Saigon

South Vietnam, the Mekong delta, is the rice basket of the nation. In ancient times, this was part of Cambodia. Saigon was largely planned by the French, so it has wide boulevards, and since it wasn't destroyed by war, many modern buildings. Officially, called Ho Chi Minh City, since the civil war, many of its 10 million residents still refer to it as Saigon. The streets are filled with scooters and motor bikes, because prices are reasonable $300-1000 in a place where people make $500-600 per month. Cars have high taxes to discourage their use - $40,000 for a car, about the same price as a 2 bedroom apartment. We also saw lots of women with masks and long sleeves in the 90 degree weather because "white skin is beautiful".

Saigon Traffic

 

Our first stop was the former Presidential Palace, now called the Reunification Palace, where two tanks entered the grounds at 11 AM, April 30th, 1975 signifying the end of the war. Completed in 1966 this palace was built over the French palace, destroyed during an assasinantion attempt against President Diem. He was a Catholic in a Buddhist country, known for nepotism and the suppresion of Buddhists. The palace was fairly simple, especially the Presidential office and the numerous map rooms from which the war was conducted.

Presidential Office

 

Nearby was Notre Dame Cathedral designed by Eiffel and completed in 1891. Then onto the history museum depicting the stone age to the present day. Most interesting were the depictions of how the Vietnamese defeated the Chinese during the 10th century and the Monguls in the 13th century. They used iron tipped stakes in the mouth of the river. Then lured their enemies into the river at high tide, as the tide receded the boats were trapped and sunk by the stakes. Unique was the water puppet show, a Vietnamese art.

Our final stop was a Chinese temple from 1760. Here people wrote their wishes on rice paper and tied it to an incense coil, which would burn for 4 days.

Incense Coils