Another Time When I Got to Say Something I Never Thought I Would

While I was on the Mekong delta tour, I met an older couple from France, Elizabeth and Michel.

I was able to practice using some of my long unused French. And while my vocabulary sucks after all this time, I was able to understand most of what they said and I still had enough vocabulary to be able to make myself understood as well. Initially I thought they were here on a vacation, as they were at or close to retirement age, but they weren't. Well, to be accurate, Elizabeth wasn't. She was here on business, and Michel was tagging along for the ride.

Elizabeth puts on events, specifically a circus in France. I don't know if that's all she does, but that seemed to occupy much of her time, what with planning the month of shows, the venues, the hotels, the meals, the transportation, the entertainment times for the performers, and all the rest that goes into executing an entertainment show. She was here in Vietnam for the 9^th year to work with a circus here to bring some of their performers to France for next year's event. And, in between getting that handled, there was time for she and her husband to take in some of what Vietnam has to offer. Hence, the trip to the Mekong delta where I met them.

We got to be quite chatty during the trip and by the end of it, Elizabeth invited me to a party she was having to celebrate the successful arrangements of choosing the performers who would travel to France next summer. As I have no particular itinerary, I decided to stay an extra day in Ho Chi Minh City and attend the party.

Before I get to that, my staying for the extra day meant having a day to fill. I had nothing in particular that I wanted to see in the city. I had taken in pretty much all the things I thought to be interesting, so I just wandered around in the parks near the backpackers area. While I was sitting reading in the park, first one university student approached me to talk, then others. Soon I was in the midst of ten or twelve students who just wanted to talk and have a chance to practice some English. It was fun. I like meeting people like that.

When I took my leave of them, I headed over to the party at the circus venue, near where I was staying. And I met many circus performers. So it was that I was sitting under a circus tent cover thing with a number of beautiful and flexible women circus performers. (This is something that I never imagined that I would put into words: “So some beautiful, flexible women circus contortionists and I were sitting having a party one night...” Rather like never thinking I would ever say something like: “So these five attractive Filipina nurses and I went island hopping for the day...”)

Making Like the Viet Cong

Much in all as it was a brutal war in so many ways and, from what I've read, changed a lot of the rules about how war was “supposed” to be fought, I have always been fascinated by the stories about the Viet Cong and how they basically lived underground in order to fight back against the American forces trying to occupy their land. What I didn't know was that they were not north Vietnamese. They were from the south; they just held sympathies with the forces from the north.

I packed up early at my hotel and headed out to get to the meeting place for the tour. I was so far away from Pham Ngu Lao that I almost had to move hotels if I was going to be comfortable and get things done. So I left the nice place with the nice people and headed for the insanity of the backpacker area. I guess you have to do what you have to do sometimes.

I left my bag at the tour operator's office and waited for the bus to come and pick me up. Actually, they ended up taking me around the block to another of their offices to meet the bus. There were people lined up for all sorts of tours that were on offer by the operator. It looked a lot like chaos to me, but people were put on the appropriate buses in a very efficient manner and it all went quite smoothly. Eventually it was the turn of the half-day tour to the tunnels and we headed to our bus. Our tour guide introduced himself to us and then began to talk a bit about the history of Saigon and reunification of the country. And it became clear that, here in the south of Vietnam at least, many people still view it as two separate countries that have been reunited by force and not necessarily by the desire of the people who might still view themselves as south Vietnamese. It was clear from things that he told us. For instance, we were told that the city had been Saigon. When the north won, they changed the name to Ho Chi Minh City. But the people like the name of Saigon, so they still call it so. And if a visitor asks for a place in the city, they can easily say Saigon and they will be understood. However, anything the comes from the government must address the city as Ho Chi Minh City. He told us that many people from the north move to Saigon because that is where everyone wants to be. Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam because life is so good here. There is fertile land and good opportunities. And that doesn't exist in the north. He told us that while northerners often come to live in the south, it doesn't go the other way. Southerners do what tourists do, namely they go and visit, see the sights, and then they leave. They come back home. Later, at the tunnels, he talked of the Viet Cong as rats who slunk back underground to hide from the American forces. He said almost none of this with bitterness, but he definitely had no reverence for the north and the northern government. If it weren't such a serious subject, I might have laughed heartily at some of the things that he said.

