A few minutes into walking around Saigon we wondered why we'd heard
so much about road crossing safety in Hanoi: Saigon's roads are wide
boulevards streaming with a constant river of traffic dominated by hordes of
scooters who take over the streets and pavements. Eventually we
concluded that if you were to adopt the tactic of walking slowly and steadily across
the road you could probably cross blindfolded. However, there is more to
the city than its city-scale traffic.
Without even thinking about trying to navigate the city on wheels, we walked: foot-power is
as almost always the most interesting mode of transport in a city. You get up close to things and breathe it in. We strolled around the main sights from the Opera House to the colonial French
Post Office, which is still very much in use, though also occupied by a
continuous crowd of tourists snapping at the elegant interior with smartphones. Next to the post office is the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon, modelled as many are, on the original Notre-Dame. This slice of the city feels a bit like a little Paris, even some new buildings slotted in are almost like replicas.
Another place that feels very French, probably because it was established
by them, is the National Museum of Vietnamese History which details
Vietnam from its prehistory to its modern history with various displays of
stone tools, Khmer statues, just enough information to read in its entirety, plus a century-old mummy to gawp at.
And then there's Independence Palace which in its current form, after
being rebuilt in the 1960s, is a geometric dream of simplicity and solid lines,
a bastion of modernism with a well trimmed garden from the French era. The
palace is more than worth the entrance fee of 40,000 dong (£1.30). The basement, a base of communications doubling as an emergency bunker, was
especially interesting with its classic '60s decor and office furniture and technology
like broadcasting equipment and word processors on show in well dusted
situ. The kitchen, grand meeting rooms and private quarters are all open
to the public, the art and regal furniture in stark majestic contrast to the
minimalist design of the building. If you like photography and design you
will want your camera with you when you visit.
Outside on the grass next to the grand turning circle is a replica of the tank that famously smashed though the gates on 30th April 1975, when apparently, according to an Australia man we met outside, the guards were about to open the middle gate anyway.
Away from passive sightseeing you can engage in active haggling at the Ben Thanh Market. It's packed with food, toiletries, electricals, souvenirs, all
manner of items for daily life. Housed inside a big building on a grid
system the market is easily navigated and enjoyed. We bargained with a
stall owner for some coffee and drip filter because we just couldn't enough of
Vietnamese coffee.
Westerners are well catered for in Saigon. The expat and tourist scene
culminates in a long raucous strip of restaurants and bars all out to get
your business with confusing happy hours and blaring music, all contending
with each other for your money. Pick a bar, take seat out the front and
watch the madness unfold: fire breathers perform for money up and down
the road getting much too close for comfort so you can feel the searing
heat of the flames--we saw one guy get the back of his shirt singed as
he was working at a bar. Local food vendors sell Vietnamese tidbits like
dried squid and sugar rolls, portable karaoke is wailed into and as the
night goes on the raucous atmosphere of young Vietnamese and tourists
culminates in a drunken debauchery that eventually slips away into the side
streets in search of dancing and darker pasttimes.
We joined one such foray which led us to an empty bar where a man rolled one joint for us for 10000
dong whilst his maybe-girlfriend sliced a pill in half
with a giant carving knife and then tried to give the halves to us. We weren't into it and declined. But she got pretty angry and combined with the blade she was holding and her unhinged demeanour we were happy to just hand over the money for the joint and go get high.
A seedy undercurrent runs close to the
surface of the southern Vietnamese city. Warnings about keeping your phone and belongings
glued to you are not unfounded, since drive-by purse snatchings are frequent
and drugs are but a question away from any nocturnal situation. The day we arrived, as we walked down an alley searching for our hotel using google maps, a woman motioned urgently for us to put our iPad away and we never took out it again.
In such recent history Saigon has transitioned from being a friend to foe. Tactfully positioned by the USA as a stronghold for their fight against Viet Cong's communist ideology, the city was bombarded and destroyed, then accepted like a wayward family member as Vietnam unified after the long war. Saigon is no doubt the underdog city that's grown very big very rapidly. The rusted layers of history and modern day struggles converge and combine in the buzzing urban heat of a real-life half-dystopia. Edgy and hard but well-ordered and still unfolding as it flows into the future.
REBECCA ALICE SAUNDERS
@yesnotravel
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Saigon Inn,
£13.50 (40,0000 Dong) a night for a basic double room with en suite, including breakfast.
Tucked down one of the many labyrinths of alleyways in Saigon is the Saigon Inn. The guesthouse was a little hard to find at first but we were really glad to have stayed here. We arrived at around 7am and were exhausted after getting off the night train from Hue, the staff greeted us extremely warmly with smiles. It was too early for us to check into our room but that didn't matter: the guy and girl running this place happily offered us breakfast for free in their cosy kitchen which was more than we expected. We chose breakfast from an immense menu of around 50 options and it came served with a plentiful platter of fruits. Our room was ready early and it was clean and neat; even though we chose the cheapest room option we were happy. At the end of our stay we were sad to leave our new friends who made our stay so comfortable and made us feel so welcome even though they must have hundreds of travellers pass through their doors every month. We would stay here again.
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