
of the booby traps and ‘spider holes’ the Viet Cong used against Americans and
their South Vietnamese allies. Some of
these were rather ingenious, as well as being deadly.
There are several tour groups at the tunnels. These include Russians, French, Koreans, but
not too many Americans.
From the tunnels, we head to lunch at the Ben Nay
restaurant, which sits along a small river.
We have a multi course meal of delicious Vietnamese food in an open air
setting. We enjoy small boats floating
by, as well as some local wild life.
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| At Ben Nay Restaurant |
Before we had gone to the Cu Chi Tunnels, we told our guide
we would like to visit the site of our old high school, which is currently the
7th Military Zone Museum in Ho Chi Minh City. She consulted her iPhone, found the address,
and directs the driver to head there next.
The building where the museum is located was the almost
completed school gymnasium when we lived in Saigon. The gym, as well as a cafeteria, was
scheduled to be opened the week after the school was closed in 1965 and we were
evacuated. After the evacuation, the
school was turned into a US Army field hospital. And now it is a Vietnamese War museum.
Former American Community School
None of the school buildings that existed when we were there
are still visible. They were either
demolished, or enclosed by a new structure.
We find an outside stairway that appears to lead where we can get a
better view of the area where the old school buildings were. As we ascend the stairs, we hear a voice
shouting ‘No!’ several times. Seeing
nobody associated with the voice, we proceed.
After coming back down, we see the woman whose voice
admonished us not to proceed. She is
unarmed, and apparently has not called for reinforcements. So we are good.
We are the only visitors in the museum, and all the lights
are off. The receptionist turns on some
of the lights so we may view the displays.
Most of the museum displays are pictures of the Vietnam War, with
decidedly anti-American captions.
On the way to the school, our driver ran over some road
debris, which caused him to have to leave to get his tire repaired. This gives us some extra time in the museum,
where we stumble across a model of what the location looked like prior to the
construction of the museum. This is
similar to how the school looked, but has fewer buildings.
Model of site before it was museum
Driving back into Saigon, we begin to really notice the
amount of traffic. Scooters and
motorbikes are the preferred transport for locals. When we were there in the 60s, it was mostly
bicycles. There are many newer cars and
taxis, predominately Hyundai and Toyota.
There are many traffic signals, most of which have a countdown display
telling drivers how long it will be to the next red or green light. This might not be such a good idea, as
traffic starts to move before the green light timer ends. In spite of the chaotic traffic, we see no
accidents.
In the afternoon, we visit the Notre Dame Cathedral, a
Saigon landmark long before we were there in the 60s. We also visit the old Post Office, and the
War Remnants Museum.
Inside Notre Dame Cathederal - Saigon
While the name of the museum has changed, it still tells the
story of the war from the North Vietnamese perspective. There is no mention of atrocities committed
against the South Vietnamese by the victorious North Vietnamese after the war
ended in 1975.
Among the exhibits in the museum are ‘tiger cages’, which
are described as being used by Americans and South Vietnamese against the Viet
Cong. Ken and I both recall how the same
cages were said to have been used by the Viet Cong. It’s interesting how the history changes
based on who is telling it.
Tiger Cages at War Remnants Museum
Our guide is with us when we view the tiger cages, but
lets us wander on our own after that. We
suspect the guides are told to lead tourists (especially Americans) to these
exhibits and provide information. This
was our only real exposure to verbal propaganda on the whole trip. Even though the overall theme is
anti-American, the displays are generally well done and well organized.
After the guided sightseeing, we are given the opportunity
to wander the streets on our own. One of
our first lessons is how to cross a street.
At traffic lights, there are cross walks, but these seem to serve more
as a targeting opportunity for traffic to hit pedestrians. Through observing the locals, we learn to
start crossing slowly but steadily. We
make eye contact with those who appear bent on running us down. We eventually make it safely to the other
side.
Another lesson for crossing streets is to look all ways,
even if the street we are crossing is one way.
Looking all ways means 360 degrees.
Sidewalks are used by scooter and motorbike riders as short cuts, so we
include them in our crossing routine.
Saigon Traffic with Burger King in background
Many of the sidewalks are in need of repair. Stones are missing or pushed up by tree
roots. This makes navigation even more
hazardous as we need to look where our feet are as well as looking for traffic.
We decide to walk to the Saigon River front to see if there
are any floating restaurants like there were in the 60s. There are several restaurants, but all the
ones we see go out for a dinner cruise.
This being our first day following our full day of travel, we decide to
find dinner somewhere else.
The rooftop of the Rex Hotel is where we decide to go for dinner. This is one of the many landmarks in Saigon
that were there when we were. It was
originally built by the French in the early 1900s.
Rex Hotel Rooftop Restaurant
Before dinner, Ken decides to have a beer. The brand is one we think we are familiar with from the old days in Saigon. It is 333 (or ba ba ba) in Vietnamese.We had remembered the beer being called ‘ba muoi ba’ in
Vietnamese, which is ‘33’. We then
realize inflation has not only hit the currency (20,800 Vietnamese Dong to the
dollar), but has hit the beer,
too. With the exception of the third 3,
the label on the beer looks as it did in the 60s
Ken has some calamari, and I have shrimp fried rice for
dinner. There are several people on the
rooftop. Most seem to be European, with
one table of Americans. The food is
okay, but not outstanding.
On the walk back to the hotel, we stop by a Circle K
convenience store that is open 24 hours.
We decide to get extra bottled water.
We pay in US dollars. The US
dollar is widely accepted in Saigon, and the merchants seem to do a good job of
converting prices fairly.
Having made our purchase and navigated the sidewalks and
streets safely, we return to the hotel.
And we both get another good night’s sleep.
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