A Trip to SAIGON...
Mac
Cong Vien Van Hoa Park, Saigon
URL is:
<< http://home.earthlink.net/~2551/id6.html >>
VietNam Tourism failed to meet us, so we grabbed a cab for the Saigon
Star Hotel near what was the Presidential Palace, which opened while I
was here in 1966. Arriving at the hotel, we discovered that we were
not expected until the next day. Welcome to VietNam. John and I had
the rest of the day to ourselves, so we walked around the lovely Cong
Vien Van Hoa Park, with its large lovely Diptherocapus trees and
flowers. We admired the wide, tree lined boulevards and walked past
the French Colonial buildings, many falling into ruin. People were
friendly. Streets are clean, but teeming with bicycles and motor
bikes. The energy level is tremendous. How is it different? The hotels
are there: the Rex; the Majestic; the Metropole; and the Continental,
where I spent a night with an armed VietNamese guard outside my door.
I remember not being too sure of him at the time.
Tu Do Street has a new name, Dong Khoi Street. Most streets have new
names. Instead of bicycles, most people seem to have motor bikes now.
There are 2 million of them in the city and they provide a river of
movement. It is impossible to wait for a break in the traffic in order
to walk across any street. There is no break, since no one stops when
entering any intersection. One just looks straight ahead and steps
into the river of movement and it parts around you as you walk
steadily across the street. How else is it different here from 33
years ago? Then there were wire screens over every doorway to keep
grenades out and every corner had a sand bag fortification with
machine guns. It was a fortified city then. Now all that is gone and
there has emerged this very nice, busy city. Isn't peace grand?
Walking in the darkness, we saw a cyclo and rider slowly approaching
down the street. This most menial of tasks is about as high as old
soldiers from the South are allowed to do. The rider was an older
looking man who did his task with quiet dignity. As he passed us by,
he silently gave me a military salute.
John's Lonely Planet book rated one restaurant nearby as having great
food at great prices. That sounded like a winner, so we walked through
a rain storm right to it. Arriving very wet, we were met in an open
cabana and given a menu full of meats such as Porcupine, Rabbit, Mule,
Venison, Eel, Snake, and Chicken feet and beaks. I got beef; John got
Rabbit. We had a charcoal fire in the middle of the table and we
enjoyed ourselves cooking our own.
VietNam Tourism still didn't know we where there. The dates and times
had been hopelessly messed up. That gave us the opportunity to get the
feel of the place on our own. We ate breakfast in our hotel looking
out on a bright, sunny day. It was rush hour, and the streets were
teeming with those 2 million motor bikes and about 3 automobiles.
There were no trucks to be seen. On they came, on and on, an endless
army of fairly well-dressed people, often 3 or 4 to a bike. Many of
the women wear the beautiful AuDai native costume, which had been
outlawed for many years, but is now making a come-back. It falls
gracefully from their thin frames. I remember it well from the old
days, when it was universal in the better parts of VietNamese society.
As happens whenever we gave folks a chance, our waiter began
conversation in a very friendly way. "I do not believe you are
Australians," he said. We told him, Americans. His face lit up. They
seem very happy to see us here. Winning the war is a source of great
pride. They exhibit no animosity toward former US Soldiers. Former
ARVN Soldiers are another story.