Sightseeing in Saigon

Saigon, or Ho Chi Mihn City as it is now officially named, is a large city in southern Vietnam. Formerly the capital of South Vietnam, when the country was split in half, it is still a massive business and industry hub. The roads are packed with motorbikes which is the main mode of transport in Vietnam and there are very few pedestrian crossings so to get across the road, you just have to confidently walk out and hope they weave around you. It takes some getting used to I can tell you! 

We spent 10 days in and around the city, which was perhaps a little longer than it deserved but we really did like it there. We met some great people which aided in the length of time spent but it's just an interesting place to explore and enjoy. It's a great place for sightseeing.

Independence Palace once was the central administration building for the government in Saigon and was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the Vietnamese war, but has since been converted into a museum. It was here in 1975 that the Northern Vietnamese tanks took the city during the fall of Saigon - they drove through the palace gates and ended the war; the South conceded power over to the North and the two countries became one again. The story goes that the President of South Vietnam told the North Vietnamese soldiers that crashed through the gates, 'I have been waiting since early this morning to transfer power to you.' A soldier replied, 'There is no question of you transferring power. You cannot give up what you do not have.' It was built in the 1960s after the original building on the site was bombed in an unsuccessful attempt to kill the President. The outside was designed to look like bamboo.

The view from the President's balcony. The gates behind us were the ones the tanks crashed through

The War Remnants museum, or the Exhibition House for Crimes of War and Aggression as it was previously known, is a permanent exhibition about the First Indochina War (1946-54) and the Vietnam War (1955-75) and is comprised mostly of photographs depicting the horrors and destruction caused by both wars on Vietnam. It was a pretty horrendous afternoon looking around the museum; the photos and other exhibits are brutal in their attempt to show the truth of what happened. There's a room dedicated to the after effects of Agent Orange, a toxic substance dropped by the Americans, which is still affecting people to this day. The survivors who were exposed to these chemical bombs have been genetically affected and the evidence is seen in their children, who are born with mutations such as misshapen or no limbs, or as conjoined twins, some with skin diseases or congenital medical problems. Many children have been abandoned after birth, the parents either ashamed of them or afraid of the cost of raising a child with so many medical problems. It was really upsetting to read about. Like I said my blog about the Cambodian genocide though, as horrendous as these things are to read or hear about, it's so important to learn and remember, for the sake of the victims.

Our sightseeing in Saigon wasn't just about museums; as much as I love them, there's only so much information one can absorb before needing a break. So part of our experience of Saigon was visiting some of the rooftop bars that look out over the city! This was a fantastic way to see the city lights (both visits were at nighttime) and quite a contrast to the backpacker experience of sleeping in hostel dorms and sharing bathrooms with 9 other people. Was a lot of fun!

The view over Saigon from the 52nd floor

We also visited Saigon Zoo which I would not recommend to anyone, not if you care about animals in any way. It was a very sad place and had we known it would have been so bad, we wouldn't have given them our money. I love London zoo and Whipsnade zoo but I don't think developing countries care for animals in the same way, zoos are purely a money making device rather than for conservation or protective purposes. I won't be visiting another. 

Despite all the gallivanting around, I was very unwell during our time in Saigon, having picked up a parasite in Cambodia (naughty thing crossed a border illegally) so had to visit a doctor. I had been optimistically hoping it would just go away if I ignored it but apparently that's not how modern medicine works. The clinic was great though; I didn't have an appointment so wasn't sure how long I'd have to wait but I was in and out within two hours. I had a consultation at first, then had a blood test and an ultrasound in case it was something to do with my organs, but the conclusion was acute gastroenteritis caused by a parasite and I was prescribed four types of medication to sort me out. The whole thing only cost me £30 including the four prescriptions and was a hell of a lot quicker than any medical experience I've had in the UK. There are definitely advantages to private healthcare, couldn't believe how quickly they processed all the test results for example - they can take a week in England! This is now the second time I've had a parasite, the first time being in Guatemala, and it is very unpleasant. A downside of travelling I suppose. (One upside is that you lose weight! I've lost 4kg which is a bit extreme but you have to stay positive in these scenarios.) You'll be glad to hear I'm all better now though. Ready for more street food and adventuring, will I ever learn?!

The Cu Chi tunnels

In the town of Cu Chi, 70km away from Saigon, near the Cambodian border, there is a network of tunnels underground which once made up the final stretch of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This trail was used by the Viet Cong to travel from northern Vietnam to Southern Vietnam during the war with America, to avoid the bombs that the US and Southern Vietnamese Armies were dropping all over to destroy the Viet Cong. The Viet Cong were guerrilla soldiers, fighting against the south Vietnamese government which had been put in place by the USA - Vietnam wanted independence from foreign intervention and the majority wanted a Communist government but America was terrified that all of South East Asia would 'fall' to Communism if one country became Communist so tried to interfere to prevent this. (This is a very basic explanation of why the almost 20 year long Vietnam War happened. It's a wonder I didn't do better at university.)

