Last night we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City. Neon lights, scooters everywhere,... Man, what a rat race! Checking in, meeting up with our friend and a quick shower to freshen up after a long long day of flying. Then it was time for a beer and the first look at local food. Our dinner was BBQ (and I thought we left Australia). We had goat, meat from the shoulder and fillets (if I understood it correctly). We tried it and washed it away with a Heineken.
Good morning, Vietnam! First day of discovering Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). We got some breakfast In this little French bakery. The plan was to hit the markets first and then go to the War Museum. On our way to those Ben Thanh Markets we were stopped by 3 guys on cyclos. These are bicycles with a seat in the front. The markets weren't open yet, so we decided to jump on those cyclos. They brought us to the War Remnants Museum, the Opera, the Notre Dam,...
We spent more than an hour in the War Remnants Museum. The amount of new facts about the war and all the photographs were impressive and overwhelming. The war in Vietnam started in 1959, when the communists tried to liberate the South. The North of Vietnam was supported by the communists and the South by America. The American army was more likely fighting an invisible army. All the houses in the Saigon area had tunnels, so people could escape when bombs went off. In total there were more than 250km of tunnels in the South of Vietnam, Cu Chi region. Up to 10000 people were hiding in and fighting from those tunnels. The U.S. Wanted to control from the air, so they bombed all the jungle in the south and in the middle of the country they sprayed tons of Agent Orange (with dioxin). Even today there are still children born with lots of different disabilities due to all the poison sprayed on the soil. We are 40 years later.
Over the years different countries tried to invade and conquer Vietnam, such as France, China, Japan, The U.S. Every time the Vietnamese people stood their ground and fought hard! At this moment you still can see some of the typical things from the French invasion. You find little bakeries, boulevards with trees and the Notre Dame. Although they used to talk French as well, that is gone now. The main languages are Vietnamese, Mandarin and English.
Cheers
Niall and Kim
