SE Asia XXXII - Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) or Saigon, as the locals still call it and the train timetables say, is a huge sprawling city. The preservation of old buildings has unsurprisngly been of low priority and cake towers dominated the streets. The most interesting aspect of Saigon is the traffic and that doesn't bode well for the rest of the city. The traffic is amazing. The roads whether wide or narrow are filled with motorcycles and the odd car . To cross the road is a game of chicken across the street and become engulfed by the motorcyle swarm. There are traffic lights in HCMC but they are rarely obeyed. The traffic enmasse decide when the lights have changed colour, irrespective of whether they have. It is not unusual to discovert that the pavement you are walking on has become an express lane to skip a traffic jam or a set of traffic lights. HCMC does have some sights of interest but you could easily see these in a day or two.

HCMC is alot more civilised than I imagined. My expectations had been sufficiently lowered after reading "Don't tell Mum I work on the Rigs"and the story of driving into Saigon in a taxi and being robbed with a machete across your throat. However, time has done its job and Saigon is quite civilised certinaly more so than Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh felt much more unpleasant. I would not want to live in Phnom Penh but I could live in Saigon. I wandered large parts of the city and never had a problem other than the traffic. I walked around at night with a bag and never felt threatened.One of the complaints I often hear baout Vietnam is that people are only out to make money from you and that this is especially true in the south. There is one tourist area in HCMC, Pham Ngu Loo. I choose not to stay here and instead stayed in Co Giang at Kim Loan. If you stay in Pham Ngu Loo then you could well be left with this impression. Co Giang, south of Pham Ngu Loo, is just an alleyway with some guesthouses running along it and doesn't have the restaurants or tourist shops. It means that you don't get hassled apart form a couple of moto drivers. Pham Ngu Loo was the only place in Saigon I got hassled. I've not come across people trying to shine your shoes, but this was common in Pham Ngu Loo (and as it turned out in other touristy parts of Vietnam). In the rest of the city there are moto drivers who try and attract your attention but I didn't find the ones in Saigon that irritating. I think its because Saigon is so big that they are more spread out. I found the motos to come in handy at times. Saigon is huge and at times the streets are faceless with the same cake towers lining the way. It is easy to wander for a while and get lost. The motos I used to get back to Co Giang were all pretty good and I didn't have to bargain hard with them to get a fair price. I stayed at Kim Loan in Co Giang. I got a twin fan room with hot ensuite, TV, fridge, and table chair for $10. The husband and wife who ran it were relatively friendly although their teenage daughters didn't seem quite so pleased with guests wandering in and out of the house.
HCMC has a number of museums. The most interesting is the War Remnants Museum, formerly called the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes. It is one of the best museums I have visited. A great deal of unpleasant material is presented in a tasteful if confronting manner. There are lots of disturbing pictures of the victims of the Vietnam War and victims from the reprecussions of the use of herbicides (particularly disturbing are conjoined babies in glass jars). I found the most interesting exhibit was Requiem. An exhibition of photographs from war correspondents who died during the American War (as the Vietnamese call it). The Reunification Palace is also well worth visiting. It is famous as the site of the South Vietnamese surrender to the North after tanks crashed through the palace gates. It was built in the 1960s and has an uncanny resemblance to Tracy island. Another popular tourist sight is the main post office. It is in an old French building and inside is a large portrait of Ho Chi Minh. The staff here are excellent.