HCMC (formerly and more commonly known as Saigon) is an exciting, hectic city that after some early apprehension, we grew to love.
The first thing to master is crossing the road. The chaos of motorbikes, scooters, cyclos, cars, buses and bikes is overwhelming at first. There are no green men, just simply look for a break in large vehicles immediately coming towards you, walk slowly into the centre of the road and repeat to the other side. Walking slowly should give the thousands of motorbikes and scooters time to manoeuvre round you. Scary at first, but a necessity to master and a relief each time you make it across safe!
We saw some interesting sights here, but there are not too many must dos, giving you the much needed time to chill out at a road side cafe, bucket of ice around your drink. The Reunification Palace, South Vietnam's presidential palace turned landmark following the surrender of Saigon to the North in 1975, is a time warp, left practically as it was on that fateful day. It is a picture of 1970's glamour, complete with a wicked roof terrace, bar and dance floor and amazing gardens. Si details the War Remants Museum in detail at manversusworld.com, but it was an interesting stop, certainly for the pics of agent orange defects and amusing propoganda, telling of the war from the Vietnamese side.
We stayed in the hustling and bustling backpacker area of town and loved the buzz in the streets that came alive at night with bargain drinks, smoothies, bakeries and pho. My obsession with pho, that I'm sure will follow me throughout our tour of Nam, can safely be assumed to have been fostered here, more specifically at Pho 2000, where good ol Bill Clinton stopped for a meal and a few pics once.
On one of the days we took a day trip to the Mekong Delta. Along with the numerous boat trips via different means, the sights and activities were numerous including the Kingdom of Coconut Tree where we sampled and saw coconut candy being made, visited a bee pollen tea making village, enjoyed a ride on a horse and cart and sampled a great lunch, fresh fruit and traditional music. A great day out on the river but it is hard to imagine this region of islands and waterways is home to over 17m people.
Crossing the road in Ho Chi Minh City is like playing chicken, Russian roulette or swimming with sharks. It really is that dangerous.
You literally have to step out into traffic or face a lifetime waiting for sufficient enough gap to run across.
You do eventually get used to it, though. And somehow, someway, it actually comes to make sense. After all, no city could contest the title of “chaos incarnate” like Ho Chi Minh could.
The city formerly known as Saigon has a population of nine million people, making it Vietnam’s largest by some distance. People zap round on scooters at any time of day, which makes you wonder where they’re all going? Do they just ride round and round?
It’s certainly a place where you need your wits about you at all times. It’s lucky that I had Nicola, then, considering how much cheap beer I was drinking.
Cheap and delicious, Saigon beer is best enjoyed at a dingy street-side café, if you could call them that – they’re more like a table and chairs on the side of a road.
On a less cheery note, the ghost of the Vietnam War still very much haunts this fine city. My two favourite attractions are both war-related: the War Remnants Museum (formerly the Museum of American War Crimes) and the Reunification Palace, the eerie former home of the president of South Vietnam.
I find it strange, then, that the US dollar is an unofficial currency here. We pay for everything in Vietnamese dong but hoteliers and tour operators price everything in dollars first before converting it to dong.
But that’s Ho Chi Minh City for you – there is seemingly no method in the madness.
Pics of hustle and bustle and HCMC are here
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