a downpour in saigon

16th February 2012

Saigon,Vietnam

                          One of my favourite things about the city of Saigon was that after a long day of wandering aimlessly down alleyways and boulevards in a conscious effort to get lost, I would always return to De Tham to wind the day down sat on a small plastic stool outside the local Bia hoi street bar. To explain, Bia Hoi  is a type of draft beer which is available throughout Vietnam and is brewed daily before being delivered in kegs to the street stalls which populate the city's streets. It's not particularly strong at around 3% volume but it's light, refreshing and unbelievably cheap with a glass going for around 6,000 Dong (18p), although in Hanoi I did see it  selling for as little as 2,000 Dong (6p)! What I liked more than the cheap beer though was that these stalls, for a solo traveller like myself at least, are a fantastic way of getting to meet new people. Small plastic chairs and tables are set up on the pavement and everyone huddles down to drink the night away in the company of whoever sits next to them. The Bia hoi stall where I spent most of my evenings in Saigon was situated about five minutes walk from my guesthouse on Bui Vien street, just down the road from where it meets De Tham at a crossroads; a junction that is instantly recognisable by the giant demon buffalo head which snarls down at you from its mounted position on the wall above the horrendously overpriced 'Crazy Buffalo' bar. This Bia hoi stall was set beneath 'Video 102' and run by a local family who probably live above the small shopfront and every night rows of small plastic stools and tables are set up out front to create a communal drinking den. One evening, along with Rachel who I had randomly bumped into again while on a walk earlier that day, I headed to the bar to have a few beers to while away the evening hours and hopefully make a few new friends. It had been yet another hot and humid day in the city but while the afternoon hours had been merging with their evening brothers, dark clouds had congregated above Saigon; each vying for dominance against a rapidly weakening sun. While catching up with Rachel who I had not seen since Hoi An, we were joined by an Australian girl by the name of Victoria who I recognised as she was staying at the same guest house as myself. Calling her over, she pulled up a chair and we had a few beers together on the pavement and as the night wore on we were joined by more and more people that I had bumped into on my route down the coast of Vietnam. In yet another remarkable chance encounter Joffrey and Elize, a really cool couple from the Carribean that I had met on the hellish 23 hour ride from Vientiane to Hanoi, joined us shortly afterwards turning Saigon, for me at least, into a melting pot of travelling reunions. Turning our stalls into a circle we incorporated these two new members into our drinking club which had grown exponentially since we had arrived hours earlier. And then the downpour started. It was as if a switch had suddenly been flicked because in a moment monsoon rain had struck Saigon, drenching anything that was not under cover. The road became a gushing river whose banks had just broken while the soaked tarmac was transformed into a vast rectangular mirror that reflected the street lights back up into the crying heavens above. The torrent fiercely lashed down as a pure, straight rainfall that continually shattered this tarmac mirror into a million pieces creating a dazzling light show for it's audience on the pavement. Everyone who had been walking along the road deserted this silver urban river for the dry confines of shop fronts and of course the numerous dry Bia hoi stands which were protected from the down pour by large awnings that stretched across the pavements guarding their thankful inhabitants below. With the rain streaming down in an unrelenting deluge there was no choice but to stay put and wait it out but with 18p beers on tap, it has to be said that there have been worse places to be stuck! The rest of the evening was spent chatting with some other marooned travellers/drinkers and a few local lads - see below - until the rain finally relented in it's assault on the streets allowing us to stumble home through the drenched alleyways of De Tham.

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My local Bia Hoi stand. The small plastic stools and tables made for excellent communal drinking.

As the rain hit, the awning was quickly rolled out and umbrellas were placed to keep the punters dry and happy.

Everyone huddled together for shelter from the rain.

The soaked tarmac reflected the street lights back up into the night sky.

With no umbrella the only options were to to get drenched walking home or stay for another beer. I chose the latter.

The torrent of water stuck without warning.

Me, Bang and the other local lads. While chatting to Rachel and the Carribean couple I was tapped on the shoulder and invited to have a beer with some Vietnamese students behind me who were eager to practice their English on some tourists and I was only too happy to help.

Bang's attempt at spelling my name. Got confused with the 'x' putting an 'h' initially.

Rachel, Joffrey, Elize, Chris and Me.

snapshots: saigon

15th - 19th February 2012

Saigon, Vietnam

Approaching this fine city there is one building which dominates Saigon's skyline; towering above its inferior rivals like a vast juggernaut. The Bitexco Financial Tower is the second largest in Vietnam after the Keangnam Landmark Tower in Hanoi and when getting lost here - which happened to me a great deal - it's a useful landmark to get your bearings as it can be seen for miles around. And yes, that is a helicopter pad at the top.

The location of Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City is a metropolis on the rise, figuratively and literally. The skyline is expanding by the minute due to new investment and as a result it's become an exciting city full of high aspirations.

Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup. It is primarily served for breakfast although it can be eaten any time of day, the noodles are made from rice and served with basil, lime, mint and bean sprouts. This was my regular while staying in Saigon.

