Vietnam Journal

We started our Vietnam journey in Saigon (officially Ho Chi Minh City). To see journal entries from our other Vietnam stops, just click the links at the top of the page.

Saigon, Vietnam

(Lea) Tree lined streets, quaint European style buildings and pastel colored apartments greeted me as we drove from the airport to our hotel. This was not the Saigon I was expecting. I expected the immediate assault to my senses that the guide books warn against - intense traffic and pollution. Instead my first impression was a city of a graceful, although somewhat faded, elegance.

Over the next few days, I found a lot of Saigon's charm in the architecture, the food (the French baguettes are amazing!) and its people. The pollution and traffic are there, but I tried to focus on the other aspects. It was interesting to see evidences of Communism, through the many propaganda posters, contrasted with their new liberalism, evidenced through the many privately owned shops and stores and partnerships with foreign companies.

In Saigon much of the tourist focus in on history and museums. Before arriving, I read some of their history and found it very complex! They fought off the Chinese, Mongols, Japanese and French at one time or another. The events leading to the Vietnam war (they refer to it as the American war) are even more complex. Preceding the Vietnam war was the war to drive out France's control, which resulted in the division of North and South Vietnam. The North was then ruled by Ho Chi Minh. The US recognized the South, because it was the non communist regime. When the fighting between the North and the South occurred, the US supported the South. Visiting the War Remnants Museum, Reunification Palace and Cu Chi tunnels disturbed me because the sections about the Vietnam War contain propaganda against America (e.g. the war was about Vietnam against America taking over their country), and do not portray the war as between North and South Vietnam. After visiting these museums I was surprised by people's friendly and open attitudes toward us. I thought as Americans we might receive cool and unfriendly receptions - I was very wrong. We receive friendly smiles and "hellos" everywhere we go. Children run to look at us and wave. When people ask where I am from and I say the States, "American number 1" and excitement is normally the response. Vietnam has been full of surprises so far, I am excited to see what else is in store for us.

(Keith) Here I am with Thu; I met Thu on our second day in Saigon, but I'll get to that later.

When we arrived in Saigon we were a little nervous . . . This is the first communist country we have ever been in and didn't know what to expect from customs and immigration. Fortunately we had no problems entering (even with our assorted electronic gear of cameras and the notebook computer). Our hotel sent a driver to pick us up, he was anxiously awaiting at the front of a swarm of people greeting passengers. After wading through the people, he escorted us to a vintage 1947 Mercedes . . . it turns out that he was the bellman; the hotel had sent two people to greet us!

As we drove through the city, we chatted with them about sites we were passing, America, and our lives. They were very interested and extremely polite and hospitable . . . this is so far a common theme in Saigon. Upon arriving at the hotel we were very pleasantly surprised with the quality; if we hadn't have just driven through Saigon, we would have sworn we were in France. The layout and atmosphere of the place is extremely European.

Enough about the hotel and the driver, let me get back to Thu. As I said earlier I met Thu on the second day in Saigon. Lea and I were walking back from a long day of sight seeing (Saigon is a big city and requires a lot of walking), when Thu waved to us from his cyclo. A cyclo is a bike contraption where the driver sits in the back and the passenger in the front. These cyclos are present everywhere in Saigon and is a comfortable way of travel. I politely waved back and told him that we weren't interested; he pursued. Thu drove slowly beside us making small talk in his clipped English. . . where are you from? how do you like Saigon? what are you seeing next? After a very tiring day, we had no intent of hiring this guy, but as I said, he persisted. Thu was now off of his cyclo and walking beside me. I figured there was no harm in talking to him as we walked so I told him we were from America close to Washington, D.C. "AMERICA NUMBER ONE !" Thu exclaimed. "He would give us a free ride back to the hotel." I told him that wasn't necessary, we were almost there and would continue to walk. At this point he ran back to his cyclo (about a block behind us) and produced a spiral notebook. In this notebook he had collected testimonials from previous passengers . . . he even had one from Washington, D.C.

At this point, Thu suggested he meet us the next morning and show us the city. I was starting to like this guy and agreed to meet him at 9:30 the next morning in front of our hotel. At 8:30 the next morning Lea and I headed out for breakfast, sure enough Thu and his assistant were there in front of the hotel waiting. They sat there for the next hour as we ate and then we were off on the cyclos to see Saigon. Thu was an excellent tour guide, he drove that bike through traffic with daring skill and confidence. He took us into the heart of China town to see several Chinese Pagodas, he drove us across town to see the Emerald Pagoda, and finally back to the hotel. Before departing, Lea and I wrote our approval of his services and gave him our business card. He proudly taped the card into his spiral notebook next to our entry and drove off into the city.

Check out more Saigon Photos.

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