A tale of two cities: Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon 

We took an overnight train from Danang to Ho Chi Minh City, which is actually called Saigon by locals and travellers alike! We booked our train a few days ahead, but as it was a weekend, all of the 4 berth compartments were booked. Instead we booked two beds in the 6 berth ‘hard sleepers’. The soft sleepers didn’t seem that soft in the first place, so we figured it wouldn’t be too much worse than that. The journey didn’t start too well, as I was shoved onto the train by the conductor, we headed to our compartment. Trying not to disturb the two ladies asleep in the bottom bunks, we attempted to get into the middle bunks we booked. Harder than it looks if you’re over 3 feet tall! Once we had our sheets, we somehow slid into the bunks. You can’t sit up and if you try, you head butt the bunk above you in the middle of the night 🙂 It was a bumpy, uncomfortable, noisy 17 hour journey but with some stunning scenery and a lively trolley lady who really wanted to sell me a morning coffee/rocket fuel! I couldn’t say no 🙂

Our Saigon hotel was right in the middle of back packer heaven. The street is lined with bars, restaurants, travel agents and massage parlours. Rather than asking me if I wanted a massage to ease my weary muscles, they only seemed to be interested in asking Graham…hmmmm! This was the first sight of the slightly seedy south east Asia I had heard about.

The highlight of Saigon was definitely the War Remnants Museum. It has had several names since opening first in 1975 under the name ‘Exhibition House for US and Puppet Regime Crime’. It’s a disturbing and graphic three floors that describe historical ‘truths’ and show the impact that both the B52 bombings and Agent Orange had on the Vietnamese people. According to the exhibition labelled ‘War Crimes’, approximately 3 .1 million Vietnamese died, 2 million of those were civilians. Over 300,000 are still considered missing. We left feeling drained, sad and angry, but also happy for a country that is now full of smiling, happy and resilient people recovering from their brutal past.

Amongst the madness of the traffic and street stalls, we found the Jade Palace, which was a welcome shelter from the torrential rain. It was quiet and peaceful and the air was thick with incense. We jumped from the old world of the palace to the new cosmopolitan world of the Vincom Plaza shopping centre, with Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Marks and Spencer’s! In preparation for the beaches to come, Graham doubled his shorts collection from one to two!

Saigon/ Ho Chi Minh/ HCMC, whatever you want to call it, it’s crazy. Next stop is the Mekong Delta for 3 days, provided the whole thing hasn’t flooded!
-F xx