After around 24 hours of travel to Ho Chi Minh City, our group finally arrived at Palace Hotel Saigon to check out for a brief sleep until the morning arrived. We departed to view the city (which from here on we will be referring to as Saigon) after a hearty breakfast with options such as beef and flan (That’s how you know we’re in a different country…)
We changed up the day’s schedule a bit from what was originally planned, and visited the post office instead of the War Remnants Museum first.
The post office was full of fun items that encompassed the general change of power in Vietnam. From the massive portrait of Ho Chi Minh looking over the central hall to the collections of old Vietnamese coins, The post office displayed the many different points in Vietnam’s history. The post office was made by the French in 1891 and has been used ever since.The post office was a nice, interesting, and ecstatic place to start our trip.
Next, in a surprise turn of events, (since this wasn’t on the itinerary,) we visited a large market for an hour and bought all sorts of of weird knock-off items.
I was bullied by the vendors a tad. Theo Marx was good at haggling with them by being aggressive and unemotional. The market was filled with the hot heavy air like one big room that a giant had just showered in. On one side, there was the clothing section were you could buy all sorts of fake shirts and shoes. On the other side, there was food vendors and accessory/tourist vendors. The market was a great way to connect with Vietnamese locals and experience something fresh.
We then had the opportunity to enjoy lunch at Pho 2000, a restaurant famous for their noodles and Bill Clinton paying them a visit.
The pho was pretty good. The majority of people got the beef option that came with white, flat noodles. The new food culture was very interesting to us all. Some of us need to work on our chopstick skills. Dining at Pho 2000 was a strong start to our new course of food for the next weeks.
The War Remnants museum was next, which covered the impacts of the Vietnam War on the Vietnamese and American people, as well as the response of other nations to the escalation of conflicts in the war.
The War Remnants museum was a window into a world not many see. The focus on personal stories of victims instead of statistics or objects helped shape our perspectives on American war atrocities and what our duty is as Americans to involve ourselves in helping the recuperation. From Agent Orange victims to the My Lai massacre, The America influence was vivid and most times truly appalling. The War Remnants museum did not shy away from the negative impacts the war had on American soldiers either. Some portions of the museum even focused on the American victims of Agent Orange. Which begs the question, would we highlight the Vietnamese deaths if the roles and results of the war were flipped?
Instead of visiting a Buddhist temple today (which we will do tomorrow), we were able to tour the former residence of the South Vietnamese President, a building with impressive architecture whose flashy outward appearance belies a series of interesting rooms hidden within.
The gardens around the palace were voluminous and very beautiful. In the gardens there were to T-84 tanks that symbolize the North Vietnamese take over of the South. The palace itself was flashy in a somehow modest tone. The rich yellow carpets and red accents on furniture created a proper yet fascinating show for the eyes. We experienced the Palace with open eyes which allowed us to better understand the internal conflict many Vietnamese people had during their civil war.
Since we had some extra time, we were able to visit the 5th district, also known as Chinatown, as a part of a short tour of the city. After its conclusion, there was a bit of time to relax before dinner time, so Martin, Jason, and Colin put their newly obtained merch from the market to good use and got some pictures wearing very fake Gucci/Hermès belts that cost around 15 USD total, and a good amount of people also swam in the pool at the top of the hotel. (Though, since 5 PM in Vietnam is 2 AM in the morning in LA, there were certainly people who were getting some rest, if not sleep.)
The group enjoyed a traditional dinner at Ngon Restaurant, with such items like egg rolls, spring rolls, bok choy, and fried chicken. Quite a meal, if I do say so myself.
