SAIGON

We are now in Saigon aka Ho Chi Minh City. Saigon was renamed after the war, in memory of the president, who died in 1969. Most still call it by its old name, Saigon.

It is a beautiful city on the Saigon river. Much more modern, cleaner, and a little less chaotic than Hanoi. 

Taken from the 52nd floor ......

We are staying at a great hotel, where the journalists stayed during the war.

We have been to the War Museum.  Outside there was a large display of American military hardware....tanks, helicopters, planes, machine guns, grenade launchers.

Inside were 4 floors of informative, heartbreaking displays. 

Enough said.

We also took a cyclo tour of the city, and drove past the presidential palace. The U.S. tank that was used by the North Vietnamese to break down the gates to the palace on the last day of the war, is still parked outside the palace.

Today we drove out of the city, to the Cu Chi tunnels. This was fascinating. The North Vietnamese were very smart. The tunnels were 3 levels deep. We went into the first level only. That was enough for me. Tom could have spent all day there. He went into one and ventured off on his own, and came up in another part of the jungle. You can see why the U.S. Troops thought of them as ghosts, because they would appear and disappear out of nowhere.

Here is a picture of me going into a tunnel entrance, you can see how they would disappeared.....

Ventilation holes disguised as termite mounds.

Here are some of the torture traps used by the Viet Cong...

The picture above shows the sharp bamboo spikes that would be at the bottom of the trap. We saw a picture of children helping their parents make these spikes, very disturbing.

The tunnels were started as protection from the French, and then extended and used for the Vietnam civil war as well. 

This beautiful jungle. We can't even imagine....

And now for something completely different....

Our evening started at the Saigon Opera House, conveniently right across the street from our hotel.

We saw an amazing performance of A O. A troupe of very athletic and talented young Vietnamese,

performing their interpretation of cultural adaptation from rural life to urban life. The choreography and optical illusions, along with fabulous, and sometimes haunting music, made for a spectacular show. 

We are off to Cambodia and even warmer weather.....stay tuned.