11th-15th July 2012
The original plan was to get a train from Nha Trang to Saigon, but due to them being completely booked up, we arrived in Saigon via aeroplane from Nha Trang. That was us trying to get a ticket 7 days in advance! From the airport we caught a taxi into town and as per, the driver tried to screw us out of a few extra dollars. Business as usual!
As you probably already know, Ho Chi Minh City is the city’s official name but most people still call it Saigon. So the title of this post is a scam too and you fell for it – two things for the price of three! Now you know how I feel.
Our hotel was right in the middle of the ‘Backpacker District’ which consists of the streets and alleys around Pham Ngu Lao street. This meant loads of good places for food and cheap beer.
![IMG_0501 IMG_0501](http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Ve-jH-VPZu0/UDdhMXO5emI/AAAAAAAAUYI/MDW2acjPL-I/IMG_0501_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Drinking cheap beer on Bui Vien street, Saigon |
![IMG_0504 IMG_0504](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-AU3ClE57PvA/UDdhPllLipI/AAAAAAAAUYU/gqXUQSpb2hA/IMG_0504_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Saigon alleys |
![SAM_1034 SAM_1034](http://lh6.ggpht.com/-XkG9A20jXA8/UDdhTzfvS1I/AAAAAAAAUYo/RmCbvbD97Gs/SAM_1034_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
View from our hotel |
It’s about time I mentioned the Vietnamese Pho too.
Pho is a noodle soup made with a beef stock, rice noodles, to which are added thinly sliced onions, beansprouts, a few chillies to taste, a dash of pepper, slices of beef, chicken or tofu and a then a huge handful of fresh leaves and herbs including mint, Thai basil, rice paddy herb, thorny coriander and others (see here for a
Vietnamese herb primer.) The result is healthy, filling and, when it’s good, absolutely delicious. It is truly a flavour explosion! The best we had in Saigon was at Quan Pho Quyn on Pham Ngo Lao street. This is one dish I’m really going to miss when we leave Vietnam.
![IMG_0507 IMG_0507](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-1XLnAmDfQoo/UDdhYPwhmhI/AAAAAAAAUY4/QXWF4Eclg-A/IMG_0507_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
A delicious bowl of Pho for breakfast |
Although we had been warned about the traffic in Saigon, to be honest it was no worse than Hanoi and because the streets are generally wider, in some ways it was better. Traffic signals seemed to be more widely obeyed too, which meant sights like this at every junction.
![IMG_0499 IMG_0499](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-gBaVyQI4ank/UDdhbkkhNOI/AAAAAAAAUZI/DpMyqNWANy8/IMG_0499_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
3... 2... 1... Wait for it... |
Elsewhere in the city, there’s the War Museum (closed when we passed by), a nice park or two, Notre Dame (not the Paris one) and the Reunification Palace.
![SAM_1004 SAM_1004](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-4bF1g8GSVnk/UDdhe_kqRiI/AAAAAAAAUZY/lEg5BsnWeUY/SAM_1004_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Notre Dame |
![SAM_1036 SAM_1036](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-7oNxvpGLstg/UDdhhjhxQAI/AAAAAAAAUZo/-5z_VEDN1Sg/SAM_1036_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
A hedge dragon |
![SAM_1042 SAM_1042](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-dqpxFwYynog/UDdhkltykCI/AAAAAAAAUZ4/vs-wIN3EcPs/SAM_1042_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Where did I park my Chinook? |
![SAM_1045 SAM_1045](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-0xdGrhd9LiA/UDdhm86dJvI/AAAAAAAAUaI/rRUQpBOztrE/SAM_1045_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Reunification Palace |
The pick of the lot was the Reunification palace. The former home and headquarters of the South Vietnamese president during the war, it has been maintained pretty much how it was which means the decor is marvellously retro.
