Museum Day.

It’s another overcast day in Ho Chi Minh City, not that it matters as today I visited museums. The War Remnants Museum (formerly the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes, and the Exhibition House for Crimes of War and Aggression) in what was the US Military Intelligence Headquarters.

I have to say that despite spending 3 hours here, I was rather disappointed. I knew that it would obviously take the (Communist ) Vietnamese point of view but there was just not a lot about the history of the war, nothing about the Ho Chi Minh tail, nothing about the Tet offensive nor nothing about the actual end of the war itself. The various tanks, planes and helicopters outside the museum were also being repainted, so I couldn’t even take pictures of those either. Having watched the Ken Burns documentary as well as the recent Netflix documentary on the war, I don’t feel I learned anything new.

The Ho Chi Minh City Museum however was much more enjoyable. Although I only spend an hour here, there was a much wide ranging display of exhibits, and ironically their exhibition on the war was better put together than the War Remnants Museum.

There were also some lovely wedding dresses from different ethnic groups, which was rather ironic as because there is a lovely staircase, several couples were having wedding photos.

 After stopping to get some souvenirs, I returned to my hotel to pack for tomorrow’s flight to Malaysia. When that was completed I ventured into the night market that is opposite my hotel. This night market specialises in food, so I bit the bullet and tried some street food.

I chose a Banh Mi, which is a baguette filled with various kinds of food. Mine was a vegan mushroom Banh Mi which was very tasty indeed. I think there might have been some kind of noodles and other random vegetables  and for the princely sum of 86p you can’t go wrong.

My final leg of my South East Asia adventure is tomorrow, and I’ve booked another airport transfer for 730am. 

Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon

The first name is official, the second is the name everyone knows the city by, and the name Saigon appears everywhere, so for my first full day I decided to explore Saigon…

Ho Chi Minh City has a brand new metro, and it’s ridiculously cheap. I only needed one stop to take me where I wanted to go.

The Hotel Continental was a favourite of the press pack during the war. Several publications kept their Saigon bureaux here, many other journalists enjoyed the bar.

City Hall. Used by the French, South Vietnamese and Vietnamese local administrators.

A statue of Ho Chi Minh himself.

Independence Palace, the workplace of the President of South Vietnam.

The Hammer and Sickle, the flag of Vietnam, Santa Claus and a Christmas tree. 

Vietnam is still a communist country, and there were quite a lot of propaganda posters around the city.

There is an also a Christmas tree, and the coffee shops are playing Christmas songs on a loop. In one shop the staff are wearing plastic antlers.

One of the most famous pictures from the Vietnam War is this shot. It isn’t the US embassy but the offices of USAID, while the CIA had top floor. But is it still there ?

Yes its still there, although the surrounding area has a lot of new shiny glass buildings.

 

Good Morning* Vietnam

*More like Good Afternoon.

Phnom Penh doesn’t have a central bus station for long distance travel, but rather several offices dotted around the city where the different bus companies leave from. My hotel was just round the corner. Unlike by bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh which was a coach in a standard 2 x 2 seats ,the coach to Ho Chi Minh City was a luxury coach with seats arranged in a 2 x 1 configuration. It wouldn’t surprise anyone that I chose to seat in the single seat with no neighbours (although the bus was actually half empty) My seat was very comfortable, reclined and had a beverage holder. It also had air conditioning set to Arctic, so I was glad I packed my zip-up hooded top. 

I was the first to board at 745am , while the other passengers asked if this was the bus to Ho Chi Minh City to which I replied I sincerely hope so. (Although if I ended up in Kep, Kratie or even back to Siem Reap I don’t think I would have minded at all.) Anyway we departed at 8am on the dot. We collected some other travellers from their hotel (I think they were from a tour group) By 830 we were still driving through Phnom Penh but then we hit the highway to the border.

Our bus (pictured just past the Cambodian border)

We had a brief pit stop after 2 hours, where several passengers had to retrieve warmer clothing from the stowed suitcases, stopped off for fuel about an hour after that and then we reached the frontier at Bavet just gone 1pm, where we all disembarked to be stamped out of Cambodia.

My Cambodian exit stamp at Bavet.

 I only got a rather dull sticker with a QR code when I entered at Siem Reap. When we reboarded the drivers assistant collected all passports as well as out e-visa printouts. We then drove into no-mans land between the Cambodian and Vietnamese border where someone thoughtfully had placed a small cafe and duty free shop, and while we had lunch ,the assistant took our documentation to the Vietnamese. We then drove to the Vietnamese border control, disembarked and took all our luggage so that it could x-rayed.

We then queued up at a separate counter specially for groups and we were handed our passports back.

My entry stamp at Mộc Bài

The x-ray machine seemed to have nervous breakdown scanning my suitcase and backpack and gave out a piercing whine, which seem to bother no-one but me, so I collected my bags and showed my passport once again to another border official (I think just to check that the 1st official had done his job properly) and we reboarded the bus for a final time.

Mộc Bài International Border Gate

We left the border at around 2pm and its soon dawned on me that our 230 arrival time was wildly optimistic. We didn’t arrive at the Giant Ibis Bus office until 430pm. I refused all offers of taxis and in once case 1 very optimistic driver who assured me that his moped could accommodate both himself, myself and 1 large suitcase. I wont be using any moped taxis at all.  After about 8 hours on a coach I was ready to stretch my legs and walk across the park to my hotel.

Bia Saigon, or Saigon Beer.

After a quick shower I realised I needed some local money, so I headed to an ATM, and then to a 7-11 for some alchohol  bits and bobs. I was hoping “Bia” means Beer and lo and behold it does ! And at 49p why not.