This week we are joined by a special guest blogger, Anna’s brother Dave has visited with us from London so he get’s the first crack at chronicling this part of the journey, take it away Dave…
Hi Chi Minh City. Hi Chi Wah-wah. Miss Saigon. The old Lady. Home of the ambitious new Vietnam to Japan Subway line. The city of a billion motorbikes, where their only road rule is ‘just close your eyes and hope for the best’ More recently, it’s become the most geographically convenient place to visit family.
To have the opportunity to explore with Anna, Matt and the kids (or ‘Big Papa LamLams and the Wanaka Weetbix Kids’, as the blog would have been called if I’d had my way) on their South East Asian odyssey is a rare treat. With Matt’s experience and exploration knack, plus the kids infectious intrepidity I was excited and confident I’d fit a lot into my one week here. Anna’s here too.
I flew into HCMC the night before the Laming’s, then on Sunday I set off for the Bin Tanh market to track them down. The market is a network of narrow lanes between over-stocked stalls, and I embarked on my Laming-hunt with all the gusto of the opening sequence of a James Bond film. When I found them I happened to just miss Matt throwing down some hard-line negotiation. Failing to achieve an amicable agreement on price this particular vendor lost his sale. I believe he even threw in an impromptu course in Vietnamese sign language (VSL), though that failed to sweeten the deal.
In general, Ho Chi Minh is a bustling, frantic yet polite and cosmopolitan city. One can walk from wide, leafy boulevards and air conditioned shopping malls to energetic, grimy markets in a few short steps. Matt, who has been coming here for work in recent years has even noticed the extent of the downtown development, further evidenced by the drastic change from photos in the HCM museum of only 10 or 12 years ago where the city looks almost unrecognisable. Today the development continues. Our new apartment building had another major development next door (with floors going up almost nightly), building sites occupy any open space and cranes dot the skyline in almost every direction. The traditional side remains though, in the markets, the small authentic local restaurants and street-food vendors selling Banh Mi, Vietnamese coffee and iced tea, Banh Trang Nuong (street pizza – amazing!) cheap Rolecks and Roy-Bans and almost everything else.
We spent the first couple of days familiarizing ourselves with the sights, smells, sounds and humidity of the city. The kids quickly adapted to the traffic, and the cautious yet confident ducking and diving though motorbikes to safely traverse every intersection (and most footpaths). They were all surprisingly comfortable and confident in their new surroundings, though we had to refrain from shouting “Charlie!” across crowded public areas, lest we induce flashbacks in any visiting American veterans. You are constantly reminded, however, that you are indeed in the tropics and a long way from London or Central Otago, with lunch-time downpours and humidity pushing 100%
Our escape to air conditioning very nearly led to an international incident. At lunch we discovered we’d left the kids’ backpack at the shopping mall, which seems so unlikely given they were all constantly offering to carry it for each other! As I raced back to fetch it my mind immediately wandered to the bag being stolen, to it being held by mall security, to the whole building and surrounding blocks being cordoned off while the counter-terrorism unit bought in its bomb-disposal robots, to what safe passage to Cambodia would cost me (both in monetary value and self-respect) when I needed to flee Vietnam. Thankfully the good folks at Buds San Francisco Ice-Cream had safely stowed it for us. The seriousness of our near miss didn’t hit home until Anna pointed out that the backpack had 5 passports in it (Don’t tell Matt).
The afternoon ended calming our nerves at the award-winning Pasteur St Brewing co (which would have looked more at home in San Francisco than HCMC). Say what you want about modern technology and our growing dependence on it, but when Anna and Uncle Dave want to enjoy 6 beers each, YouTube and free Wi-Fi provided ample pacification for 3 hot, tired and weary little travellers (don’t tell Matt that either).
Though craft brewing is relatively new to this part of the world, Vietnam has always had a strong culture around coffee. Served on street corners and Starbucks and everywhere in between it is traditional to drink strong, cold espresso over plenty of ice, and sweetened with condensed milk. Your average serving is about 50ml of actual coffee, with the melting ice doing something to thin it down and ensure your $0.50 goes slightly further. But boy is it sweet and delicious. Day one I got a little too excited and had a couple of coffees while I was waiting for the Laming’s but then when I found them I think Matt was keen to have another coffee as well which we had over lunch which was shortly before we had to go and get our bags so we had another couple of coffees while we were waiting back at the first place then after we got our bags we went for more coffee this time with even more condensed milk and by now I had had about 7 coffees and the I felt like my chest was going to explode and then I had to lie down.
We the spent that afternoon wandering around the north of District 1, looking for the former US embassy, from which the last Americans were evacuated out of Saigon in 1975. We found the current US Consulate, a well-guarded compound of largely grass and no recognisable buildings. Hours, and at least 3km of walking later I discovered the original embassy was demolished in 1998. Needless to say, the kids weren’t impressed.
Then to the Mekong. Our guide was Tommy, a cherry and informative Mekong local who entertained us with his delicate grasp of the English language and mildly sarcastic take on Vietnamese life. The 4th of 5 boys, Tommy was also prone to sharing too much personal information. he took an immediate shine to the kids, in particular Bede, whose names he heard as ‘Pete’. Spelling out ‘B-E-D-E’ certainly didn’t help either. It even sounded the same to me.
