We are in Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City) at the moment, and it is definitely one of my favourite major cities! There's not much in terms of architecture or ancient history. Instead, it has it's own unique charm and character. The people here are very nice and for the most part quite hospitable. Before we arrived, we were surprised to hear from many people that they did not like Saigon and found the people not friendly at all. After walking around the city and interacting with quite a few locals, I was quite surprised at how friendly the people really are! [Robin had found people friendly 8 years ago, but feared that things had changed since then.] We've even made a serious attempt at learning basic Vietnamese phrases, and to the locals, that seems to go a HUGE way. They have a good laugh when we try but inevitably pronouce things very badly, and then they help us sound out the words properly. We can now order our favourite meals and ask how much things cost so we can bargain with locals who don't speak English (there's a lot of pointing at money in that case).
We've been to visit the Reunification Palace (which looks more like a city hall in any North American city than a "palace"), the Jade Emperor pagoda, and the downtown area (with the French colonial Opera House, Post Office, Notre Dame Cathedral, etc.) I also went to the War Remenants Museum, formerly called the War Crimes Museum, and I must say, it's no wonder that many Vietnamese still harbour a grudge against the Americans and French. We've walked through many of the back streets of the city and it's very interesting watching the people go through their daily lives. It really makes a big difference to get away from the backpacker/tourist district of Pham Ngu Lao to really get a feel for this city.
Saigon is also home to some of the best coffee we've ever had. The Vietnamese definitely have my vote for the best coffee of the trip, and we had some great brews in Laos. We've even tried the "creme de la creme" of their coffee, the Legende: a coffee bean that has been eaten by a mountain weasel, then pooped out!!! Believe it or not, it's the best, and I'm bringing back a bag or two of that stuff.
Today is our last day in the city and tomorrow we fly to Hanoi. We will only be spending one night before leaving for Ha Long Bay the next day where we will spend 10 days rock climbing in the Cat Ba National Park. The area is reputed to be as good, if not better, than the climbing found around Krabi, Thailand. We shall see very soon. One of the bonuses of heading north is that we will be leaving behind this oppressive heat and humidity once and for all. The average temperature has been around 35 degrees + humidity. Oh, and we had the heaviest thunderstorm that I've ever seen yesterday! There was sooooo much rain that the streets were flooded with close to 5 inches of water by the end of the storm. We were wading down the streets in water well above our ankles, with garbage and other detrius from the streets floating in it. (It was rather gross but we got over it quick -- we needed to eat.) It's threatening to rain again today. Hanoi and Cat Ba will be cooler, with daytime highs around 20 C. I'm sure everyone in Canada would like to throw things at us for saying this, but it will be nice to get to some more cooler, more comfortable weather.
[Note: We actually flew from Saigon to Hanoi this morning, but this post was written yesterday, while we were still in Saigon, I just didn't get a chance to post it.]
L8r,
Adam
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