On the way out to the tunnels, we did a very Chinese tour thing and stopped at a craft market, and were given the opportunity to go shopping for some tourist crap. I just stayed in the air-conditioned bus.

Once at the tunnels, we were given an overview of what went on there before we went into the site. It looked a lot different than it must have looked then, as the US had been using Agent Orange to destroy the foliage that gave the Vietnamese fighters such good cover. The trees seems to have recovered nicely now.

Once we all had tickets and brochures, we headed into the exhibition area. There is a bit of a staged feel to it all, but it is still quite artfully done. The presentation of it all is quite nice. At the start is an area that has stands of bamboo, with large huts all over.

These are presentation areas where each group that comes for a visit goes to receive some orientation regarding the tunnels and how they are laid out, as well as a video presentation about the Viet Cong and their service to the cause. As you might imagine, this was a propaganda film that was pro-regime and portrayed the Viet Cong as heroes and the Americans as demons. It was all a bit thick. “This girl was awarded many times for killing Americans.” “This is how they killed many Americans.” “This girl lost her parents to a cowardly attack from the air by the Americans, but she came back with a strong hatred and fought valiantly and killed many Americans in return.” Still, it was interesting.

After the film, we headed further into the regrown jungle to see some of the traps laid by the Viet Cong. There were camouflaged holes, big enough for one person to hide that allowed a sneak attack from behind (after which they scurried back into the holes like rats).

There were bamboo spike traps that pierced the flesh of those that fell victim, but often didn't kill. Then the Viet Cong would come by through their tunnel network and finish the job by sticking knives or bamboo spears through holes in the walls to kill the victims.

There was a gallery of all manner of different spike traps that were laid through the ingenuity of the Viet Cong. I'm sure it all did what it was supposed to do, demoralize the American troops.

There were also some depictions of the Viet Cong sitting around doing some everyday activities, like reading, or writing letters to family elsewhere, or plotting how better to kill the invading Americans.

Then it was on to the shooting range. Here visitors have the opportunity to shoot AK-47s, or machine guns of a couple of sorts, or a couple of other kinds of weapon. It was very loud. And I was getting to the point where I wanted to see the tunnels.

A small demonstration of how to make rice paper...

...another spot where we were shown the ingenuity of the Vietnamese in making footwear out of old tires (I guess the Cambodians weren't the first to be so ingenious)...

...and it was finally on to the reason for the visit. The tunnels. These were built on three levels. They dug them in teams, digging well-like holes about 10 meters apart down to a first level at about 3-4 meters deep. Then they connected the wells by digging sideways until they met. They did all of this by hand with only bamboo scoops and makeshift hoes and shovels. They worked in teams of 4 to accomplish all this work. Once the first level tunnels was made, most of the well holes were filled in to cover their presence. Then they began on the second level of the structure. The second level was built in much the same way, but the well holes weren't covered up. They were used to move between the levels. Then the third level was made. In addition to the tunnels, there were chambers made (although we didn't get to crawl into any of those) that served as the living structures. There were kitchens, pantries, sleeping areas, and more. It was all very elaborate.

And very small. I was barely able to stay on my feet, and I could only do that by stooping very low and taking off my backpack. I don't know how the Viet Cong managed to be scrabbling around all over the place in a hurry, with all their gear as well. And then to live underground. I'm not afraid of small spaces, but I still think it might have driven me crazy to live like that.