Two ladies taking a break from selling books on the streets. They are absolutely relentless in central Saigon and patrol the streets in vast numbers. On my first night, along with the Da Lat girls and some Canadian lads I first met in Hanoi, we all went for dinner together and while sat at the table we were constantly hassled by ladies such as these trying to sell us fake photocopied books! I did actually end up buying The Rum Diary so I guess there is method in their madness.

Like Hanoi, there are thousands of scooters that swarm the city.

The Vietnamese Banksy?

Got chatting to these German chaps one night at a bia hoi stand (post to follow) and they told me about a Vietnamese horror play that was being shown the following night which sounded like something I absolutely had to see. The opening of the play started in complete darkness. Suddenly a beam of white light flooded the stage revealing a creepy girl slouched down with long black hair covering her ghostly face inviting a mass yelp from the audience. Looked like the girl from The Ring minus the television. Two and a half hours of comedy/horror followed all in Vietnamese which I obviously didn't understand at all. Luckily some English speaking Vietnamese dude sat next to me was kind enough to offer a rough translation as it went on which certainly helped! The guy in the yellow was a ghost buster attempting to vanish ghostly apparitions which haunt the family sat down. Was top notch!

A Cyclo driver having a quick snooze, and i'm not surprised because pedaling fat Western tourists around in this heat would be enough to tire anyone out!

Looking for business.

Whether it be motorized or not, the Vietnamese always pile as much stuff as possible onto two wheels, or three wheels here.

One day hopped on the No.1 bus over to Cho Lon in Chinatown. A vast market spreads from a central water fountain and it's small alleyways twist and turn past small stalls selling a variety of different goods across two floors.

A vast array of dried fish, spices, seeds and nuts could be haggled over.

Here I liked the contrast between the cool shade inside of the market and the scorching bright sun which patrolled outside.

Enjoyed getting lost in this labyrinthine market.

Street stalls line the streets meaning you never go hungry with most dishes selling for under a dollar!

Negotiations.

Putting your feet up to read the paper is the same the world over. Or as they say here, 'Same Same but Different'.

Live chickens were being traded over in Chinatown. Interest customers would pull up on their scooters and browse through groups of chickens tied together on the tarmac or in cages piled high.

Playing cards on the streets.

5pm. Picking up some food on the way home from the office. Like popping into Tesco Express on the way back from College Green when I was peckish. Same Same.

Gym class in the central park. Obviously.

The Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica. Can you spot Quasimodo?

down the cu chi tunnels

16th February 2012

Saigon,Vietnam

                             On the 15th February, I left the hillside station of Da Lat and made tracks for the sprawling metropolis of Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City as it's now known these days - although in my humble opinion the former name was far more evocative and expressive than the latter. Due to the altitude of Da Lat, the past few days had been a brief respite from the humidity and heat of the coast but as we gradually snaked back down the mountainside towards Saigon it felt in many ways like stepping back into the frying pan as the reintroduction to the congested and oppressive humidity was overwhelming. Travelling independently once again, I got chatting to some English girls by the names of Jess and Caroline on the bus and so when we reached the city center we all joined forces in the hunt for a cheap and hospitable guest house; hitting the jackpot when we came across the MyMy Arthouse which was tucked down a maze of back alleyways at the heart of backpacker-ville in an area of Saigon known as De Tham. 'The Diamond of the Far-east' is a city bursting with new-age vigor whose streets sing songs of energy and excitement meaning that there is always something to do here. From learning about the country's complex history is one of the many national museums, sampling local fresh beer at a street-side bia hoi and getting lost in the myriad of alleyways and sprawling boulevards that connect the city's 19 districts together there is much to keep you entertained in this fine city.

           After getting our bearings with a brief stroll around the immediate neighborhood we stopped by a travel agency and booked a ticket to go and see the famous Cu Chi tunnels the following day. To give a brief - read very brief - bit of historical context in an attempt to aid understanding, the Cu Chi tunnels were a network of underground passages that the Viet Cong used in their resistance against the American troops during the Vietnam, or as they call it here, American War. In 1960 the National Liberation Front (whose guerrilla forces were known as the Viet Cong) with it's Communist ideology was set up in Southern Vietnam  to oppose the regime of the prime minister turned self-appointed president of Saigon Ngo Dinh Diem who had slaughtered 50,000 people in an attempt to silence opposition to his rule. Diem was staunchly anti-communist and this gained him a great deal of support from the United States who entered Vietnam to stop the perceived future threat of Communist expansion that they saw in Ho Chi Minh's Hanoi and the emergence of this National Liberation Front that operated throughout the South. The 'Vietnam War' therefore was fought between the Communist North and the anti-Communist South who were supported by the Americans. Fighting partially stopped after the Americans sent in B52 bombers to cut the North's supply lines to the south which eventually resulted in peace discussions. With the fall of Saigon in 1975 to the Communist North the fighting stopped and these days it is possible to visit the famous Cu Chi tunnels which played an intrinsic part in a war whose outcome is so confusing it makes my  brain hurt as you can probably tell from this disjointed explanation of events. In regards to the tunnels, under constant threat from American air attacks, the Viet Cong  built 250km of tunnels which lie beneath the town of Cu Chi and its surrounding areas and this intricate underground network contained all the necessary amenities required to live with latrines, wells, meeting rooms and sleeping quarters all built to house the strong-willed Viet Cong troops. These Viet Cong soldiers would often live for weeks underground and the defence structures that they had in place made them a very difficult opposition to fight and try as they might, the Americans could not relieve these tunnels of their obstinate and highly aggressive inhabitants .

