Saigon? Ho Chi Minh City?

So I guess Vietnam is supposed to be a Socialist country? It doesn't seem like it. The government may control the people's lives a little bit, but Capitalism is king when it comes to business. There was not much of a drastic change when we crossed the border from Cambodia - more rice paddies and lots of motorbikes, but we could read the signs at least (they use the Roman alphabet).

We arrived in Saigon in the middle of the afternoon, and decided to drop our stuff off at a hotel and wander the neighborhood. (Officially it is known as Ho Chi Minh City, but all the signs still say Sai Gon and all the people call it Sai Gon -- just don't say Saigon to a government official!) We unloaded ALL of our clothes at the front desk to get our first laundry done since Thailand, and set off for the central market to buy a shirt or two for the next day. After being violently manhandled by the women in the clothing market who really know how to force you to buy their products, we managed to escape back to the street with a few $4 knock-off Polo shirts (good quality!). We briefly explored the waterfront of the Saigon River before getting some dinner and passing out.

The next morning we started our day with a bowl of pho - the traditional Vietnamese beef noodle soup breakfast. Lonely Planet has a suggested itinerary and map for walking around Saigon and seeing all the sights in one day, so we decided to follow it. The beginning of the route brought us through some of the ordinary streets of the city, full of cone-hatted women selling fruit (yes - everyone really wears the cone-shaped hats), charming French buildings, and thousands of motorbikes. The roads here are so chaotic that the traffic lights are generally disregarded, which means crossing the street can seem like a death wish - but after watching the locals do it a few times we got the hang of it. There is a constant flow of vespas and motorcycles, and they never stop for pedestrians. You have to step directly into traffic and slowly move across the road as the bikes swerve around you. It's pretty exhilarating. Brian describes it as a game of human frogger.

We stopped at the city's cathedral and walked through some of the European-looking parks. The charm of Saigon's layout, architecture, and concern for aesthetics is definitely unmatched by any city we have been to in the region (once again, thanks to the French I'm sure).

We visited the War Remnants Museum (formerly called the Chinese and American War Atrocities Museum) to get an idea of the Vietnamese perspective of the "American War." It was a very small museum with an enormous impact. They leave nothing to the imagination in the photos and descriptions of the crimes committed against their people. I'll probably have nightmares about what I saw that day - it was just as moving as Yad Vashem - the Holocaust museum near Jerusalem. The weapons we used against the Vietnamese were unbelievably barbaric. Bombs filled with thousands of nail-darts to increase "enemy" casualties? Phosphorus bombs that melt the skin away from the victims without killing them completely?? Agent Orange?!? No wonder people were rioting in the streets back home - this wasn't a war it was a rampage of civilian mutilation. The scars are still seen everywhere. Special bikes have been invented to accommodate the hundreds and hundreds of agent orange victims who's limbs are too deformed to pedal a regular bicycle - we saw these every few blocks. Although the exhibit was clearly biased, it got the point across and reconfirmed my belief that no war is justified unless it is immediate self defense. Nothing gets accomplished and the civilians are the ones who suffer most of the aggression. Look at Iraq - approximately 70,000 civilians killed?!? Insane.

-- read the caption --

Ugh.. back to Saigon - it is really really hot. 100 degrees and 100% humidity. Ouch! We found an air conditioned restaurant in a French neighborhood and enjoyed some great cheap French food before stopping in a French bakery/cafe for dessert. Colonization is a greedy and unfair system, but it sure does leave a charming legacy behind. We ended our tour of the city at a beautiful Buddhist pagoda where some famous incidents of monk self-immolation occurred during the war.

We spent the evening wandering the energetic streets around our hotel, watching the crazy locals go about their capitalistic endeavors with humor and determination. We stopped at a cafe to look at the menu. Once we saw the prices and started to leave, the young woman who owned the place cried out "Oh my God! Whyyyy??" Later on we were strolling down the street when a few restaurant owners whipped out a stack of fake 100 dollar bills and started burning them on the sidewalk. (Americans are not too popular here, which is why we're from Vancouver now, eh?) During dinner a young street performer started spinning burning sticks and then proceeded to feed a meter-long, live snake into his nose and pull it out through his mouth. A little later, a small girl came up to us with a case of cigarettes. Brian asked her "aren't you too young to be smoking?" She instantly replied - "you no smoke you die!" These people will stop at nothing to get your money.

Aside from the brutal reminders of an unjust past, Saigon is by far my favorite city here. It is clean, modern, and organized, yet it is also home to a profoundly rich culture and delicious cuisine. And the women are beautiful - Vietnam wins.