Day 1 and 2

I have made a quantum leap in life skills on day 1. I have learned how to cross a road in Saigon and believe me that's an Adrenalin rush comparable with any bungee jumping, sky diving, caving etc. you can imagine. It's a bit like lion taming...you have to stay very calm, look your opponent in the eye and gradually move where you want to go. A sudden movement is death but you have to fight the mounting panic as you reach the centre of the road. Triumphantly you reach the other side and realise that you have done it! I am a survivor!!



We made it to the Reunification Palace and admired the Chinese and Russian tanks that were the first to break through on that fateful day when Saigon fell. The broad garden with typical Vietnamese topiary and a large fountain led to the Palace which was built in the 60's style. What an abomination. What happened to our eyesight during the 60's and 70's? The square ugliness of it all is a testimony to bad taste. The oranges and olive greens of the interior underline the blindness of the times. A lovely pregnant lady showed us around the rooms in a language which was apparently English but unfathomable to me. She patiently explained to us tourist thickies the significant events that took place in each of the rooms and I concentrated and nodded and smiled when necessary (I took my queue from her face) but failed to grasp most of what she said. "Hi sss de er session rm" I looked for help to other tourists but got it from the sign above the room (Of course the reception room!!) and concentrated further trying my best to understand. We were shown the kitchen to admire but it looked just like the kitchen downstairs in Jimramov. The same cast iron industrial stoves and abandoned dirt.



Interesting was the basement which was an operations centre and air-raid shelter. I was impressed with the old equipment left around. Was it really so recently that we were still using these telex machines and ancient phones? In the map room, my hot and tired brain decided that the map of Vietnam looked just like the cross section of a boob. The photos of the fall of Saigon and after showed proud Vietnamese leaders meeting delegations from Bulgaria, Mongolia and the likes of Hungary. More grainy black and whites photos showed mutilated bodies, apparently of villagers left by those terrible Americans. They reminded me of the photos of atrocities by the Russians in East Prussia in early 1945. A chubby but sad faced toddler looked through barbed wire with a caption that read "the fate of babies in American concentration camps"



On the way back we crossed a few roads (you've got to have some fun) and had high tea before going to the water puppets. These were a lot of fun for us but the actors and musicians seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely as well. Dinner was on a boat on the Saigon river where we had the best time being amused by a young chap who had left his tour group (a couple of Australians) and spent the evening talking to us. He could speak an English that I understood and gave us an idea of how South Vietnam was really run.



Next morning was a quick bite and in the car to go to the Cu Chi tunnels. All very much as expected and a bit cheesy. The film we had to watch was grainy and jumpy showing the brave villagers gaily making bombs and booby traps out of old bomb materials to the background music of something similar to "tip-toe through the tulips". The dummies that were set up to show the activities of the villagers turned fighters, were of a size that could never have fitted into those tunnels (Yes I went into them). Did they use standard western dummies or just want them to look larger than life? You have to hand it to the VC though, they were resourceful. The Americans started using dogs to sniff our the tunnels so the VC used chili and pepper near the ventilation shafts so that the dogs would not want to go there. They then used captured American clothing to mask their own scents to fool the dogs even further.



We then went to the Cao Dai Temple which was colourful and exotic. This is the third religion of Vietnam which blends Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Catholicism. The religions are all colour coded - Buddhism yellow, Catholicism red and I forget the rest. The temple is lacquered in glossy musky pinks, sky blues, greens and more and ornately carved. We got there when they were having a service which consisted mostly of chanting. Most of the worshippers were in white pyjamas but some them were colour coded as well.



Exhausted we are now back and I'm going to do some treadmill work and read. A big couple of days. Tomorrow Mekong Delta!!