It was an interesting experience and I enjoyed seeing the area. But scrabbling through the tunnels was a reasonably short experience, only going on for a maximum of about 60 meters. I can see why all the other stuff is added to the experience. It would be a long way to for only 5 or so minutes of looking through the living areas of the Viet Cong.

On the way back to town, our guide told us that he could drop anyone who wanted to go at the War Remnants Museum. It sounded interesting, so when we stopped there, I got off the mini-bus. It wasn't far from the backpackers area, so it wasn't going to be a problem.

The War Remnants Museum is another spot where they expound the virtuous fight against the atrocities of the Americans. That whole line was starting to get a bit old. I have read and heard enough about the Vietnam War to know some of the horrible things the American troops did. Some of it was truly atrocious, and there is nothing in the way of mitigation in the explanations I have ever heard that will change my mind about some of the horrid things that were done. But I also know that the Viet Cong, as was proudly displayed in the Cu Chi Tunnel area, did a whole bunch of terrible things themselves, in the name of throwing off the yoke of colonialism and imperialism through war. It is hypocritical to criticize the horrors of one side without acknowledging the atrocities of your own side. But then, it is said that history is written by the winners. So...

There were a bunch of military vehicles on display. They were kind of cool.

And there was an area that was supposed to depict the detainment camps used by the Americans. Of course, the museum didn't label them as detainment camps. They were scenes of unimaginable torture and punishment, the debasement of humans. There were all kinds of testimonials about the treatment of detainees. The truth? I have absolutely no idea. The American version will no doubt be different, so there is no telling what might have really happened. But some of the stories were quite difficult to read.

Inside was a predictably one-sided presentation about how the world supported the Vietnamese resistance to the invasion by the Americans. It sounded as though the Americans were the only ones who wanted them to be here. Again, I don't know.

However, that all being said, there was an amazing display, on the second or third floor of the museum, of journalists' photos from the war. What journalists were able to capture of the war was really quite stunning. It was worth a visit just for those.

And then it was time to find a place to stay. I headed back to Pham Ngu Lao and found a hotel that, in the grand scheme, wasn't too expensive (at only 16 dollars), but in Vietnam was quite expensive. Good thing it was only for one night.

Ho Chi Minh City

Because I had just got off the bus and walked out to find a hotel, I had no actual idea where in relation to things I had ended up. I went down to the front desk and arranged to get my laundry done (at a high price), and then I asked about getting to a street called Pham Ngu Lao, which is where all the action is, traveller-wise. The man at the front desk didn't speak a lot of English, so I couldn't really explain to him that I wanted to walk. He kept asking me if I wanted a taxi or a moto-taxi. There was no way I was going in a regular taxi, so I eventually opted just to take the moto-taxi. Then I would know how far things were and it wouldn't be too expensive. The man called one for me and then arranged it all and told me how to pay, which wasn't unreasonable, although it seemed kind of high if the area was close. It wasn't. I had hoped that I was going to be getting off the bus the previous night in an area that was supposed to be close the backpacker area. I guess this was a different bus company than the ones the web page was talking about. It took about 15 or 20 minutes to get there. I wouldn't have wanted to walk that. I would never have found it for one thing, and I would have been tuckered out by the time I got there as well.

Once I reached Pham Ngu Lao, I started first by looking around for a good travel office. I don't actually know what such an animal looks like. And even if I did, I'm not sure I would recognize it amongst the hundreds and hundreds of travel offices along the street. Yes, I had found the backpacker area.

I pretty much just walked into one at random. Well, actually I walked into the first one that had someone outside asking if I was wanting to go somewhere. I sat down and began to figure out what I wanted to do. I had been told about the Cu Chi tunnels. These are the tunnels the Viet Cong used to terrorize the American soldiers during the war by hiding underground and attacking from seemingly everywhere and nowhere and then disappearing again. This was something I wanted to go and experience. There were two options for going to see the tunnels. There was a full day option that included a temple. The second option was a simple half-day tour that only went to see the tunnels. I have seen lots of temples. And I was told that it was nothing really spectacular. For both reasons, I decided on the half-day tour.

