10/9: Introducing Saigon, Vietnam

Got an early flight to Ho Chi Minh City, (HCMC) the largest city in Vietnam from Singapore but it took a while at the airport to obtain our visas and go through immigration. We’ve made it much easier on ourselves this year making arrangements in advance to be picked up from the airports by a hotel driver. All we’ve needed to do is look for someone holding up a sign with our name on it after getting through the airport scrum. Especially nice when we’ve gotten up hours before dawn too! Normally we wouldn’t dream of such a luxury but the costs in Asia have been very cheap and the convenience factor is huge.

In 1976 the newly formed Socialist Republic of Vietnam compelled Saigon to take the name of HCMC and, I believe, that is the name still used in the US at least. For the purpose of this blog though, I will use the name however we discovered the locals use for their city: Sai Gon - yes, 2 separate words.

Beauty Guesthouse: At first glance, we thought oh, what have we got ourselves into here? The guesthouse was located down a small alley in a great location in District 1 where most of the hotels, shops and many of the city's attractions are located.

A combined guesthouse, art gallery/paint studio, and a travel agency all rolled into one very small space. I was standing in the 'travel agency' (i.e. it has one person, a desk and a computer) part of the space. When we checked in, artists were painting on these large canvases so it was a rather tight space in which to wheel our bags past them, shall we say! Breakfast was served each morning right where the artist is in the above photo, but only til 10; after that, the artists took over that space!

After 'checking in'  and unpacking a bit, we began walking to some of the nearby attractions only to realize that we were caught between a rock and a hard place as each sight that was nearby was closed midday til at least 1. Learned our lesson then to always check the info we had for opening times!

Finally took a Vinasun taxi to Jade Emperor Pagoda. There are 2 main taxi companies in Sai Gon and also in the rest of Vietnam: Vinasun  and Mailinh and lots of copycats. Vinasun taxis became our new best friends as you only had to walk about a block to hail one, or a dozen of them, for that matter. It's ridiculously cheap to get taxis in Sai Gon - it only cost 36K VND, i.e.  ~$1.25, for a 10 minute ride.

Photos of Jade Emperor Pagoda:

The Pagoda was built by the Cantonese community at the beginning of the 20th C.

The Jade Emperor is also referred to as the 'god of the heavens.'

Enjoyed walking around the Pagoda but it didn't wow us as so many other religious institutions we've seen has. 

Did like all the turtles in the pond outside though!

Then took another taxi back to Notre Dame Cathedral located right downtown – guess what, it was closed too! Right across the street was the Post Office which we needed to go to to mail a parcel of souvenirs home the next day.

Photos of Post Office: 

The Post Office is a magnet for tourists with its gingerbread facade, old tile floors and wooden writing tables and benches.

Since we were there, we scouted things out first and learned NOT to pack anything up as every item had to be checked and packed by post office staff first; also picked up the forms to fill out to list every item.

 Map of Saigon and Environs circa 1892.

Photos of Notre Dame Cathedral: 

Construction of the Cathedral began in 1877 and it was consecrated  3 years later. Wish we could have entered and seen the 2 bell towers.

It was very tough walking around Sai Gon searching for tourist sights as the government has banned tourist signs written in English! Sai Gon is a huge magnet for international tourists but the tourism industry does not bring out the welcome mat, that’s for sure. For instance, when the taxi driver had dropped us off at the Pagoda, we had no idea we were there as the only sign was in Vietnamese.

Street Scenes:

Photos of Reunification Palace:

The site of the former French Governor's residence AND former Presidential Palace of S. Vietnam is now called the Reunification Palace. After it was bombed in 1962 by 2 S. Vietnamese air force officers, it was rebuilt but part of it was bombed again in early 1975. 

In late April, 1975 tanks from the Communist forces crashed through the palace's front wrought iron gates and overthrew the S. Vietnamese government. Today the former palace is a museum with everything left pretty well as it was in 1975 when S. Vietnam ceased to exist.

The Conference Hall: Daily military briefings were held here during the period leading up to the overthrow of the S. Vietnamese government.

Helicopter on the roof.

In April, 1975 a member of the Communist Party of Vietnam used a F5E Fighter Aircraft like this one to infiltrate the Southern Republic's air force and carried out a bombing raid on the Reunification Palace.

There are 7 million scooters and motorcycles in Sai Gon, Vietnam’s largest city, and another 7 million in the rest of the country. After coming from dignified Singapore, Sai Gon's traffic was overwhelming and very daunting.

Walking around the city, you see giant political signs and flags absolutely everywhere. We were on our way to another tourist sight in District 1 called the War Remnants Museum.

Photos of War Remnants Museum:

The Museum, formerly known as the War Crimes Exhibition, occupies the former US Information Agency building. Among items on display are American tanks, infantry weapons and photographs of war atrocities committed by Americans.

Wonder if this will be updated someday to include America's longest war.

It was heartbreaking seeing the graphic pictures of deformed children who suffered from the effects of chemical defoliants such as Agent Orange. 

 The visit to the War Remnants Museum was distressing as it was a  sober reminder of the human cost of war.

Photo showing people in Ottawa protesting the US invasion in Indochina in June of 1966.

Great seeing a fair amount of green space and parks in Sai Gon, something totally absent in Jogja, Indonesia.

Traffic in Sai Gon!

Mostly walking around the tourist 'must see sights' of Sai Gon on our first day was a good way of getting a feel of the bustling and still developing city.

Posted on 10/18 from Hue, Vietnam.