Oct 9-10th 2009
Saigon is Vietnam's largest city and the economic powerhouse of the nation. In the 18th Century the area was renamed Sai Gon, after the Kapok tree. French traders and missionaries settled here. Their inflruence on the architecture in and around the city and it's organisation in parts could be seen clearly when we took a walking tour the first evening that we reached. As usual, it rained on our parade but we plodded on, taking cover wherever possible. The 1862 Treaty of Saigon declared the city the capital of French Cochin China and Saigon came to be known as the "pearl of the orient". The cruelty of French rule however, fueled the nationalist movement and the Viet Minh also mobilized against the Japanese. in 1945 the Revolution successed and VIetnamese independence was formally decalred. However, this celebration was short-lived when British interference led to the overthrow of the new Viet Minh goverment in Saigon and the French returned. Miliatary assistance to the French was added to by the US in 1945 with more French troops and so 30years of war began. The Americans gradually replaced the French as the enemy and Saigon soon became the nerve-centre of the US war effort until the final vitory of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign on 30th April 1975. After Vietnam was finally reunified, with the South and the NOrth longer being divided, Saigon was formally renamed Ho Chi Minh city, in honor of Vietnam's heroic leader. The walking tour that BEatrice and I led ourselves took us to see the sights of HCM by night, including the famous postoffice and the opera house. We walked back to the hotel via some beautifully ornate and well maintained buildings, close to the Oriental Saigon Hotel (well worth a stay in if you have the dosh!), and could imagine many an expat living a rather comfortable life out here. I don't know if it would be my preferred choice of location but it was nice to finally see some development and progression in a region that so often still seems so far behind.
Day 10 started off early with a trip to the Cuchi Tunnels.
Begun in the 1940s, this legendary tunnel network was Saigon-Gia Dinh REgional Party headquarters. It is a unique project of architecture, as an undergound system of tunnel deeply located in the ground bed with numerous floors, several devaited alleys like a cobweb over 200km long with places of sleeping, meeting, eating and so on. The undergrounds tunnel system, similar to S21 and killing fields, has been given a makeover and excavated to show tourists and locals how determined, wise and proud the CuChi people were. It serves as a symbol of the Vietnamese people's revolutionary heroism in the Anti-American resistance for saving their coutry.
We saw rough sand models, pictures, sculptures, illustrating the typical revolution campaigns and were able to go down into the tunnels. The night before, our tour leader had suspected that I would be the only one of the group that would be able to go down the smaller tunnels. I was indeed one of a few that braved it and fit through the holes leading to the tunnels. This was, quite possible, one of the most scary experiences of my life so far and i became aware of a big phobia of mine- being enclosed in small spaces. I was totally unprepared of what was to come when i lowered myslef, arms up in the air, 2m below the ground. I was warned that it was dirtier and far smaller than the other tunnels in the complex but, me being me, thought "come off it, it can't be THAT bad!" Oh how wrong i was! Nobody told me i'd be knee deep in foliage, that it would be so small i would have to crawl through on my hands and knees, that bats, YES BATS, and millions of them resided down these tunnels and that it was completely dark. I was equipped with a torch but my already panick-stricken state was tousled more by the fact that i got lost underground! I came to a junction, where i could go either straight or left. Now, when the tunnels were dug, they created a vast network with many dead ends to trick the enemy with- had they transported me back to that era as an enemy, then their plan would have worked as I was truly stumped. However, i began to panic and to bang against the walls, screaming for "Help" and where to go. After a couple minutes and having taken slightly longer than the others to come out the other end, the tourguide and group members called down to me and heard my screams. I had to take the left fork- duh! and soon saw, quite literally, the light at the end of the tunnel. This was such a frightening experience that I refused to go down the other tunnels that, albeit small, were nowhere near as dirty and undeveloped as than what i had previously experienced. one thing's for sure, you admire the lengths that the Vietnamese went to in order to protect themselves and their families. If i had to endure those living conditions, I don't know what i'd do! Later on, we drank green tea and ate boiled cassava- yum! A reminder of home- mum's staple diet food!
We arrived back from the Cuchi tunnels to the hotel around noon and spent the rest of the day wondering around the city and doing some last minute shopping/eating before boarding our first overnight train to Nha trang, later that evening.
Px