The tunnels still mostly exist, at least in this area, and we decided to pay them a visit as you can go on a day trip from Saigon. When you first arrive, they make you watch a video which is dubbed into English. It shows footage of the war and talks mostly of the Vietnamese war heroes, so called because of all the Americans they killed. It was quite bizarre to sit and watch it, such flagrant propaganda, especially as they kept fondly referring to soldiers as 'great American killer hero'. What made it even more unusual an experience was the sound of live machine gun fire in the background, floating through the trees, because part of the tour of the tunnels includes a shooting range where you can pay to fire an AK-47. Of course it does. 

After the video, our guide walked us through a forest, pointing out different indicators to show the existence of the tunnels under out feet: a ventilation hole, disguised as a termite nest; a trap (roped off) which was made out of sharpened bamboo sticks in case any stray Americans came along; a hidden entrance to the tunnel network itself. You were able to go into this hidden entrance so Kim had a try.

Bamboo sticks hidden under a moving trap door

We walked around the area for a while, being shown various entrances to the tunnels, which were absolutely tiny, and our guide explained to us about the different levels of tunnels - there were three in total. The first level, 3-4m below the surface, was for moving around and getting in place to attack or ambush the Americans; the second level, 6-7m down, was the living quarters, for cooking and sleeping, hospitals, and also where the children went to school (whole communities lived underground, it wasn't just for soldiers, it was also for protection from bombs); the third level, 9-10m down, was to escape the enemy quickly and was essentially impregnable. The tunnels were only 0.5-1m wide so no Americans could fit, or very few anyway. 

Entrance to a tiny tunnel

It was so interesting to imagine a whole town underground but then quite awful when you thought about why. The people only came out at night and not even every night, some people would go for days underground before emerging for fresh air. The Americans and Southern Vietnamese armies were carpet-bombing the area, in an attempt to destroy or flush out the Viet Cong or their sympathisers, so it was essential for people to stay underground for their own safety. In areas that were known by the army to support the northern Vietnamese cause of independence, all were assumed guilty by American soldiers, so people would have been killed without questioning to eradicate any chances of them being an enemy. 

We then reached the shooting range and our guide told us it was 'a once in a lifetime opportunity' to fire an AK-47. He wasn't correct however because I've actually already shot one, when I lived in Dallas (where else?), so I decided that once was enough and opted out of the activity. Kim decided to do it though! 

The final bit of the trip was to go down into the tunnels and crawl through. They had been widened a bit, to allow westerners to actually fit through them, and the stretch you can go through is about 100m long, with an opportunity to exit every 20 metres. I thought it would be worse than it was; the idea of being underground, crawling in a cramped tunnel had filled me with fear previously and I expected that I would want to get out as soon as possible once in there. However, I made it the whole way through, which really surprised me. Parts of it were tall enough that I could walk in an very stooped manner, other bits required hands and knees, and there were parts where you had to lower yourself through a hole in the floor or climb up through a hole in the ceiling to keep going. It was so hot and stuffy down there too, I emerged at the other end positively glowing (sweating). 

Such an interesting insight into the war, a side of it I had previously known very little about. I did a module on the Vietnam war in my second year of university but reading a book and actually visiting a historic site are two very different things! 

The Cambodian genocide

This post is going to horrify and appall you, and I'm going to be graphic because what happened in Cambodia less than forty years ago should not be dumbed down or diminished for the sake of sensitive souls: millions of people were brutally murdered at the hands of their neighbours and countrymen (and women) and it's a horrific history of which a lot of the West are blissfully unaware.

In 1969, as part of the Vietnam War, the US started a second 'secret war' i.e. undisclosed to the public, in the east of Cambodia, in an attempt to rid the Viet Cong (Vietnamese communists) of their trail from North to South Vietnam, as this trail took them through Laos and Cambodia. The east of Cambodia was bombed for 6 years, killing thousands and making thousands more refugees as they fled a war that their country was not involved in. This assisted in the rise of the Khmer Rouge, a communist political faction who used the situation in the east as a way to win support from the rural, working class by blaming the government and the wealthier citizens who lived in the cities for the crisis. The rural rice farmers were largely uneducated and were easily won over in blaming the urban class for the strife. The Khmer Rouge's political aim was to restore the country to its former traditions, removing technology, education and progress and replacing it with farming, extreme nationalism and communism - no-one was to own property of any kind, anything you grew belonged to everyone and there was to be no reliance on or trade with other countries; self-sustainability was crucial to their ideology. Anyone of mixed heritage was considered inferior or undesirable.

