October 2, 2013
Yangon, Myanmar to Hochiminh City, Vietnam (715 NM)
Today's flight is 3 1/2 hours but because of the expected thunderstorm in Vietnam, we want to leave early. Airport handler came to hotel at 8 AM and accompanied us to terminal. Gear up at 9:15, right on time. Had good weather most of the way. By approaching, we saw in front of us, black cloud and shower. We decent right into the shower, and landed with zero/zero visibility.
The thunder storm right over the runway.
The Hochiminh airport has a strange rule (at least to us ), no umbrellas. We were all wet like we took a shower with cloth on. The afternoon shower was even heavier. The decision of leaving early was absolutely wise.
October 3, 2013
The rain lightened up in the morning. Finally get to see the city. Hochiminh City formerly, known by Saigon, is named after Chairman Hochiminh who led north Vietnam to win the war with US and south Vietnam in 1975. It looks very well developed. We were told all th development are after 1990's normalization with U.S. What a difference 13 years can make! Booked an afternoon city tour.
First thing our guide said to us was " We will visit War Museum." I asked : Why? He did not answer as if everyone comes here is to see the War Museum. We asked to see the Mekong river, he says, "There is not much there". We were quiet for a few minutes and went to the museum with him. The war museum is quite popular among citizens and students . It contains room after room of photos of the 15 year war. It seems that they are still celebrating their victory. Indeed, people have the right to feel proud about defending their country. But how many people think about why? Were they victims of other people or country's idiosyncrasy?Glancing over a few of those war photos, as if we were shown the worst scar of a terrible wound, I don't know who can claim as the "winner". Sure, we should not forget the past, but what is really worth remembering? I guess there is no easy answer, or no answer at all.
What saddened us was the emptiness of our guide's face when we asked what else is there to see. Not much, he replied. We had to cut short our tour to 2 hours instead of half day. This ancient city has nothing left. No cultural, no art. People seem to work hard on rebuilding their city, but who is working to rebuild their hearts and soul?
Chairman Hochiminh. His photos are everywhere.
French colonized Vietnam since 1859 until independence of 1945. The French may not be loved by all Vietnamese but the architectures they left in Saigon are now the major tourist attractions. Every brick was brought in from Marseille, Frence to build this cathedral. Beautiful. Somehow, calmed our hearts in this war torn and rebuilt city.
The architect who designed the Post Office was Mr. Gustave Eiffel himself. So classy and elegant, especially among the modern buildings. This working post office is busy and even have people providing letter writing services.
Another beautiful colonial structure and is now being used as city hall.
Best Vietnamese/French sandwich in town.
Bing Tay Market. It is big and easy to get lost. We do not need to buy anything, just to kill time.
Population here is 10 million and there are 6 million motorcycles in the city. I think if the English singer, Katie Melua was here, her lyric of her famous song, "Nine million bicycles in Beijing" may changed to "6 million motorcycles in Hochiminh City"... Um, maybe not.
Rain is on and off but tomorrow morning we will have a good window to departure. We decided to fly to Taipei one day earlier to arrive before typhoon Fitow.
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