We started our tour of Vietnam in the southern part of the country in Ho Chi Minh City, which all the locals still call Saigon despite the name change when North and South Vietnam were united in 1975. Our trip to Vietnam was a great reason for all of us to learn a lot more about the Vietnam War. And it was certainly an eye-opening experience for part of that learning to take place in the "winner's" country; to say that the propaganda was evident would be an understatement. Being in a communist country in the first place is a little nerve-wracking but to read and see everything in the museums about the "devil" Americans or the "murderous" American soldiers made being a proud American a lot more difficult.
Our first stop was the War Remnants Museum where captured American equipment (tanks, airplanes, guns, etc) were proudly displayed along with many graphic images of killed American soldiers. The descriptions tied to these photographs always described innocent villagers who were just planting their rice when they were attacked. It took some explaining to help the kids understand that if they were to go into an American war museum, the American soldiers would never be portrayed as anything other than "innocent" while the enemy would always be the bad guy. It's just hard to see it when you're looking at it from the other side. Part of the museum definitely became too graphic for all of us and we made a hasty exit (Ella's suggestion that we pretend we were Canadian definitely had a little merit to it!).
From there we went to the Reunification Palace (formerly the South Vietnamese Independence Palace) where the North Vietnamese tank crashed through the gates during the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975 - the date is now a national holiday for the country. It is no longer used except for hosting visiting dignitaries and serves as a museum.
The official gate
The tank that crashed through the gate
We got to go in the bunker beneath the Reunification Palace where there are still the maps of the tunnels!
The bunker had a huge kitchen which Henry enjoyed
A sign on one of the confiscated American planes - I don't think that translated so well. Saw these types of signs a lot!
In Saigon we also saw the Notre Dame Cathedral which is a very popular place with brides and grooms - it's considered very lucky to have your picture taken outside the church.
(you can even side a bride peeking out of the side of the church entrance!)
Below is the Saigon Post Office, a very famous building built in 1886. It was designed by Gustave Eiffel who also was the architect of the famous Eiffel Tower.
Below this portrait in the painting above is a wooden chair where a gentleman has sat for the last 40 years and Americans who fought in Vietnam know to talk to him if they are looking for long-lost family here in Vietnam. He apparently has the best resources for tracking down these wives and children that were left here after the war. Unfortunately he wasn't there the day we visited (but his chair sat empty).
Famous in history is the picture below of the last American airlift out of Vietnam took place - on April 29, 1975 more than 7,000 American and South Vietnamese were evacuated from Saigon in less than 24 hours. This picture was of the families trying to leave Vietnam before the North Vietnamese invaded Saigon, which would take place the following day.
Below you can see that same building, now just a old, white dilapidated building that has been built all around. Our guide told us it would probably be torn down sometime in the next couple years to make room for a new development.
If you look carefully at the roof in the picture above you will see the bottom half of the metal stairs still extending upwards.
Lunch with our guide
Crazy looking 7-Up can (boy, was Sumner excited to see 7-Up)
One of our nights in Saigon we walked with our guide along the streets and tried some of the best local Vietnamese food. I never would have tried food from some of these stalls but we did and loved almost all of it!
First stop - Banh Mi (this was Sumner's most favorite by far!)
This huge basket was used to deliver vegetables and fruit to vendors. I was dying to buy it and bring it back home (without the motorbike that it was strapped on to)
Next stop was for Pho - absolutely delicious!
(Sumner's enjoying more Banh Mi here!)
Next stop, Vietnamese pizza!
It's rice paper with scrambled egg spread out on top, fried ground pork and onions cooked over a fire
(Henry liked it more than Ella if you can't tell)
The pizzas being cooked
Last stop was for "dessert" and as you can see, Sumner was a little disappointed! Dessert was Che Sam Bo Long (seaweed, lotus seeds, dried mung bean, white fungus, ginseng root and rock sugar) - Ella was the brave soul that tried the version with lychee in it as well as the one with water chestnuts. My favorite part of this picture is the old grandmother who ran the stall and just stared at us!
And of course, it wouldn't be a normal outing with Henry if he wasn't holding our guide's hand - although as we wandered the back alleys of Saigon in the dark, I was wishing I was holding someone's hand too!
Another adventure in Saigon was a 2 1/2 hour road trip towards the Cambodian border to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. These were built by local fighters during the Indochina conflict and Vietnam War as a base from which the Viet Cong could operate close to the Southern Vietnamese capital. First the Viet Cong used them to hide from the French and then the Americans. By 1965 they were estimated to consist of 200kms of tunnels. These included hospitals, schools, meeting rooms, kitchen and sleeping quarters. We got to see some of the old tunnel entrances and air holes that still exist through the jungle we visited. The old tunnels have not all been maintained but the ones that have really make you realize how small one had to be to fit inside. It's no wonder that American soldiers couldn't follow the Viet Cong into these spaces! All three kids traveled about 30 meters in the tunnels before popping out at another opening. I, on the other hand, got to the entrance, bent down and realized there wasn't a chance in the world I was going to be able to handle the small space (I don't think I would have even fit) - my heart was racing so hard I thought I might have a heart attack. Small spaces do not work for me!
These are some of the termite hills that were actually air shafts for the tunnels
Of course, showing off an American tank that the Viet Cong destroyed
Showing how flip flops were made from old tires - we failed the question as to why they were made looking like they were backwards ..... so that the American soldiers thought they were heading one direction when they were really heading the other!
Throughout our trip in Vietnam we stayed in some really cool hotels - thanks to our travel agent for the recommendations - and the first one was the Hotel des Arts Saigon. It had a rooftop pool that the kids loved and a 25 story high glass bridge connecting it to the building next door!
We also visited the Saigon Opera House (also known as the Municipal Theatre of Ho Chi Minh City) for the AO Circus Show, sort of a Vietnamese Cirque de Soleil. Very fun to watch and then a pretty walk home afterwards.
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