Then there was the Mekong delta. My one day down in Chau Doc and the trip to Saigon showed me that I would like to spend more time in the delta. As it happened there were three options to have that experience. There were one-, two-, and three-day tours down into the delta. One day didn't seem like it would be enough. The three-day option was going to go to Chau Doc. I had just come from there. So I decided to take the two-day tour.

Having decided that, I wanted to figure out what the city of Saigon was all about. And I wanted to figure out whether it should be Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City. I had heard the city referred by both names and when I had asked, I was told that it was okay to use either appellation. I suspected that that wouldn't always be the case. Whatever it was going to be, the tourist office gave me a map, after I politely said that a city tour that afternoon wasn't going to be necessary. Then I headed off to have a look at the attractions in Ho Chi Minh City. I started with the Independence Palace.

This was the last bastion of the government of the south during the Vietnam War. After the US exited the war, none too gracefully, the army of the south continued to fight for some time, but the forces of the north were too strong and eventually, all that was left was this palace. In April 1975, the northern forces crashed through the gates of the palace and forced the unconditional surrender of the south, thus unifying the country under a communist rule from the north. The palace was later turned into a museum, glorifying the win by the north, and denouncing the puppet government of the south, as well as demonizing the US in for good measure. It was quite thick, particularly in the pro-north documentary that was playing the video room. However, it was interesting to go downstairs and see the operations rooms that the southern government was using right up until the fall of Saigon.

Another attraction nearby is the Notre Dame cathedral. I guess the one in Paris isn't the only, but it's probably the only really famous one. Ha ha ha!! While I was walking I turned a number of moto drivers. One informed me that I shouldn't go to the cathedral then because it was closed and he would be glad to show me around and bring me back later. He looked a bit crestfallen when I told him that I didn't really care if I couldn't go in. I only wanted to see it from the outside. Oh, don't feel sorry for him. It was the truth, and I'm sure he found another fare. And I was polite about it.

Then I headed to a small museum that is apparently a great place for wedding photos. This was one of two couple who were having wedding photos taken while I was there. But other than, it wasn't much to write home about. The stuff inside wasn't overly interesting and the explanations that I could understand were sparse.

There was a good map showing the extent of Saigon and how it sits on its river.

And I did find it amusing that, although the propoganda demonizes the US for its actions during the war (which I am not excusing), they used a slogan that sounds a lot like one of the catch phrases of American Revolution. And presented in English like that, not even in Vietnamese, it seemed quite ironic to me. But maybe I'm just like that.

My final stop for the day was the Ho Chi Minh museum, Ho Chi Minh City branch. There are several dotted around the country. I will say anything against the man himself, particularly while I am in the country. He is pretty much the father of modern day Vietnam. He is a popular figure with many Vietnamese and it is due to his firing the imagination of the people that they threw off the colonialism of the French and then fought through the US attempts to control the country, to become the country it is today. But...

He is treated like some kind of saintly figure, to the point that it could almost be said that there is a cult of Ho Chi Minh. He must have had his faults. He can hardly not have had any, given that he was human. However, in the museum he is portrayed as completely pure and without any sort of error or fault. And again, the air in the museum is laced with the utter “evil” of the US and how they treated the country during the Vietnam War. On the ground floor, there is a statue of Ho Chi Minh, where no photos are allowed, and people lined up around the building in order to go in and pay respects to the man through the stature, offering incense and bows of reverence to the memory of the man. It is a bit silly, if you ask me. And again, I will never, ever, say anything like that to a Vietnamese person, since the legend is so important to the formation of the country as it is today.

Having finished with those sorts of cultural understanding visits for the day, I spent the next while trying to find a bank machine that would let me take out more than a hundred dollars (when converted to Vietnamese dong) at a time. I did, but it still only allowed 200 dollars. Good thing it's a cheap country.