vip in the city

Saigon tour

Got an early start my first full day in Vietnam. After deciding to forgo a group organized city tour, I took a traditional Vietnamese breakfast of rice noodles with fish sauce, spring rolls, and iced coffee at the hotel, and set out to explore on my own. First photo stop: view of the Saigon River, as seen from the rooftop bar of the Majestic Hotel, erected in 1925 and a fine example of Graham Greene-era glamour that once attracted guests like François Mitterrand and Catherine Deneuve:

Along my stroll on Dong Khoi Street, known in French colonial days as Rue Catinat and once considered the most refined and fashionable stretch of road in Saigon, I was inundated with offers for private city tours. I opted to take in the sights from the vantage point of the locals, i.e., from the back of a Honda Om motorcycle. Ho Chi Minh City is swarming with “xe om” motorbike taxis, which outnumber cars by at least a three to one margin. That combined with the distinct shortage of discernable traffic lanes, traffic signals and crosswalks often makes just crossing the street a dicey proposition.

The view from my guide Hong’s purple xe om:

I’ll admit that the ride was a bit nerve-wracking at first, but after a few minutes, I grew accustomed to the traffic weaving and startling proximity to other vehicles, large and small. Not a helmet in sight, by the way.

The Hotel Continental, for decades a gathering place for foreign journalists and another stop on “The Quiet American” tour. On the right, situated perpedicularly on Lam Son Square, is the French colonial-style Opera House:

Inside the Reunification Palace, formerly known as the South Vietnamese Presidential Palace, or Independence Palace. One of the few pure examples of 1960s architecture in Ho Chi Minh City. A replica of the tank that crashed through the palace gates the day Saigon fell to the North is now parked outside.

One of the many rooms I got to peek on the guided tour of the building. This one was used as a sitting room for visitors. Perhaps more interesting, though less visually striking, was the elaborate basement bomb shelter/bunker complete with map rooms, transmission rooms (outfitted with rotary phones and metal desks), and general purpose “war rooms”.

Presidential gifts. Yes, they’re real elephants’ feet:

In front of the War Remnants (formerly War Crimes) Museum. Exhibits inside within were rather graphic in their depictions of American atrocities during the Vietnam War:

Notre Dame Cathedral:

Midday showers brought my District 1 sightseeing to an end, so after a brief respite back at the hotel, I hopped a taxi (car, this time) to Cholon, Ho Chi Minh City’s Chinatown, about five kilometers west of the city center, but very different in feel. Chaotic jumbles of low-rise dilapidated buildings, narrow alleys and decidedly grittier streets, which may account for tourists appearing fewer and farther between.I asked to be dropped at Cholon’s famous Binh Tay Market. Inside the close aisles and jam-packed stalls was every variety of everyday goods, offering glimpses into modern Vietnamese life. And in the surrounding streets, stands and stands of dried goods, produce, meats, and seafood (many still squirming):

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