Ho Chi Minh City is split into several districts. Jaqi and I have spent the last two days in district 1, which is still technically known as Saigon, and district 5 is Cholon, or Chinatown. Yesterday, we tried to follow a walking tour suggested by the Lonely Planet guide book.
The walking tour first circles the roundabout just south of Ben Thanh Market, which is a fairly nice venue. A nice couple side streets with some beautiful antique shops lie immediately southeast. Before hitting the waterfront, the walking tour heads further north to the municipal theater and the Hotel de Ville, or People's Committee Building. After a stop in a nice cafe, Jaqi and I walked over to the Independence Palace, which is really just a bunch of fancy state rooms decorated in the seventies, and then visited the War Remnants Museum.
The War Remnants Museum was a little difficult. It is a small enclosure the size of a city block with several American fighter jets, some tanks, some artillery pieces, and the entire story of American atrocities during the Vietnam War (War of American Aggression). There are whole sections on the destruction Agent Orange wrought on both land and people; the affects of landmines and white phosphorous artillery; and massacres perpetrated by the American aggressors. It was an odd experience.
We followed that heavy material with a walk past Notre Dame Cathedral, which is a red brick replica of the cathedral that stands in Paris, and dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant, where I ate goat for the first time. I can't say I recommend goat--the texture was stringy at best and the mediocre taste did nothing to compensate.
Today, Jaqi and I walked to Cholon, which is Chinatown. I read that many of the ethnic Chinese that used to live there intimidated out of the country following reunification. Cholon is noisy. Motorbikes seem to drive everywhere: on the street, on the sidewalk, through green lights, through red lights. It was tiring being so vigilant. There are some nice sights, though. The Cholon Mosque, the Nghia An Hoi Quan Pagoda, and the Thien Hau Pogoda were all peaceful refuge from the frantic streets. There were very few Westerners in Cholon, but many of the younger Vietnamese shouted, "Hello!" and waved as we passed.
On the walk back from Cholon, we stopped by the An Dong Market, which is supposedly one of the best markets in Ho Chi Minh City, which would also rank it as one of the best in Vietnam. The market is four levels of booths selling clothes, food, clothes, cooking equipment, and more clothes. It was four-thirty when we arrived and the shopkeepers seemed to be closing down for the day. The aisles between booths were barely navigable.
The walking tour first circles the roundabout just south of Ben Thanh Market, which is a fairly nice venue. A nice couple side streets with some beautiful antique shops lie immediately southeast. Before hitting the waterfront, the walking tour heads further north to the municipal theater and the Hotel de Ville, or People's Committee Building. After a stop in a nice cafe, Jaqi and I walked over to the Independence Palace, which is really just a bunch of fancy state rooms decorated in the seventies, and then visited the War Remnants Museum.
The War Remnants Museum was a little difficult. It is a small enclosure the size of a city block with several American fighter jets, some tanks, some artillery pieces, and the entire story of American atrocities during the Vietnam War (War of American Aggression). There are whole sections on the destruction Agent Orange wrought on both land and people; the affects of landmines and white phosphorous artillery; and massacres perpetrated by the American aggressors. It was an odd experience.
We followed that heavy material with a walk past Notre Dame Cathedral, which is a red brick replica of the cathedral that stands in Paris, and dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant, where I ate goat for the first time. I can't say I recommend goat--the texture was stringy at best and the mediocre taste did nothing to compensate.
Today, Jaqi and I walked to Cholon, which is Chinatown. I read that many of the ethnic Chinese that used to live there intimidated out of the country following reunification. Cholon is noisy. Motorbikes seem to drive everywhere: on the street, on the sidewalk, through green lights, through red lights. It was tiring being so vigilant. There are some nice sights, though. The Cholon Mosque, the Nghia An Hoi Quan Pagoda, and the Thien Hau Pogoda were all peaceful refuge from the frantic streets. There were very few Westerners in Cholon, but many of the younger Vietnamese shouted, "Hello!" and waved as we passed.
On the walk back from Cholon, we stopped by the An Dong Market, which is supposedly one of the best markets in Ho Chi Minh City, which would also rank it as one of the best in Vietnam. The market is four levels of booths selling clothes, food, clothes, cooking equipment, and more clothes. It was four-thirty when we arrived and the shopkeepers seemed to be closing down for the day. The aisles between booths were barely navigable.
The differences between Cambodia and Vietnam have been striking. Vietnam is so much more prosperous--it seems like a different world. Except for the obvious differences--language and communist banners--Ho Chi Minh City could be any Western developed metropolis.
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Pictures of the dutch woman?? -Tiberius
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