Saigon

Saigon is a big (10+ million people) city that feels new, successful and full of life. The official name is Ho Chi Minh City, but everyone still calls it Saigon. Picture 1 shows our arrival. We docked in front of the pink building to the left of the tall towers in the center of the picture, so we were in the middle of the action. Incomes are considerably higher here and the Japanese and Koreans are making huge investments. The problem is that it has grown too fast. Picture 2 shows a typical corner with spaghetti-like electrical wires—how unsafe and unreliable is that? We asked our guide why the government doesn’t fix this and he said “We don’t know how to do it and still maintain service”!

The public transportation is limited and tax on cars is 100%, so everyone drives motorbikes and motor scooters. Picture 3 shows what a typical corner looks like. We had someone tell us that 20 people die in Saigon per day in motorbike accidents. We saw 4 people on one motorbike and several others loaded with boxes and bags of rice and even propane cylinders.

The problem with Viet Nam is there are too many people. Since the end of the war, the population has more than doubled to almost 100 million people. To put that in perspective, the United States has 3 times the people and 30 times the land area. The government currently has a campaign to curb population growth; encouraging couples to have 1-2 children, instead of the large families they currently have. Unlike China, there is no punishment for having more children, but televisions are encouraged so that people have something to do in the evening and seminars for men are held in police stations in the evening, so the men can learn “self control”.  Seems like the government providing birth control might be an answer! Enough said….

When traveling, one hopes that, by the time you leave the country, you have at least a better understanding of the culture and history—not so with Viet Nam. For one thing, our guide stated that they had one political party: the communist party. There’s only one candidate and everyone goes and votes for that one person. But the communist government does not provide health care or education. It’s like having the worst of 2 worlds: they don’t live in a democracy and their communist government provides them with nothing. I thought that was the “beauty” of communism—the government provides! Parents must pay to send their children to private schools and if you should have to go to the hospital, the first question asked is “Who will pay?”

The second outstanding question is “What really happened in the Viet Nam war?” On our first day in Saigon we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels. This was a Viet Cong stronghold in the middle of South Vietnam. On the map in Picture 4, Saigon is in the lower right corner and Cu Chi is the large red area in the middle of the map. Over a hundred miles of tunnels were built by local farmers, at night, using a simple hoe and basket for hauling dirt. These tunnels allowed the Viet Cong to move quickly and covertly throughout the region. It also gave the Viet Cong space to build traps for Americans. Where’s the entrance to the tunnels in Picture 5? Picture 6 shows one way that entrances were hidden. Picture 7 shows one type of trap set for Americans. The top laid flat until someone stepped on it, causing the person to drop onto the spikes in the bottom.

We actually got to go into a short stretch of the tunnels. Picture 8 shows Betsy “walking” through the tunnels. What’s amazing is that, when the tunnels were rebuilt by the Vietnamese for tourists, they built them 8 inches wider and 8 inches higher than the original ones.  As you can see, the Viet Cong were short, skinny people!  Rick is emerging from the tunnel in Picture 9. He had to go through on hands and knees because his shoulders were too wide.

While we don’t like what happened to Americans here, the park was well done and we learned a lot.  What we don’t understand is why America didn’t get rid of the tunnels. Certainly we had the tools to find them and weapons to destroy them. But for some reason we didn’t (politics were involved, I’m sure)—and lost thousands of Americans. We’re pretty much doves when it comes to getting involved in foreign wars, but once in a war, you beat the crap out of the enemy! Enough said, off the soapbox, back to being a tourist….

On our second day, 6 of us took a van to the Mekong delta to experience life on that bustling waterway. The Mekong delta is a monster—lots of channels going to the South China Sea. The number of boats is huge—all different sizes and types. But it’s amazingly peaceful—cruising along in a smallish boat and watching the sights was delightful.

Picture 10 was taken as we turned into one of the channels—lots of boats, with the banks full of houses and businesses. Commerce occurs on the water, as Picture 11 shows. In this case, a boat full of watermelons docked at the edge of the channel or, in many cases, tied to other boats in the center of the channel forming a floating market (Picture 12). The channels form islands, isolating people from markets and each other. Picture 13, shows one of the ferries between islands.

Finally, we had a wonderful Vietnamese lunch of many courses. Picture 14 shows Elephant Ear fish, which is a freshwater fish found in the Mekong. Our server filleted it and wrapped the fish meat with cucumber, pineapple and greens in rice paper—very tasty.  Picture 15 shows a Dragon’s Egg—a fried sticky rice ball.  When you cut it open, it’s mostly hollow, with a little sticky rice in the bottom. Don’t know how it works….

Viet Nam is a beautiful country and relatively cheap to visit. We were left with some troubling thoughts, but would like to visit again.