In 1975, with the end of the Vietnamese war (and therefore the bombing in the east of Cambodia) Khmer Rouge troops drove into the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, to cheers and celebration from the crowds because the war was finally over. However, within hours they started evacuating citizens from the city, demanding they leave to the countryside because 'the Americans were going to bomb all cities' in retaliation. People from all walks of life, rich and poor, old and young, were forced from all the cities with the promise that they could return in 3 days time. This was a lie.

Many people were making the journey on foot, with few supplies due to the previously mentioned lie about how long they would be away from home. Those who had cars or bikes soon abandoned them as petrol was not made available. The Khmer Rouge marched the urban citizens into the countryside, with the majority of the people walking for 10-14 days before reaching the village or rural town that they were permitted to stay in and build themselves a new life. The urban families were shunned in these new communities due to the Khmer Rouge belief that it was urban Cambodians that had caused the nation's troubles. They were made to work on farms but unused to field labour, they were struck for slow work or for growing tired more quickly than the rural workers.

Families were often separated, with the teenagers and people in their early twenties going to labour camps. Some younger children were 'headhunted' if they showed that they were strong or hardworking and were sent to child soldier camps where they were taught how to kill. They were encouraged to spy on their families on the rare occasions they were allowed a visitation and to tell the Khmer Rouge if their parents had said anything negative about the government.

Slowly people started disappearing; Khmer Rouge soldiers would show up at houses in the villages and take people away under pretences such as requiring assistance with paperwork in the next village or a van being stuck in the mud a few kilometres  away. Some didn't even bother to lie but just took the suspects away. These people never returned. The people initially targeted by the new government were educated people who might question this new way of life in Cambodia or those who might resist or rise up against them. Teachers, doctors, professors, anyone who spoke a foreign language, even people who wore glasses were seen as a threat and therefore were imprisoned and soon after, executed. Other people were essentially worked to death, with a combination of overwork and underfeeding. If you were caught stealing food, you were injured or killed because the food you grew was collective food and you were therefore stealing from the government. Women were severely beaten for attempting to beg for more food for their children and the majority of children under five died from malnutrition. Those that survived were often physically underdeveloped, stunted from lack of nutrition at a crucial stage of development.

The Khmer Rouge created execution centres, now infamously named 'the killing fields', where the undesirable citizens were taken to be killed en masse. I recently learned that at the Nazi concentration camps, the gas chambers were developed because the Nazis didn't want their elite citizens to be traumatised by killing so many people. The gas chambers removed people's 'guilt' or level of actual involvement because they weren't physically executing the victims themselves. The theory was that the Nazi soldiers involved with the executions would not have blood on their hands in the same way so could then go on to continue the master race relatively unscathed from their own murderous past. The Khmer Rouge, by contrast, were thoroughly unconcerned by the impact their orders to kill would have on their followers: it was kill when ordered to or be killed yourself, and they meant it. Worse still, ammunition was precious to the Khmer Rouge and the victims were not deemed 'important enough' to use bullets on; Khmer Rouge soldiers had to kill each of their victims by hand. So they were hacked with blunt tools; beaten with hammers; hoes, scythes and rakes found new uses; even thick, jagged palm branches were turned into weapons. At the killing fields memorial site outside Phnom Penh, which once was a series of mass graves, over 300 people were systematically killed this way every day. Up to 20,000 of these killing fields have been found since the fall of the Khmer Rouge. The worst thing I saw at the killing fields outside Phnom Penh was something called 'the killing tree': this was where soldiers took babies and toddlers by their ankles and beat them against the tree until they died. I burst into tears at this point of the visit and had to walk away for a while. The Khmer Rouge had a phrase which roughly translates to 'if you want to kill a weed, you need to eliminate the roots' which is why they even killed children: they wanted no one left from families who had been targeted, to grow up wanting vengeance against the Khmer Rouge.

As well as visiting the killing fields memorial site, we also visited the S-21 jail, which was once a high school in the centre of Phnom Penh but was converted into a jail, interrogation centre and torture chamber. This is where people were brought when suspected of guilt against the Khmer Rouge. They were accused of crimes such as collusion with the CIA and the KGB and charged as spies and traitors against their country. However, they would not be killed until they had confessed their crimes and so were imprisoned and  tortured until they would sign a confession. They were then essentially signing their own death warrant. The guards knew that these were false confessions but they either didn't care or were afraid of being at the receiving end of the torture, so kept on with their actions.  After a prisoner escaped from his cell and commited suicide by jumping off the building, the soldiers put up barbed wired to ensure no one else could die of their own accord. This was the only photograph I took that day.

