We left Melbourne and flew 7 hours to Singapore then another 2 hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. We arrived pretty late at our hotel and had an 8 a.m. half-day tour of the city booked for the next morning. Ho Chi Minh City has a population of around 10 million people and there are more than 6 million motorbikes on the roads. We were warned before arriving about crossing the streets; you can't hesitate or you may get ran over. The motorbikes know how to go around anything!
Our first stop on the city tour was the Vietnam War Remnants Museum (formally known as the "American War Crimes Museum")
Some of the pictures in the museum will bring tears to your eyes seeing the effects of agent orange and other chemicals used that were passed down to many generations, even to American children of US soldiers who were in those areas.
This was a cell used for Viet Cong prisoners
The outside grounds of the musuem were full of American Military aircraft and tanks
Our next stop was to the "Independence Palace". This was the home and office of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was also the site at the end of the war during the "Fall of Saigon" when a North Vietnamese Army tank crashed through its gates.
Our next stop was the Saigon Central Post Office built from 1886 - 1891 when Vietnam was under French control
After touring the post office, these young students came up to us wanting to interview us and practice their English. They had a small form for us to fill out asking us where we were from, how long we have been in the city, what do we think of the traffic and other questions. Then they wanted a picture so obviously, we took a selfie.
This was a small factory we went in where they make laquer pictures and other art
U.S. Consulate - This was the site of the U.S. Embassy during the war where the helicopter evacuations took place during the "Fall of Saigon" on April 30, 1975. Many of us should remember seeing the famous video of the evacuation and overloaded helicopters on TV when this happened.
Ben Thanh Market - We only had a quick run through of the market; it's a major tourist attraction selling most anything you can imagine.
Some street life
In the center of this picture you can see an older lady pushing her large food cart through all the motorbikes at this round-a-bout
Just a small sample of how the electric and phone lines are ran - all above ground
On Tuesday evening we took a Motorbike Foodie Tour. These were our tour guides and drivers - Thuan (Richard) and Thanh (Denny). Our life was in the hands of these young college kids. They were good drivers except at one time we were going the wrong direction on a one way street. Thuan said, "Oh..wrong way, talking too much." Then he slowly did a u-turn in the middle of other motorbikes coming our direction. Funny though...no one yelled at us or even cared, or anything.
Some of the street food we got to taste and enjoy
Vietnamese pancake from the South
Small video of our experience on the back of the motorbikes
Vietnamese traditional BBQ
Coconut-bowl ice cream with corn, some sweet chips and several different fruits
The next day we took an all-day walking/shopping tour with our guide Tien. She said to call her Tina.
One of the many outdoor markets
We told Tien a few days before the tour what we wanted to shop for so she did a lot of research and took us to many places to try and find those items. Here we are taking a cold coffee break to escape the heat of the city.
Uh oh! Well, out of 6-million motorbikes on the roads we've only witnessed one accident so far. This woman involved in this accident was giving this guy a lashing of his life.
More great food! Tien took us to a local restaurant where we had pork ribs, rice and vegetables and spring rolls. Each plate was just over $2.
When you order coconut ice cream you get the real deal
Just in front of our hotel there is a very large walk plaza where young people come to hang out every evening. This is a statue of Ho Chi Minh with Saigon City Hall in the background.
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