Today we would be doing an all-day tour of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) with Insider Journeys starting at 8am. We set our alarm for 6am and went downstairs for breakfast to the buffet dining room on the ground floor of the hotel. It was an excellent breakfast with a wider choice than at any other place we've stayed so far in Vietnam.
Our guide was waiting for us in the foyer. He introduced himself as Quyet. We set out on foot walking past the opera house. Opposite the opera house, there is a construction site where they are building an underground station for a new metro system that it funded by the Japanese government.
Further on, we walked into a plaza where there was a ceremony commencing for the Vietnamese paralympic team. In the middle of the plaza there was a statue of Ho Chi Minh. Security guards we ushering us away from the ceremony.
At the end of the plaza, we walked past an imposing colonial building, L'Hotel de Ville (the town hall). Further on, we stopped outside a large Catholic cathedral (Notre Dame) which is being refurbished.
Next we walked to the post office which is another large colonial building which is still a working post office. The main hall had tall ceilings, dark timber and large murals containing maps of Vietnam and Indochina.
After leaving the post office, there was a van waiting for us to take us on the 90 minute journey to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The original itinerary said we would be going there in the afternoon but our guide thought it would better in the morning because the traffic would be better.
I hate to think what the afternoon traffic would be like if it was worse than what we saw. It was 9am and it was peak hour traffic. There was a sea of motor bikes heading into the city taking up every inch of the road. Because it was so crowded, the bikes spilled over onto the footpath we were walking on. They were also travelling on the wrong side of the road where possible.
There was plenty of variety and fascinating sites along the way. At one stage we were travelling behind a red Maseratti. We saw motor bikes, bicycles and small three-wheel vehicles - often carrying unusual loads. There were also cars, vans, buses, trucks and large container vehicles.
We passed an accident site where we saw a motor bike under the front wheel of a van. Fortunately, I didn't see any bodies or injuries this time.
Our guide told us that the population of Saigon is 13 million. He said there are 8 million motor bikes in Saigon and almost one million cars. It seemed as though we saw most of them this morning. The traffic was heavy for most of the trip. Eventually it eased as we got into rural areas.
Our guide also told us that there are 95 million people in Vietnam. Apparently some people are moving from remote areas into the city and nobody has explained to them what traffic lights mean. Although some people stop at red lights, many people totally ignore them.
The Cu Chi Tunnels are a tourist site that shows the tunnels that the Vietcong used during the war. They have various displays in the jungle of things such as the access points (manholes), booby traps, bomb craters, ventilation outlets, tanks and other weaponry.
Towards the end of the tour, there was an opportunity to go into the tunnels. I chickened out because I suffer from claustrophobia buy Suzy went in. I was quite nervous as she disappeared down the stairs into the hole.
Under ground the demonstration tunnels have a few options. The attendant who escorted Suzy took her to the nearest exit which was probably about 15m away. It was a relief to see her emerge safe and sound.
The other exits were about 50m and 100m away. When we reached the furthermost exit, there was a woman in her twenties lying on the ground gasping for breath. She didn't look well and people were obviously worried about her.
At the end of the tour, there was a black-and-white video giving information about the tunnel system. I had trouble understanding what they were saying.
We left the site by noon for the trip back to Saigon. At about 1pm, we stopped at a pho (noodle shop) for a quick lunch. We both ordered beef noodles. There is no elegant way to eat such a meal but we enjoyed it anyway.
The next stop was the war museum. This has three levels of exhibits about the war including dreadful photos of deformities caused by Agent Orange. Our guide gave us 40 minutes to visit each level and the weaponry on display outside.
At the back of the museum, there was a replica of the prison used by the French colonialists to detain and torture Vietnamese people. One of the exhibits was a guillotine.
It was a completely one-sided view of the war. The language used was quite biased. It talked repeatedly about the war of aggression by the USA, the puppet government in South Vietnam and the atrocities carried out by the Americans.
There is no doubt that the Americans did dreadful things during the war. Obviously there is no excuse for using chemical weapons such as Napalm and Agent Orange.
But what about the other side? They didn't mention what the North and South soldiers did to each other. The war machines in the grounds outside the museum were all captured US tanks and artillery. They didn't show any weapons used by the North. There was no mention of the dreadful things that the communist north did to the Americans and others.
After the visit, we asked our guide why it was so completely one-sided. He said they live in a socialist country and if the government told the people about these things, they might not see the government in a good light.
When we visited Hanoi and other places, our guides often told us that their Buddhist religion teaches forgiveness. They said the philosophy was to forgive and to get along with people. There was no forgiveness let alone balance here at this museum. It was just blind hatred and propaganda.
The Americans have lots to apologise for but the other side at least needs to acknowledge that there were two sides to the story.
Next we moved on to the presidential palace. There hasn't been a president of South Vietnam since the end of the war and so this is now a tourist site. It is a grand building with excellent modern architecture.
Our guide showed us through the various wings and levels in the building. We saw the cabinet room, ballroom, library, function rooms and the bedrooms for the president. Finally he took us down to the bunker in the basement.
By the time we were back in our hotel at about 3:30pm, we were feeling quite tired after the tour and we were ready to relax. At about 4pm, we went down to the hotel pool to sit and have a drink. The pool is quite large and it is in a very nice setting outside the building on level 7. I tried the local beer, 333, and enjoyed it.
We'd arranged to meet Yolanda and Peter at 7pm at a Vietnamese restaurant across the road from their hotel. Peter's sister, Maria, had arrived today and joined us. It was a short 3 minute walk to the restaurant which is located down an alleyway directly opposite their hotel.
Late in the afternoon, dark clouds had rolled in and it had been raining heavily but the rain had eased off to a light shower by the time we set out to the restaurant. Luckily the hotel provided umbrellas.
Peter ordered a variety of dishes and I ordered a bottle of house red (Sangiovese) which was much more reasonably priced than hotel wine. It was an enjoyable meal with good company.
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