![IMG_0509 IMG_0509](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-YgCIpJWr3As/UDdhq4KO_gI/AAAAAAAAUaY/4BvA_VDcDVQ/IMG_0509_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Banqueting hall |
![IMG_0510 IMG_0510](http://lh5.ggpht.com/--f6ixx0y11Y/UDdhtXsA4wI/AAAAAAAAUao/shs1MkqpVVA/IMG_0510_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Board room (with shark pool underneath, I think) |
![IMG_0546 IMG_0546](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-fBTRVm7cNbk/UDdhwQfDLWI/AAAAAAAAUa4/TeXsAGcOrrI/IMG_0546_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Drawing room |
![IMG_0550 IMG_0550](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-r2cSWYQoKxc/UDdhzIRdRYI/AAAAAAAAUbI/LhVJ-HrAm7E/IMG_0550_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Zen roof garden |
![IMG_0552 IMG_0552](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-_Jr7ue0xVok/UDdh2bVsjGI/AAAAAAAAUbY/iWITiHhAlgY/IMG_0552_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Library (there really was a secret door!) |
![IMG_0557 IMG_0557](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-X_H3Zyq7YBE/UDdh7XFn0aI/AAAAAAAAUbo/u6a6y7w2Va0/IMG_0557_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Cinema |
![IMG_0558 IMG_0558](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-td4zFBCmC4w/UDdh-jHylMI/AAAAAAAAUb4/VZWTd5Noe0Q/IMG_0558_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Piano and billards |
![IMG_0560 IMG_0560](http://lh6.ggpht.com/-eT-7Jhbaq0E/UDdiBKkKl2I/AAAAAAAAUcI/GPTf821vkok/IMG_0560_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Retro bar |
![IMG_0565 IMG_0565](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-nq90tsbcP-U/UDdiEQm4ELI/AAAAAAAAUcY/qZvAWvAzHwY/IMG_0565_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Rebels at the gates? Time for a swift exit. |
![IMG_0566 IMG_0566](http://lh6.ggpht.com/-TWZK33SZYCY/UDdiLhn0XXI/AAAAAAAAUco/R-43A-vPuuQ/IMG_0566_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
View from the roof |
It was already a bit like the headquarters of an evil dictator from a spy movie. And then we got to the basement.
Underneath the palace is a reinforced bunker where the president and his staff would go to direct operations during the war. I’m sure this place was used for the set of an early Bond movie. A lot of the old equipment is still there including Bakelite telephones, huge bits of radio equipment and lots of unidentified things with knobs on.
![IMG_0511 IMG_0511](http://lh6.ggpht.com/-V2dpEWwD6qk/UDdiWQ-d7ZI/AAAAAAAAUc4/HHcQvUUSV_c/IMG_0511_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
"Destroy this" |
![IMG_0513 IMG_0513](http://lh6.ggpht.com/-jhwcX4FDqk4/UDdicJ6SajI/AAAAAAAAUdI/_XECQPwIDPQ/IMG_0513_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Yellow phone: the President, green phone: the wife |
![IMG_0515 IMG_0515](http://lh6.ggpht.com/-Ov2GAIbm8sI/UDdivYK1G9I/AAAAAAAAUdY/X65wm4mg4oE/IMG_0515_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
I'd love to hear this plugged into a guitar amp: "Turn the excitation up to 11!" |
![IMG_0516 IMG_0516](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Rj-KBqbo2pg/UDdi77lEawI/AAAAAAAAUdo/Ar2txK-sg38/IMG_0516_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Knobs |
![IMG_0519 IMG_0519](http://lh5.ggpht.com/-KI8MPmx9DtI/UDdjCzWyQlI/AAAAAAAAUd4/yyIzFEnPngs/IMG_0519_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
KNOBS! |
![IMG_0525 IMG_0525](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Z0zYQ15VmwU/UDdjIL1zPlI/AAAAAAAAUeI/Knfd2II4ht4/IMG_0525_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
"I'm So Ronery" |
![IMG_0527 IMG_0527](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-lYabUaMEUx8/UDdjMGaT4WI/AAAAAAAAUeY/1vCF_rZlktY/IMG_0527_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
The President's bed |
![IMG_0529 IMG_0529](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-fIARyA5EcMk/UDdjRa9yNQI/AAAAAAAAUeo/SvDMpZ6GY-c/IMG_0529_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
The President's chair: "Get me the Kremlin!" |
![IMG_0532 IMG_0532](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ugxYs1w4OQA/UDdjZEuQm8I/AAAAAAAAUfI/Dmv-wJ9G3EQ/IMG_0532_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
When I took this photo, the corridor was empty... |
![IMG_0540 IMG_0540](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GKD7AYa2-FI/UDdjdfOOxII/AAAAAAAAUfY/oRBHH2JwTDM/IMG_0540_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
Pretty impressive parking |
![IMG_0543 IMG_0543](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-2wqYA9q8cM0/UDdjgDrUzeI/AAAAAAAAUfo/lu7gr2y4yNg/IMG_0543_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800) |
If the pink phone rings, whatever you do, don't answer it... |
It was like playing a real-life version of Impossible Mission* on the Commodore 64. I loved that game. I swear, had an electricity-spitting robot come around the corner right then, I would have tried to somersault over it and started searching the furniture for snoozes.
Fabulous.
So that was Saigon – pretty cool place which I’d be more than happy to go back to. Next up, a tale of two tours – the Cu Chi tunnels and the Mekong Delta. Stay tuned…
* or more recently for any kids reading: Goldeneye on the N64 – what? it's how old? 15 years?
Current location: Siem Reap until 30th August
Next stop: Bangkok!
No comments:
Post a Comment