Gullible in SE Asia Chapter 9 Saigon So what are the memorable sights and memories of Saigon. Is it the 10 million people all cramming to get round a corner or through the lights before the next change. This afternoon as we had a cool drink in a cafe we counted the number of bikes coming just from direction during a 45 second light change. The answer between 120 and 130. Is it the mum and dad on the motorbike wearing helmets with one child standing on the foot plate in between dads knees and another sitting between dad and mum neither wearing helmets. Or perhaps the old couple on ancient push bikes that just slowly meander through the madding crowd of bikes at the intersection just like they are on a country stroll. Or the old bent lady pushing her trolley of recycled cardboard diagonally accross a really busy intersection seemingly oblivious to any thing around her. Or the old man who walked. Straight in front of the traffic pointing an empty coke bottle at them it must have been magic because very one just steered clear and around him. Or the markets where each one probably covers about 1.5 hectares. The lanes between the stalls just wide enough to shuffle through. Or the young man that followed us around and tried to open my back pack. Or perhaps the hundreds of bikes parked on the pavement and the private security men charging the people to park there to earn some extra cash. Could it be the multitude of electric cable that are held up in a most temporary nature and have done for the last 20 years. Or is it none of these things but in part all of them that together with the people form the character of an Asian city the size of Saigon. One thing for sure its a bit different to sitting at the gate watching the traffic in Putiki Wanganui. Neither of us really get off on big cities, yet they have an unmistakable character and fascination and personality of their own. The villages we visited in Vietnam on the boat where the people were so open, smiling and friendly. Big cities where ever they are, never take on a village persona. The breakfast staff here in the hotel have forgotten how to smile as have many of their colleagues in the shops. Although its a critique its also some of the value of the city character albeit for us it has a short use by date. We made a decision before we left home to visit the Cu Chi war tunnels. We decided the best option was to arrange a guided tour for the both of us from the hotel and back again. So after a lunch down the street a bit from the hotel we embarked on our $105 private tour. On the way out the guide refused to either look at me or answer my questions. Although I must say that he did tell us quite a bit of Vietnamese history that we did not know. When we got to the tunnels he raced ahead and told us very little. Every time we would stop to look at the features he would attempt to hurry us along. The long and the short of it. The tunnels are well worth going to and they give an excellent understanding of how the NLF which became the Viet Cong operated and who they really were. The upshot of all that is that we made a written complaint and the hotel will follow it up and have compensated us. A quick shower and off to dinner and the night market. Not the best dinner we have ever had. The night market was fine but from my perspective when you have seen one you have seen the lot, but then I dont have a black belt in shopping. Although having said that I did by a nice shirt for $9.00. This morning breakfast time. It doesnt quite measure up to our cruise experience or the hotel in Siem Reap but it was fine. I think the smile at the people training must be next week. So we tried hard at smiling ourselves and did get a couple of glimmers before we left. Next stop, a 4 block walk from the Novotel to the War remnants Museum. One must wonder at our enthusiasm for such subjects after all the exposure we had to Cambodian war issues. The Vietnamese people in Saigon are probably more akin to the Koreans than other SE Asians we have met. So it was important to explore their perspective in their political history. After learning some of the political history yesterday and the Vietnamese slant on it. A visit to this museum was probably not going to be comfortable but necessary if one wanted to gain a more complete perspective of the people, their political past and present. Also how they viewed the American presence here in the 60s and early 70s. The museum rhetoric is written very much from a North Vietnamese perspective. However whether North or South Vietnamese it was very obvious from what ever perspective, there were some terrible crimes against humanity committed by the South Vietnamese against the VC. Many of them trained by the Americans. Also some horrible atrocities of war comitted by the US invasion. The devastation inter generational effect of agent Orange is still very obvious. A young man who is blind not because his eyes dont work he is blind because he doesnt even have slits where his eyes should be. He played an electric organ for us brilliantly. A living reminder of just one of the many anti war convention activities the American engaged in. In all we spent about 3 hours there. I could write pages now on the history of this country that I have seen and witnessed I the last 2 days. So why go down this path at all? I think to understand what has happened and its effect has made us think about our own lives and values and that has to be a good thing. Probably appropriate to finish this section with a quote from President Eisenhower at the 1953 US Governors convention. Now lets assume we lost Indochina. The Tin and Tungsten would cease coming. On the strength of that they gave $400 million to the French war effort. A lot of money in 1953. Perhaps that was the real reason as well as the Reds under the bed effect of the Cold War for the US physical involvement in the Vietnamese blood shed. We lunched in a nice little place just across the road from the Museum. Then walked to the Tan Dinh Market in search of cloth to sew with. Came back with lots of sights but no cloth. Then down to the big super store (Diamond) for a wee bit of cosmetic top up. Dinner down there was not a memorable experience. An early night off to Da Nang and Hoi An tomorrow . We have both learned lots and done quite a lot of inner thinking. Two days in Saigon though is enough.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 15:01:30 +0000