KW'S TRIP TO SAIGON

DAY ONE

Or really day one and day two because it is a very long flight to Manila and I cross the date line. Have I mentioned that I'm not real fond of flying? It's not a fear of crashing, it's a dread of claustrophobic spaces. My cousin John has lived in the Far East for nearly 25 years. After he graduated from Harvard Business School, he headed to the Orient (politically incorrect term, I know) and has been involved in several business ventures, the details of which have always been somewhat murky.

His current enterprise is in Vietnam. He started this business while the embargo/trade sanctions were still in place. I was convinced he was involved in some shady black market enterprise. It turns out to be not nearly so exciting. Furniture manufacturing. Mostly rattan. Manufactured in Vietnam and sold in the Philippines.

Cousin John has twin sons. Cousin John wants his sons to play tennis. He is obsessed with this idea. Tennis is their ticket to a top ivy league school. To this end, he has shipped his sons to Sonoma County, California where they live with a coach. John's wife flew to California and saw first-hand how the twins were living and declared that she and John were moving to Sonoma. She is already there and he will follow shortly and begin "commuting" to Vietnam. We will see how long that lasts.

To make a long story a tiny bit shorter, I decided to visit Vietnam before this move occurs to take advantage of the chance to visit this mysterious country with someone who knows the country.

Cousin John meets me at the airport in Manila and we catch the two hour flight to Saigon.

Cousin John (note the family resemblance)

The stewardesses are all slinky Asian women. Hmmm.

My impression of Saigon airport is more favorable than I thought it would be. Small.

It is a half hour ride into Saigon. Or, more correctly, Ho Chi Minh City, but everyone in Vietnam still refers to it as Saigon. And most of the souvenirs use the name Saigon.

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First impression. YOWZAH. Mopeds and bicyclists everywhere. And let's not forget the cyclos. Reminds me of the vespas in Florence, except multiply by a factor of 10.

Notice that many of the riders are wearing facemasks!! After nearly getting knocked down by a motor scooter and causing a sig alert, cousin John tells me the trick to crossing the street is to just start walking and to keep walking in a straight line. Do not slow down, do not stop, do not pass Go. The riders adjust to you.

We are staying at the Rex Hotel. This is where the U.S. Military held their daily press briefings. The reporters called these briefings the "Five O'Clock Follies" because of the amount of propaganda they contained. The Rex was originally a garage that was converted into a hotel in 1961. At some point in the 70s it became a trading center and held movie theatres and dance halls. The hotel was refurbished in the late 80s and has a roof terrace. On the terrace there a number of deer topiaries. I am told that topiary is very popular in Vietnam.

DAY TWO

Cousin John is working today, so I walk around and try to absorb some of the atmosphere. I walk around the central area and the Backpackers' district, off of Pham Ngu Lao. I eat some yummy pastry at a bakery.

And some more tasty treats. And some more.

(Actually, I showed remarkable restraint and passed up the third bakery. )

There is an amazing amount of French and western influence. The bakeries. French bread. Laughing Cow cheese. Signs for all kinds of electronic and western goods.

There are a number of internet access stores.

I love food and cooking so I stroll through the markets. I do not know what most of the fruit and vegetables are. Some bizarre looking stuff. I look for pomelos, the gigantic grapefruit that I've recently seen at some farmers' markets in the San Gabriel Valley.

An aside:

How do they squat like that? I can't even do it without falling over, and I certainly can't stay that way for more than 30 seconds before my thighs start burning.

I have noodle soup (or pho) for lunch from a street stand.

Love the billboards. All done in the same style. I guess you'd call it "social realism." I try to figure out what the message is.

Couisn John and I have dinner at Liberty, a Vietnamese restaurant just off Dong Khoi. Some interesting items on the menu. Many of the streets in Saigon used to have French names, but they have been vietnamized. John informs me that Dong Khoi used to be the Rue Catenat, where Graham Greene's "The Quiet American" lived. Am embarrassed to admit that I've never read "The Quiet American" or any other Graham Greene, for that matter. Mention upcoming movie based on "The End of the Affair." John is not impressed. An exception to the vietnamization of street names is Duong Pateur.

Speaking of "The Quiet American," this book is for sale in the many bookstores of Saigon, which brings me to another subject. Copyright. Or the complete disregard of copyright. Many of the books in the bookstores are photocopied versions.

You can also buy very cheap CDs here. Gee. Do you think its authentic?

I couldn't resist buying this one:

Walking back to the hotel, we witness the most amazing sight. Chay rong rong, or the "big ride round." Every evening, thousands of young men ride around the central district on scooters. This lasts for about an hour. Cruising, Saigon style.

DAY THREE

I find it quite interesting that cafes also serve as tour operators. What a combination. Sinh Cafe and Kim Cafe are two chains that offer private bus tours. There are many branches of each, but John tells me that the Sinh Cafes outside of Saigon are not affiliated with the those in Saigon and are supposedly less reliable.

We sign up for the one day tour to the Caodist temple at Tay Ninh and the tunnels at Cu Chi. These two destinations seem to always be paired up on tours. I'm anxious to see the tunnels.

