Ho Chi Min City (Saigon)

Posted by Brian

Posted on August 22, 2007

We left Ho Chi Min yesterday after 2 nights. Its a really nice city, but again very similar to Hanoi. We arrived after an over night bus and got somewhere to stay. It was about $12. Not too bad but probably could have gone cheaper. After arriving we did the usual thing and had a nap to recover from the bus. After we woke up we went to the War Remnants Museum. It was fairly cool and interesting but a bit scatty. There was no real flow to the display. I don't really like museums though and I struggle to keep attention in them. This museum was very small though, much smaller than I had expected. Was interesting though. Some of the pictures, especially of the after effects of Agent Orange were quite horrific and I did start to get angry about it.

After the museum we did the usual Sunday thing and found somewhere to watch the soccer. They show pretty much every game in Vietnam. I assume its the same in Thailand too. So we sat in a bar, had a couple of drinks, watched united lose, watch Liverpool get raped by a referee and headed to bed by around 12. All in all, a good night.

On the second day we did a half day tour to the tunnels. Our guide was an ex Veteran who fought for the Americans during the war. He spoke a lot on the bus and I was glued to his every word. After a while he started repeating himself but first time round it was hugely interesting. He talked to us about reunification camp after the war but he didn't get into much detail about that. I would have loved to have gotten him on his own so I could have found out more. The tunnels themselves were again interesting but its extremely touristy so its hard to get a proper feel for it. While there we went shooting too. I fired a pistol, an AK-47 and an M-16. It again was disappointing because the guns are kind of strapped to a wall. You don't really get a proper feel for it. Got no where near hitting a target, but then again the targets were about 200 yards away. Would have been doing well. Everyone can feel safe in the knowledge though that if I try to shoot you, I'll miss... by a long way :)

Yesterday then, we arrived back in Bangkok and finally met those pesky wicked leprechauns. It was so great to see them. We are staying near Khaosan Road now, and there is a much nicer feeling here than the last place we stayed. There is no bad smell and we are getting much less hassle. Maybe I've just gotten used to it though. We went out then last night but I'll put up a post with pictures of that soon.

I have pictures of Ho Chi Min too which I'll add to here too when I get the chance.

Until then...

Brian