Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Tunnels, Museums and Presidential Places in Saigon 3rd Nov
Today we got the cultural, historic charge around Saigon and for once find a museum that is actually looked after almost properly! This is one of the questions that I have being asking on the trip. Places that have some form of connection with what one assumes might be the sort of history that Hanoi would want to celebrate are seemingly being allowed to fall into disrepair; except here.
Our first port of call is the Chu Chi tunnels, an iconic landmark that the state exploits to the full. Its clear that what was achieved by local people as well as the soldiers of the north was pretty remarkable. The problem it seems to me is that we are presented with a propaganda site which denies access to material that allows any objective visitor to evaluate its value whilst presenting the sort of gung ho, aren't we fantastic type of jingoism that, for me, simply raises too many questions that cannot be answered. Furthermore, some elements of the site are a crude celebration of appalling violence rather than an affirmation of the success of ordinary people trying to survive the mindlessness of the bombing of this area and the war in general. The zone where the tunnels were constructed was referred to by the USA as a 'free-fire zone', one of those double speak terms that permeates explanations of wars and politics.
The tunnel area is about 70 kms north-east of the city on the road to Cambodia. As the tourist season is now beginning the site is full of people from places like Korea and Japan. It is also very hot and humid which, after some days in the mountains, is a bit uncomfortable. Sweat runs down ones face most of the time and this has got nothing to do with the fact that we can visit the narrow tunnels and crawl along them. This is in fact a problem for quite a few people so the question of claustrophobia for several of us is high on the list of panic!
We set off and see the exhibits, now reconstructed. In fact, much of the site is a reconstruction designed to show how the tunnels functioned. Given that the network was 250 kms long, at least that is what we are told, we get to see just a small section. (Question: how do they know this? What is the evidence for such a claim? Etc etc). I am puzzled by the significance of the tunnels in terms of the strategy of the war; what role did they play and how important were they in fact? We do not find out, mainly because, I guess, it is a presumed understanding that we should greatly admire the achievement. Apparently, some sections of the tunnels are still maintained by the state and are secret; why maintain them? Purpose? Vietnam says it is a peace loving state so why do they need them. We in the west do not do this (eg keep secret installations away from the public eye) long after they have any relevance to 'defence' do we?
Anyway, off we go and we visit various sites that illustrate the way people lived as well as watch the official film. This tells the story of the tunnels and the resilience of the Vietnamese people against the perfidious Americans. Its approach was no worse than the many right wing American organisations that published propaganda pieces in the 1950's attacking the USSR etc. I decide to buy this official DVD at the vast cost of £3 or 60,000 Dong but I doubt if there is an unofficial version available in Saigon.
We have one key moment that is both funny and panic making and does little to help prepare for the real tunnels. In the ground, a small entrance hole has been prepared to allow access to a shallow pit and probably served as a route into the tunnel complex. A lid or cover fits over the hole and can be hidden by leaves and other natural materials. Slightly enlarged to allow modern man to use the entrance, anyone can lower themselves into the pit to experience what it was like for the Vietnamese. To get access to it one must lower oneself through a hole into the depths. The hole is narrow, more suited to Vietnamese proportions than that of elderly, slightly overweight Europeans/Australians. I never get the chance to try out the hole as Barry decides to try it out first. It is a tight fit but he manages to slip through the entrance and disappears underground much to the pleasure of the growing crowd of on lookers. The exit, however, proves less easy, and he cannot escape the hole with all of his clothes on. At one point, many of us were contemplating the idea that he would have to…..but it's only his belt that comes off before he scrapes his body to the surface. This is to the general relief of the group and his wife, who has watched the scene with mounting horror and panic, and the cheering of other onlookers! However, he is covered in dirt stains and must spend the rest of the day like this. This spectacle presents the claustrophobic with more doubts.
Eventually we reach the entrance to the tunnels. This involves a descent down a steep series of steps to see the tunnel entrance. The information we get is that the first tunnel means only having to crouch a little. But when I see the entrance I note that 'crouch' means to get down on my knees! Later bits are even tighter requiring crawling. Therefore, that's as far as I go and I immediately head back to ground level. Others in the group feel happier about it and set off along the tunnel only to re emerge at the first escape route after about 20 meters! Thus none of us would be the tunnel rats of the 1960's.
After these exploits we head back into the city. Now we visit the Museum of the War, which reveals some limited attempt to explain, rather than just tell, visitors what happened after 1954. This included many photographs from Vietnamese as well as Americans and Europeans journalists. Other displays put the French in the dock over its treatment of the local opposition in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Like the displays in the Hanoi Hilton, it seems to play down the treatment of Americans in the 1960's.
Finally, we arrive at the Presidential Palace, the last place to fall in April 1975. There is little external evidence of what happened then. Inside, it has been left much as it was in 1975. In many ways it's a art deco type of building with similar fittings, not really Vietnamese, far more a reflection of the influence of the French in particular and more generally Europeans. On the roof, it looks like there is a helicopter, presumably reflecting the final dramatic escape of the last members of the South Vietnamese government as they fled abroad. I just find it hard to see the point of it? There is much that reflects the life of the pre 1975 era but I struggle to see what it is supposed to say to the modern day Vietnamese.
Finally we walk through the city looking, again, at the buildings of the past - the French cathedral and railway station amongst other places. Its all very grand in a way I suppose, and the buildings are remarkable well preserved and maintained.
We end the day at Korean restaurant where you cook your own food on a sort of bar-b-que that sits in the middle of the table. The heating element is at table level but the gas bottle is hidden underneath.This proves to be great fun as we all muck in and the talk and chatter is widespread. One has to ensure that everyone gets their fair share, not only of the food, but also the space on the cooker.We eat beef, pork, goat, rice and some seafood. Actually that is rather unusual as meat in Vietnam is both expensive and limited. I cannot recall seeing more than the very occasional butcher in all of our travels and then they had very little meat. In fact, since getting to S E Asia our intake of meat has been very low, and we have not suffered from that. Indeed, I have enjoyed the diet on offer, which includes lots of rice!
Now for the last day but before we must pack and try to get out bags below 20 kgs! That is going to be a problem I guess but we must do it!
- comments