As our bus pulled onto a busy tourist street in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Siagon) I knew I was going to like being in a busy city again. Nathan later described the city as feeling alive and that is exactly what it was. We grabbed our bags and headed to the ATM where we withdrew 5 million Dong! The money is crazy so 1 million Dong is £30.
One of the first things that hits you in Vietnam is the bikes and how they are everywhere and there appears to be no red lights they can drive wherever they want whenever they want. Motorbikes can drive on pavements and everything this means you have to have your wits about you at all times or you will get run over. We learnt the best way is to just walk and to make eye contact with each bike so they know you have seen them and that you will continue walking so they can then go behind you!
After dropping our bags in a random airbnb we were staying in we headed back to the tourist area to try and book a train for 48 hours time. We arrived and were told there were no trains or buses due to the 'Holiday!' We could not believe it was happening again. After being caught in the Cambodian New Year celebrations we were now in Vietnam for the reunification holiday but it was even more special as it was the 40th anniversary of the reunification between the North and South of Vietnam meaning everyone was heading to their home towns and villages! We had no choice but to book a last minute flight! We left the shop and decided to have a think about it. This was when we bumped into Johnny and Chloe on the street who had been on our bus from Cambodia. The 4 of us went for beers and dinner and afterwards Nathan and I had no choice but to book a £160 flight to De Nang for Sunday.
Saturday morning we headed out in the busy city and walked to The War Remnants Museum. The museum primarily contains exhibits relating to the American War (known in the USA as the Vietnam War). There are many exhibits but for me the most powerful was the graphic photography, accompanied by a short text covering the effects of Agent Orange and other chemical defoliant sprays, the use of napalm and phosphorus bombs, and war atrocities such as the My Lai massacre. I found this exhibit so difficult to look at and to understand. I couldn't get my head around how human beings could drop bombs like that on other human beings. Everyone was silent moving around the exhibit, at one point I actually had to leave and go and sit outside as it was really that bad. I had a similar feeling to S21 and The Killing fields were I was shocked I didn't know much about Cambodia's history, I was equally shocked I didn't know much about agent orange. There are still people in Vietnam giving birth to children who are physically affected by what happened 2 generations ago.
On Saturday evening we met Johnny and Chloe again and went to a rooftop bar called 'The View' for some more beers. Before we knew it it was 1am. When we came down from the bar we sat on the street eating some noodles when a really drunk English guy sat down with us and put an egg on the table and started peeling it. The egg was a half form chicken feotus and it absolutely stunk and was so so so discusting, the guy was pretty gross to shouting abuse at everyone and generally giving 'Brits abroad' a bad name. We quickly got up and moved.
Saigon is an awesome city with some fantastic food, as I mentioned in my previous post and the whole place is alive with families sharing food on the street, women selling fish that was caught that morning and fresh vegetables that arrived in the early hours from the countryside. The city is dazzling.