Cousin John getting ready to board tour bus.

The temple must be seen to be believed. Very gaudy. I can't help thinking that Tammy Faye would like this place.

Unfortunately, my pictures inside the temple did not turn out so hot. But you can get a sense of the baroco rococo style of the place.

I love this detail on the outside of the temple.

Look at this tracery.

More evidence of the Vietnamese fondness for topiary.

In 1921, Ngo Van Chieu, a low-level official in the French administration, saw the light in a seance and founded Caodism. A mix of Catholicism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, Caodism is based in part on psychic communication with historical figures such as Descartes, Pasteur, Joan of Arc, and Shakespeare, though Shakespeare has not been heard from since 1935. The figure heard from most often is Victor Hugo, who was named spiritual chief of Foreign Missions for his efforts. The Caodist symbol is a triangle containing a holy eye. Interestingly, this symbol can be seen on the U.S. one dollar bill, as the "all-seeing eye of God atop a pyramid."

Aside from the building, the service itself is rather boring. Lots of genuflecting and chanting.

The tunnels were very cool. They are the most popular war exhibit in Vietnam. This ingenious system of 150 miles of tunnels could hold 5,000 people for up to two weeks. There were hospitals, war rooms, and kitchens with ducts that directed the cooking fumes two miles before it reached the surface.

The U.S. military tried to dislodge the enemy from these tunnels by bombing and by sending in "tunnel rats," specially-trained, slim, officers with hunting dogs. But the tunnel dwellers used cigarettes and shaving cream, among other tactics, to disorient the dogs. This is an example of the guerilla tactics that so frustrated the U.S. military and enabled an outmanned force to match ours.

Seeing this cage of monkeys nearly ruined the whole experience. Ugh.

DAY FOUR

Today we visited the War Remnants Museum and Reunification Palace.

All kinds of old jets, tanks and artillery sit on the grounds. Looks like a military junk yard.

The museum used to be called the "Museum of American War Crimes." But I didn't think it was total propaganda. It was very interesting and very disturbing.

I love this picture of a peaceful park setting, with a fighter plane.

Reunification Palace is a trip. It is a time capsule of sorts because it the same today as it was in 1975 when the North Vietnamese crashed through the gates. It shows the self-aggrandizement of South Vietnam's leaders in the 60s. It is bedecked with marble, chandeliers, and ornate furnishings.

Madame Nhu, sister-in-law to South Vietnam's President Diem, is sometimes referred to as the Marie Antoinette of Vietnam. She lived in opulence in Reunification Palace. When Diem and his brother Nhu were assassinated, Madame Nhu was already out of the country and today she lives on the French Riviera.

I don't think I've mentioned yet how hot it is. It is hot. And sticky. We stop in for some bia hoi, fresh beer. Bia hoi is a light, low-carbonation brew that lasts only a few days because it is not chemically treated. Bia hoi also refers to the places that serve the beer. The Vietnamese are quite fond of beer and these establishments open in the morning and stay open until they run out of beer. There aren't many women in this place. They also serve snacks like dried squid and fermented pork sausage. They're an acquired taste.

Cousin John tells me that bia hois are more numerous in Hanoi, where they are very much a part of the city life. He also says that foreign brewers are very interested in the Vietnam market for several reasons. It is not predominantly Muslim (like Indonesia and Malaysia), it not dominated by one brand (like the Philippines and San Miguel brand), and it is not yet saturated with foreign brands.

Tried to get cousin John in here for a little karaoke, but he wouldn't go for it.

We do the tourist thing and have dinner on a floating restaurant that cruises the Saigon River. Just as you would expect, the trip is nice and the food not so great.

I don't know why, but I am surprised by the number of ice cream places. Since I consider myself to be an ice cream connoisseur, I have to sample some. Interesting tropical flavors. The cones are big and sweet. Very good.

DAY FIVE

Today, cousin John takes me to his factory. It is outside of Saigon in what seems like the middle of nowhere. There are hundreds of bicycles lined up outside. It's quite an operation, but very third world. Mostly women workers. Looks like a bit of a fire trap to me, but I don't mention this to cousin John. Nice furniture, though.

We have dinner at a restaurant next to a river. Again, in the middle of nowhere. Part of the restaurant is built over the river and they have a hole in the floor above a pen-type structure in the river. They catch fish from here. The dinner was incredible with all kinds of really fresh and tasty fish. I thought it was great until as we were leaving I saw a man piss in the hole. No joke. True story.

DAY SIX

Last day. Have to get something for my nephew, Charles. He's four and a half.

I got one of these penguins. I don't know what they are, but they are apparently quite popular.

His daddy always brings him a pencil from his business trips, so I also bought him some pencil cases.

Final observations. I had a great time, but Saigon is just a little too raucous for me. People love to speak English with you. I really don't like the begging and haggling. It makes me feel awful. My trip was really too short. There is so much else to see. I would have liked to have gone to Hanoi, at the very least. Maybe I'll get back here someday.

This is my last view of Vietnam.

This page was created for Howard Besser's Digital Collections of Still and Moving Images course, UCLA Winter 2000