What a charismatic place to start our trip, HCMC has a wonderful mix of the developed world and the ancient traditions you expect from a city here in the Far East. The first thing I realised was that it is no small fish in the fryer of Vietnam, as it so often is thought of in comparison to Hanoi, the relatively new capital since the fall of Saigon in 1975 when the Vietnam War came to a bloody end. The spralling mass of the buildings took me by surprise as we landed at Tan Son Nhat Airport, and I learnt that the city is made up of 16 urban as 5 rural quan, know to us as districts.
Before I continue, I also want to make note that the saviour in the long journey was the fact that Malasyian Airlines feed you great food constantly on the flight! Ben had to roll me from the plane to a taxi for the 20 minute journey to our digs, where the driver tried to charge us 5 times the amount it is usually. Luckily, we have our wits about us and barter a fair price before setting off!
We're staying in a quaint Guesthouse in the Pham Ngu Lao district, a large room with hot water, a TV and WIFI, so real luxury to start us off at £12 a night.
As we arrived on my birthday, we took the liberty of sleeping,showering and then going out for food in the bustling main street, beef noodles for Ben and prawn noodles for me with spring rolls and, the local delicacy I've been waiting for... Fish sauce, made from fermented fish in barrels for up to 4 months! It takes the place of salt on the table here in Vietnam and we both really like it, and have started to even request it now if it doesn't come with our food. Dinner and two Siagon Green beers for Ben, and 2 glasses of Dalat red wine for me was 300,000 Dong, the equivalent of £9. We followed this with cocktails in a few bars, Go2 and Allez Boo so it really was a big splash out on our first night!
Still feeling tired, and both suffering with swollen feet from the huge change in temperature, added to the smothering humidity, we had foot massages in a local spa before going back to the comfort PP Backpacker Hostel.
Next day I slept late to combat the effects of 24 hours of travel and we set off to the War Remnants Museum, a 30 minute walk through Cathay Park, and it was nice to get away from the manic roads with up to 10 lanes of motorcycle traffic who stop for no man! It was a large and interesting exhibit although largely bias towards the Viet Cong, obviously as they won the war, and therefor originally funded the museum. The pictures of the destruction of the countryside from US defoliant spraying, as well as the genetic effects on the people still happening today were truly shocking, and something I had no idea about before, and it took a lot to really delve into the facts of the atrocities inflicted on people here.
We visited the Ben Thanh Market just as it was closing and were amazed to witness a huge part of it pack up and re-emerge minutes later on a busy street outside to make the night market! We ate here on a street stall for 145,000 dong (£4.50) and headed back just as the heavens opened and we experienced heavy rainfall all night! And this is the dry season!
A 8am start today for the Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh, a worshiping place for 2 million Cao Diaists. This is a new religion founded in 1939 by 3 modernday saints from China, Vietnam and France and the main concepts are that God and humanity came together to bring love and justice. It takes imfluence from Buddism, Chinese Confucianism, Taoism, spirituality, Islam and Christianity! The architecture is typically Chinese and very colourful, the music provided by the children singing and playing mystical instruments was quite mesmerising!
We followed this with a big cheap lunch in a roadside restruarant and even the food here was gorgeous, so many fresh vegetables are abundant in every meal that it's no problem to get your 5 a day. Then on up to the tunnels of Ch Chi which were used by the Viet Cong Gurrillas to hide from the US GI's and able the local people to protect their land, which they successfully did. I've learnt so much about the war and the history of Vietnam, but being the peaceful being that I am, I definately am feeling like a distraction so we're off to the rice paddies of the Mekong Delta tomorrow to see traditional life still in full flow, followed by a bus to our next destination.
Just booking our next hotel now to continue our journey!