Saigon and the Mekong Delta

Leigh Inside Cu Chi tunnel

We had a great time in the beautiful historic town of Hoi An over the past few days, and were now flying to Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City as it is now known (HCMC for short).

The first few days of this part of our trip continues with GoAsia, on the Vietnam tour that we bought while in New Zealand.

As a part of that tour, our first day in HCMC was to be spent in tiny tunnels.

We were picked up early for the 60 km ride to Cu Chi which is known for its role in the anti-American War in Vietnam, because of the tunnels. The tunnels are now a war memorial.

Marg getting out of  a Cu Chi tunnel

In the 1940s, during their war of independence from the French, communists dug tunnels.

In the 1960s when America became involved in Vietnam, tunnel digging resumed, so that Viet Cong soldiers could evade the American’s and their allies.

The tunnels were used as supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon storage, and living quarters.

Entry was through very small, hidden trapdoors in the jungle floor, and usually surrounded by lethal booby traps.

Life on the Mekong

Although the tunnels were damp, riddled with ants, snakes, scorpions and the like, and very small (you could not stand up in most of them), they proved to be a very successful strategy for the Viet Cong in the war.

We were allowed into one section of these small tunnels, and there were many displays depicting what life would have been like in them. It was grizzly, but ingenious, and so interesting.

The following day, we were taken to the Mekong Delta, in the southern part of Vietnam, where the mighty Mekong empties into the South China Sea.

The Mekong at its delta, splits into a maze of smaller rivers, islands and swamps, that provide a rich environment for people to plant, harvest, build and live.

Cai Be floating market with their advertising poles

We boarded a little motorised boat that took us into one of the smaller rivers to see what life was like there.

It was a fascinating experience motoring right past the places where people live and do all their daily chores right on the river.

Our first stop was the Cai Be floating market.

Our boat ducked between the large barges and small boats, that were carrying fruit, vegetables, rice and all sorts of stuff.

Making coconut candies

You can tell what goods a boat is selling, because a sample of it is hung on a tall pole to advertise. When you spot what you want to buy, you get to the right boat in your boat, and swap money for goods across the water.

It was fascinating watching people doing their daily shopping in this way.

Leaving the market area, we cruised along into the Upper Mekong Delta. We were heading to some small villages in the Vinh Long area.

On Binh Hoa Phuc Island

At one stop, we saw Vietnam’s famous coconut candy being made from local coconut trees.

It was interesting to see how the family prepared the coconut, cooked it, cooled it, processed it then cut and wrapped each sweet individually ready to sell.

Not long after, we arrived at Binh Hoa Phuc island.

There we had a traditionally prepared and delicious seafood lunch.

After that we relaxed watching a concert with traditional southern Vietnamese folk music.

Women rowing the narrow waterways

After lunch, we had time to either cycle around the tiny island or hang about (literally) in one of the hammocks to sleep off your food.

Leigh did the cycle while Marg opted for the hammock!

While there, we bought a separate trip on a very small canoe type of boat.

The boat was paddled quietly through the meandering and narrow waterways by a woman using giant oars.

She rowed while standing on the stern.

Life on the river

She gently paddled us around a maze of very tiny tributaries, too small for bigger boats.

We saw homes with children playing in and around the river, and people doing their washing and other daily activities.

It was really interesting, and a little slice of Vietnam that we would not ordinarily have seen.

One of Vinh Long's main draws is the tranquil islands dotting the river, the slow-paced agricultural life, and the houses built on stilts.

Stilt houses in Vinh Long

Back on our bigger boat, we cruised further along the river, passing some of these stilt houses.

In New Zealand suburbs, you see a house with a car parked outside or in a garage etc.

It was the same with the houses in Vinh Long, except what you saw parked was boats.

After a really interesting day, we were driven back to HCMC.

This ended our official tour with GoAsia, and we had really enjoyed it.

Enjoying a drink in HCMC

But we had booked a few days for ourselves in HCMC, and were now really looking forward to getting out into the streets to have a look around.

HCMC is Vietnam’s largest city with over 7 million people.

That night, we went out for a drink at one of the many nearby bars and watched some of  those people moving by. Wow, what an atmospheric place.

It is a very lively city with lots of noise, busy looking people, street sellers, heaps of little shops, and many narrow streets and alleys full of activity.

Buzzing street outside our hotel

Our hotel, the Sai Gon Silverland Central Hotel was located is District 1 in HCMC.

This proved to be a fantastic location to stay as everything was right outside the door, including restaurants, and the main sights.

The next morning, we headed out to find them.

You could still see much of the French influence in HCMC’s wide boulevards, street trees, beautiful mansions, and colonial architecture.

Not surprising probably, as the French were in Vietnam for 100 years up to 1954.

Central Post Office HCMC

One of our favourite buildings, was the ornate Central Post Office.

This beautiful building was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the same man who designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Another was the Gothic style Notre-Dame Cathedral.

This was the last thing we expected to see in largely Buddhist Vietnam.

The People's Committee Hall HCMC

But, apparently there are almost 6 million Catholic’s in Vietnam, and this cathedral is one of their most important places of worship.

A third favourite, and also built in French Colonial style, was the People’s Committee Hall.

This ornate building in its beautiful gardens, was originally built as the Hotel de Ville or City Hall.

Over the next two days, we saw many other sights, including markets, museums, and temples.

One sight that will stay with us is the huge number of motorcycles in the streets, alleys and lanes in HCMC.

Out for a drink on our last night in HCMC

You not only see them lining up at the traffic lights or zooming by, but they are also parked absolutely everywhere you look.

On our last night in this exciting city, we followed our dinner with another night time walk, ending up with a cocktail at a nearby bar.

We ordered cooling cocktails to help us celebrate a fabulous time in Vietnam. We sat there and just people watching for ages.

We really liked HCMC and its vibrancy and loved our time in Vietnam.

But tomorrow we move on, and it’s out of Vietnam into Cambodia. We are excited to moving onto a new country.