                     On the morning of the 16th therefore, along with the Da Lat girls,  I set off on the road to Cu Chi to hopefully learn more about an area which played a key role during a very turbulent period in Vietnam's history.  Upon arrival at Cu Chi, we left the air-conditioned bubble of our mini-bus and entered the stifling heat generated by a sun who had surged in grandeur over the past hour from it's dominant throne in the sky. Quickly heading to the cool confines of the complex we were shown a video which spent a lot of time berating the Americans and rejoiced in reeling off figures concerning how many 'evil' Americans had been 'eliminated' by the brave and noble Viet Cong soldiers. Albeit a rather biased account of the events which took place here, although the Americans had a lot to answer for in this war, the video did show some interesting black and white footage of Viet Cong soldiers in battle and building the tunnels in horrendous looking conditions. When the video had finished we headed off into a dry evergreen forest populated by clumps of bamboo thickets and tropical hardwoods while a carpet of fallen leaves crunched loudly underfoot.  The thickets of bamboo gave way to a clearing and we all huddled round to observe a method the Viet Cong used as a means of surprising and attacking unsuspecting American GI's whilst fighting in the area. A local park officer, our very own Viet Cong soldier for the day, bent down and scraped away some of the dead leaves to reveal a small man hole cover. Removing the cover, making sure the leaves were kept on top, he then disappeared down the hole carefully placing the cover back over his head as he descended so that within five seconds there was no trace of the opening or the 6ft man who had just been standing there. A sneaky little maneuver and along with the hundreds of others of these small underground pockets, it must have been terrifying to fight an enemy who could appear and re-appear anywhere in the forest. The second part of the tour ran through some of the grizzly defence mechanisms used as part of the Viet Cong's resistance against the surging American forces and we were shown some of booby traps which were set up to seriously maim or kill American GI's who unwittingly walked into them. The first was the swinging door trap which swung on a central pivot revealing a sharp set of spikes below which would skewer any GI unfortunate enough to walk over it. A series of other evil-looking devices were shown including the see-saw, swing-up trap and full body impaling traps - see the photographs below. Moving on we stopped off to check out an immobilised tank before heading to the shooting range where it was possible to shoot live ammunition from a range of semi and fully automatic machine guns. The price for 10 bullets for the AK-47 was 350,000 dong (11 quid) and seeing a once in a lifetime opportunity before me, I decided to go for it having never fired a gun before, especially an AK-47! Approaching the shooting range I was handed some ear muffs which were extremely necessary as the noise from other guns like the M16 was absolutely deafening up close. All the guns had their barrels secured to a bar to prevent any psychos from going on a rampage and once the guard had loaded the AK-47 for me, I stepped up to the plate and got a huge rush from dispensing a few rounds into the targets at the far end of the range. Pulling the trigger resulted in a slight recoil which hugged my shoulder menacingly and gave me an alarming sense of satisfaction from the power which rested in my hands. What a lawless place, only in Camodia eh! The final part of the tour had us scurrying through a sample section of tunnel which had been widened to allow fat Western tourists to squeeze through, although not such a problem for my slight frame! Climbing down a steep set of stairs, the sun was blocked from entering the forbidding looking passages which meant that after a few turns the light at the entrance faded into obscurity behind me, leaving only darkness ahead. Traversing the initial section of the tunnel was pretty easy going as it was still big enough to crouch through however as it grew narrower and tighter it became necessary to scramble along on hands and knees until the end. With no air vents, the temperature was as stifling - if not worse due to the close confines - as the temperature under the raging sun above ground and I finally emerged, one hundred meters later, a sweating, gasping mess. To think that people lived for weeks and fought in conditions far worse than I experienced beggars belief and only goes to show how far the human body can be pushed in the face of extreme adversity. Along with the War Remnants Museum back in the city, my trip to the Cu Chi tunnels was a fascinating history lesson that has given me a much greater understanding of a war which captivated the world for twenty years.

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Step 1. The guard shuffled the leaves about before finding the
panel below.

Cu Chi, about 40km from Saigon.

Step 2. Lowering himself down in to the hole. 

Step 3. Descending into the hole whilst making sure the leaves stayed on top.

Step 4. Completely hidden which meant that they could pounce on American soldiers in a split second.

The swinging door trap.

The spikes that would greet you upon falling.

A typical entrance to the underground network of tunnels.

Me on a tank.

Looking down the barrel of a tank.

The first of many grizzly booby-traps.

The Rolling Trap. Falling down the middle meant that your whole body would be punctured from legs and torso to the head. Brutal.

The full body door trap. The bottom row of spikes was destined for the genitals. 

Down at the shooting range.

Firing the AK-47.

Entering the Cu Chi tunnels.

This was at the beginning when it was easy. Later on I had to put the camera away just so that I could use my hands to scramble through!