Saigon

Good morning, Vietnam! After our week-long transit through Cambodia, we caught the bus from Phnom Penh into Vietnam, heading for Saigon (officially: Ho Chi Minh City). Gambling is illegal in Vietnam, so there are hundreds of grim casinos right on the Cambodian border, and busloads of gambling tourists making this the slowest border we’ve had so far. Taking about one hour, it was still MUCH quicker than the 4 hours Chelsea endured in 2017—Vietnam has loosened up since then and UK passports now get 45 days visa-free. This was our last land border in SEA, and they’ve all been surprisingly simple. Nice!

We just missed the 50th anniversary of reunification celebrations (the end of the Vietnam war was 30 April 1975), but Saigon was still decked out, making for a very festive atmosphere. Arriving at a very nice hotel, we were confused given how cheap our room was... just £10/night. That was until we were shown to the *tiniest* room, most of it window. There was no floor that wasn't mattress. We realised on departure that we’d slept in the wrong direction given even Chelsea’s feet hung off the mattress 🙃

On the plus side, Saigon is great! We trotted out to two museums and were impressed by the no-nonsense tone of Vietnam’s self-declared history. In summary, the Ho Chi Minh City History Museum taught us: ‘this is a scrappy nation that absolutely cannot be invaded or defeated, and all comers are cowardly losers’. Noted! The War Remnants Museum was heavy, given the history of the Vietnam War and America’s genocidal tendencies. The exhibitions on the war correspondents who died in the conflict and the ongoing consequences of Agent Orange are particularly arresting.

After the museums, we extended by two nights to wander the city, see the Cu Chi tunnels, and visit the historic Post Office and Notre Dame cathedral. The Cu Chi tunnels are interesting to see, and extremely small, further proving the grit of the Viet Cong who lived and fought in the tunnels for years during the war. Dan crawled through 100m (as much as they’d let him) and Chelsea stood in the rain, thinking about the monsoon scene in Forrest Gump. We decided against paying extra to shoot AK-47s, but could still hear them blasting our eardrums from a few metres away while we sat in the cafe listening (incongruously) to Vivaldi.

We had a very foodie few days, starting at the strangely themed 'Warning Zone 76,' which was filled with toxic barrels and gas mask illustrations. We also dropped in at the Cafe Apartments building and Ben Nghe street food market, sampling noodles, skewers, and many many spring rolls. Dan has also absolutely lacerated the insides of his mouth with several Banh Mi. He'll need a liquid diet for a bit to recover: more pho, less crusty bread.

We’re currently on an 18hr train north, listening to a three-year-old play games on her mother’s phone. Chelsea is excited to be going north and seeing how much has changed in the last eight years given Vietnam’s rapid expansion. So far, so good! Czytaj więcej