Saigon was the capital city of South Vietnam and is perhaps the most well known of the Vietnam cities. It was renamed along with buildings following the Reunification of Vietnam. In Vietnam they refer to the French War of 1945 and the American war. According to the propaganda, America invaded Vietnam. If you speak to South Vietnamese or the young people who have been exposed to the internet , they speak of a  war of Ideology; capitalism against communism or socialism. A trip to the War museum reflects the propaganda…..pictures of protests in other countries, terrible things the USA did …nothing about the South Vietnam army,North Vietnam army or the Vietcong, but on the top floor was a display of photographs by foreign war correspondents. These show a more even reflection of the events. A trip to the prison shows exactly how cruel both sides of the Vietnam army were to each other.

France bought beautiful architecture to Saigon and it has many buildings that reflect this.

A national postal and communications system was introduced. Education using the alphabet was substituted for the Chinese writing style.  Asian decoration and symbolic traditional were incorporated into buildings, hence the Cobra pattern on the Post Office.

Many of the photos we saw of the end of the Vietnam war were shown in the context of the places we saw today; building where many people were evacuated from and where the tank crashed through the gates. 

The gates of the President’s Palace were knocked down by the tank. An original French style building had been destroyed in an early attack on the President. The 1968 building reflects a simpler architecture.   This was based on the Chinese Feng Shui with symbols for truth and prosperity. Within the building beautiful lacquer paintings adorned the walls. Furniture reflected both Asian and European tastes.

Among the Offices in the Presidential building, now renamed the Reunification Palace, were rooms to where the conflict was discussed.Below the ground floor was a bunker should it be needed. There were four areas of defence. Each area expected the attack to come through the neighbouring countries. The President at the beginning of the conflict left a week before the fall of Saigon. He was replaced by a President who resigned after one week. His successor was in office for 36 hours  when he ended the war by surrendering. He decided it was in the interest of Saigon and the Vietnamese people as a whole. South Vietnamese officers were jailed in re-education prisons. Some escaped to other countries as the Boat people.

  From the windows.

Trains again but at even more expense as we are in a soft sleeper! Today we are on the night train to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh city. The train leaves at 10.30 in the morning. We were prepared this time as we knew we needed not just toilet paper, wipes and water but food supplies as well. The trip takes 18 and  a half hours from Hue. Our Hue city guide had taken us to the markets to stock up on food for the journey. Hot pot noodles, sesame and nut crispy pancake slice, banana, mandarins and interesting cheese crackers that have sugar on one side and a sort of cheese icing on the other. Interesting combination.                      .

Now before you ask, yes the toilets are gross….almost mega gross. The only saving factor is the floor is slightly raised with a channel at either side so the water drains away and the window is locked open. You did need to bring your own paper and sit at your own peril.

The scenery along the coast is worth the minor inconvenience as, even in the rain (expect spotty pictures) , it is spectacular.

Mike enjoying the scenery.
Oops, Mike enjoying the scenery!

As with our trip from Hanoi to Hue, each station is met with a flurry of people hastily getting off and onto the train.

Even at night passengers are constantly changing. In our sleeper compartment, the  bunk above mine changed occupants 3 times. The occupant changed, the bedding didn’t so you can’t be too precious about your sleeping arrangements. We were lucky and got a clean sheet and quilt cover!

Once you move from the coast, the paddy fields and small villages return. Sometimes there is a fish farm or with the change in soil, tapioca or palms as well as rice,

 Sunset and still at work.

A story from our guide Tam from yesterday. His family and their neighbors (15 people in all) were sheltering in a large bomb shelter,  they had built from the remains of their houses. During the night they began to be attacked by bed bugs. There were so many that the roof was turned red. All of the families decided to move into makeshift small dwellings for the night. During the night the area was shelled and the big dwelling was destroyed , but the families were safe nearby in their smaller tents. Not often do you hear of bed bugs as the heroes of a story.

Safely arriving in Saigon , we walked to our hotel to rest before transferring to our Tour hotel. Oops they had sold our room. A taxi ride saw us store our luggage at the Caravelle hotel and then a walk around our neighbourhood.

 Notre Dame Cathedral with the main Post Office in the background.

 Very quiet at 6.30am on a Sunday morning. You can see the French colonial influence in the official buildings. Old buildings are generally painted cream or a dark yellow cream with white trim. Saigon has more modern European style buildings than Hanoi or Hui. Streets are wider and there is less rubbish…at least early in the morning.

Breakfast was    Yes 1,310,925.00 VDN   This is about $70 Australian . You can be a millionaire here…just go to the bank and withdraw it. It will not buy much but you can feel rich…..temporarily. 17,000 is about a $1.    Rest time ,we can book in and have a shower , yay! Tomorrow we join the tour but we have already met four of our travel companions at breakfast, not a bad start.