Khmer Rouge medics were trained for four months, all doctors having been eliminated in the initial purge of educated and therefore undesirable Cambodians. They practised injections on pillows and learnt anatomy by cutting people open who were still alive. This was the level of dedication to ridding the country of any progress it had made in the previous few centuries; kill doctors and replace them with untrained amateurs. The hypocrisy: Pol Pot, the head of the Khmer Rouge, was himself a university graduate and was fluent in Khmer (the Cambodian language) and French. The majority of his cabinet were equally well educated. Many had even studied abroad in France and came from the cities - these were not the revolutionary children of farmers rising against the aristocracy, they were cunning, evil people with messed up ideologies and no regard for human life.

Ultimately, between two and three million people were killed at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in the space of four years. That made up over a quarter of the population at the time. And this all happened within the last 40 years. Representatives from the Khmer Rouge held a seat in the UN until 1993, despite what they had done. It wasn't until the early 2000s that any of the leaders were charged with genocide and crimes against humanity and by that time Pol Pot had escaped justice by dying in 1998, some say from suicide, after it was announced that he would be turned over to an international tribunal. The international community has a horrible habit of allowing genocide and other crimes against humanity to happen and not really doing much to prevent it, stop it from continuing or even really punishing those who were involved. It's a sad reality that no-one offered help to the Cambodians when they were dying from starvation or being systematically killed, yet when a few terrorist attacks happen in the West by extremists, all military forces are at the ready to search and destroy. There is an odd view of right and wrong in the world, about who we choose to protect and who we allow to suffer, all depending on the Western agenda. That doesn't seem right to me at all.

The floating village

Kampong Luong is a Cambodian village with a difference: it floats on a lake. Each house is built out of wood, are sat on empty oil drums and floated out onto the lake to make up a small community of floating houses. I've never seen anything like it before; I've seen communities of houseboats, or houses that are built on stilts above water, but not ones that just sit on the water and bob around when a boat goes past! When the water level gets low, they lift anchor, attach them to boats and drag them further into the lake where the water is higher. Instead of going to the shops, the shops come to you at around the same time each day.

The village isn't on the usual 'backpacker' route in Cambodia and we haven't met many people who had even heard of this place. With that in mind, we were unsurprised to see very few other tourists of any kind there. It was quite a nice way to see the 'real' Cambodia, a place that hasn't changed or adapted itself to please or attract westerners. Of course this is ironic coming from a western tourist, don't think I don't see that, but I have found that the places I've enjoyed more from my time travelling are the places that don't exist purely because of tourism, but rather in spite of it. 

There is no means to book ahead and express interest in visiting Kampong Luong so we showed up early one afternoon and found a man with a boat who was willing to give us a tour of the lake and village, before taking us to a place where we could stay overnight on the water. The tour lasted for a couple of hours but with our lack of Khmer (the Cambodian language) and our driver's limited English, we couldn't learn much about the village itself. For example, it is divided into two halves; a Cambodian side and a Vietnamese side. Considering we were still very far from the Vietnamese border, we wanted to know why half of the village's population was Vietnamese but our driver couldn't tell us. I still don't actually know. (Side note: I have tried to learn some Khmer but I don't seem to be able to pick up the sounds and pronunciations very well. It's like my tongue can't contort in the right way to say a word right.) It was still so interesting to meander through though, despite any sort of explanation. 

The amount of rubbish in the was astonishing. At one point, our boat's propeller got caught in a plastic bag which then wound itself around the metal. Our driver stopped and unwrapped it, then threw it back into the water for the next boat to get caught in! I was quite surprised to be honest because they use the lake for everything: washing their clothes, themselves, their pots and pans and plates. People swim in it, they bathe in it, they wash their children in it, yet it's full of rubbish. There is a distinct lack of education around the relationship between rubbish/waste and a person's health everywhere in South East Asia, it's twenty times worse than Central or South America for littering (that's not an actual statistic, I just mean from my general observation). 

We stayed in a homestay, on the lake, it a fairly large but basic house. Kim and I shared a room, which was comprised of mattress, mosquito net and fan. 

There were some other backpackers staying there too and it was full enough that the family of four slept on cushions on the living room floor. A girl we had come to the village with offered them her room when she found out but they refused, saying that guests pay to get room and that it rarely happened that enough people show up that they had to do so, so they didn't mind; they were glad we were there as it is not always so busy. It was a nice house, at the edge of the village so we're not entirely surrounded by houses by had a view on one side out over the lake. It also overlooked an old tug boat, converted into the local petrol station.

The people were all very friendly, waving and calling hello to us as we sailed by. I did feel a bit odd at points though, thinking 'what must they think of us, coming to their home and seeing it as a tourist attraction; taking photographs and paying money to be ferried around, just to see their everyday life?' Having said that, the couple whose house we stayed in do appear to rely on the few tourists that come in order to make a living, so I suppose we were helping the local economy a little by visiting. I had a wonderful time and thought it was well worth going out of our way to see.