The Mekong, to use its international name, is the lifeblood of millions in Vietnam. Travelling for over 4000km from the Tibetan plateau through China, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before meeting the sea at the Mekong Delta. From here locals farm, fish and live supporting themselves and the needs of millions in the nearby towns and cities, most significantly Ho Chi Minh. The first stop on our boat trip was the Cai Be floating market, where boats gather from 5am to sell wholesale (min order 10kg) fruits, vegetable, meats, fish and almost anything else. Each boats chosen produce is strung from a high bamboo pole so buyers can easily identify what each is selling. By the time we arrived in the late morning the market was all but over, with a few remaining boats selling sweet potato and pineapple, neither of which we particularly needed 10kg of.
We had a wonderful opportunity to see into the lives of the locals of the Mekong (the inevitable question of just how authentic everything was and whether it was largely for tourists notwithstanding) – local honey production, performance of traditional songs from the Mekong, local fish and tropical fruits for lunch, and the coconut candy factory (a favourite of the kids). The latter specialised in coconut ‘taffy’, and what can only be described as ‘Vietnamese Rice-Crispy Square’. Their ingenious way of ‘popping’ the rice is hot sand in an enormous wok, then filtering out first the sand, then the rice husks before mixing with peanuts into hot caramel made with coconut milk. The husks were used to fuel the fires, with the resulting ash spread on crops for fertiliser, thus completing the circle of life (AAAAH-SIPEMYAAAAA…..)
After lunch the kids took off on their bikes while Uncle Dave read a book and slept in a hammock. It was then time for the bus ride home, during which the rains hit and we nearly left Ruby at a gas station, but other than that it was fairly uneventful.
By Thursday, Anna and I had agreed that we were pretty well Pho’d out (or ‘over pho-ing’), and a slice of toast wouldn’t go amiss. The kids had their well deserved sleep in while I snuck out early-doors to explore a couple of sights solo. First was the memorial for the Venerable Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk who, in 1963, self-immolated in protest of the oppressive politics regimes treatment and policies towards Buddhists. The iconic imagines of this generated widespread international condemnation and pressure on the ruling Diem government. Despite proposed reforms the government failed to implement any meaningful change as was toppled by a military coup in November of that year.
A few blocks from here is the War Remnants museum, now with a somewhat softened name since 1995, prior to which was the ‘Exhibition of US and Puppet Crimes and Aggression’. Though a fascinating depiction of the events that led to and took place during the war, one feels as though it should be taken with a grain of salt. The story is told with a no-holds-barred blunt view from the North Vietnamese of their efforts to bring peace and unity to Vietnam and aggressions and brutality with which they were met by the South, and then the US. Heavy attention is paid to the international protests against the war, events of brutal force and atrocity against civilians and the aftermath on Vietnam of Agent Orange. All harrowing and confronting, and a stark reminder that history remains the account of the victors.
For many of us, the highlight of our time in Vietnam came on Thursday night. This was when we strapped on helmets and threw ourselves headfirst into the fierce HCMC traffic on the back of a motorbike. We were collected from our accommodation by an awesome group of students from Saigon Food Tours, lead by Michelle, who promised to take us to the most authentic food hotspots in the city. Despite some initial reservations, Matt, Anna, Charlotte, Ruby, Pete (Bede) and I all paired off with out rider and tore off into the melee, clinging on for dear-life. If you can’t beat em, join em.
Looking like Minions with our yellow and black striped helmets we set off, delicately negotiating our way through the chaotic peak-hour traffic. Clearly the most sought after food options were out of District 1, so we soon were out in the sticks among the locals. Any intrepidation of riding pillion was soon replaced with sheer joy. We started with learning to make out own pancake rolls with fresh Thai Basil, ‘Fish Mint’, Perilla and fresh rice paper spring rolls with shrimp, lettuce and spring onions, then to the traditional South Vietnamese speciality of Bahn Canh Cua, a rich and hearty crab and noodle soup served by the fierce Vietnamese hostess who ran a tight ship in every aspect except hygiene. Our final two stops on the tour were to a trendy coffee bar on District 3, then finally to Cat Creme for traditional coconut ice-cream, replete with all the traditional toppings, like sweetcorn!. The kids fell in love with our guides – a group of local university students with excellent English – and vice versa. The camera work coming from Matt’s moped was reminiscent of the tour de france – never before or since have I seen such balance and poise from a camera man equipped with a Samsung smartphone. Then it caught fire.
The following day they were on email giving more advice of places that we should go on our last full day in HCMC. One of which was a ‘real’ Vietnamese coconut ice cream shop (the one from the night before was apparently Vietnamese-Thai – THAT’S going in their Tripadvisor review!). For the second time this week Uncle Dave traipsed everyone out to East Saigon to track it down, only to discover that it was shut. This was the last place I was allowed to pick. Despite this, we would all recommend this group to anyone that comes to Saigon. If it’s the only thing you do, do this – book, eat, hang on tight and enjoy every moment!
And with that our time here is almost at an end. It’s been a solid week in one spot, but rarely in travel do you have an opportunity explore a place of such complexity, history and diversity from so many angles. It’s either a fleeting sample before you fly off to your next stop, a tight schedule of meetings and corporate hoo-rahs, or a blissful sun-drenched laze if you’re lucky, but with no real colour or experience. We got out hands and our feet dirty.
For me it is back to London, and for Anna, Matt, Charlotte, Ruby and Pete (Bede) it is onto the next stop on their journey. Thank you for letting me share in the adventure!
Noodles and Notepads 