My Trip to Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh (Saigon)
The first time I heard about Vietnam was when I watched Forrest Gump as a kid. To the Tom Hanks fan in me, they came across as the bad guys who shot him in the butt. Fast forward few years later, and injecting in a few history lessons, I looked at the country with a fascination and curiosity. I had always wanted to visit the country and luckily got the chance to do it during the first week of March 2018.
My trip began when I landed in Ho Chi Minh(formerly Saigon), within the first few hours my preconceptions of the country were shattered. I expected Ho Chi Minh to be like any major city in a third world country: haphazard urban planning, disorganized traffic, and nestled within it a few relics of colonialism serving as tourist attractions.
Instead, I was greeted by a rather charming metropolis. The sidewalks were clean, the people friendly, the buildings were sleek, the city was well organized into numerical districts. Traffic still sucked though…
Day 1: The day started on a perfect note as I broke my phone within the first hour of getting into a foreign country(an undeniable powermove) while climbing onto the top bunk in the hostel. I stayed at the Vietnam Inn Saigon. After fiddling with my phone for an hour, at about 1 p.m I decided to leave it be and explore the city without the help of our good friend Google.
After obtaining a physical paper map(they still make those!) I headed out for the Ben Thanh Market: the largest market in the city and an important relic of colonial Saigon. The market seemed to encompass the entirety of a collection of everything to satisfy everyone from the average local to the extravagant tourist. After touring the market, I was almost coaxed into buying a 2,000,000 Vietnamese Dong (89 USD) suit but decided against it. For lunch, uncharacteristically I bought myself some fruit(my mother was proud).
I wasn’t sure what to do for the rest of the day, I stuffed the map in my pocket and then set off in a random direction hoping the inner compass in my head would lead me to a gorgeous rooftop bar overlooking the city. And it did! This had been a great first day and had me charged up for more of what Vietnam would have to offer.
Day 2: I began this day by devouring a spread of scrambled eggs complemented by a freshly baked baguette from a nearby bakery. Excellent bakeries continued to be a recurring theme throughout the trip, certainly a relic from French colonialism. Ironically, one thing they did not learn from the French was how to surrender.
The plan for the day was to visit Ho Chi Minh City’s most popular and heartbreaking attraction: The War Memorial Museum. But before we get into that, I had my first Pho in the Nam, bruh, you can come to this country for many things, but even if you just came for the food you’d be beyond satisfied. To this day that Pho remains unbeaten! (Again, like Vietnam. hehe, okay I’ll stop now).
I had lived in the US for a few years now, yet, the Vietnam war wasn’t something much discussed. I had been both deeply interested and yet reluctant to visit the War Memorial Museum. The three floors of exhibits in an unassuming building serve as a somber reminder of the reality of war. The aggression, the war crimes, the chemical weapons coupled with images of tortures and atrocities committed by the US army on the Vietnamese people adorned the walls.
In the exhibit on the effects of Agent Orange, there was an embalmed stillborn fetus that had developed several deformities because of its mother’s exposure to the chemical. I do not wish to post it here lest it offend your sensibilities. If you’d still like to see it, find it here. Now, I know there are always two sides to a story, and I do not want to make this post into a propaganda piece: the war killed nearly 2 million Vietnamese civilians, with higher range estimates being 3.1 million. 76,000 of these died in post-war explosions of leftover unexploded US Army shells and exposed 3 million Vietnamese to harmful effects of Agent Orange which is also responsible for crippling 1 million Vietnamese, some of whom found employment at the museum.
Another exhibit described how the Vietnamese children viewed the war in school paintings. As you end your trip in the museum, you are able to explore the visitor’s book and in it, I found the entry below, it only describes to me what kind of people the Vietnamese are and sheds a tiny ray of positivity in an otherwise dismal and draining experience.
The rest of the day was spent idly walking around the district with a newfound appreciation of the people for having rebuilt their city and their country in the short span of time since the war. There seemed to be a lot of strength in the people as a community, and I found it endearing.
Day 3: The initial plan for my final day in Saigon was to visit the Cu Chi tunnels but I overslept. So again, trusting the inner compass, I headed for the city. It began with the trip to the old French quarter where the Post Office and the Notre Dame cathedral were situated. The post office inspired me to send some postcards to a few friends and relatives in India and the US. Afterward, I went to the Bitexco tower(it looks like the tower from Avengers!) and visited the Heineken factory and Bar as well as the Saigon Skydeck.
The Heineken Museum was interesting, and it was again one of those things I hadn’t expected to see in Vietnam. It featured a VR show which was nice. After copious amounts of beer, it was time to get some food.
About a 15 minute walk away from Bitexco was “International BBQ”, which was a sort of Korean-Vietnam fusion BBQ style place. It had an interesting selection of meats including deer, boar etc. So it was fun to experiment cooking with different meats. If you do ever plan on going there, try the Venison wrapped cheese. Simply delicious!
As it was time to leave the city and continue traveling, I felt both excitement for what was to come next and a sense of not wanting to leave. I hope I do return here one day, until then(please forgive the pun): Saigonara!
