"Whats In A Name?" a Ho Chi Minh City Travel Page by kidfree

I remember as a kid watching men in helicopters flying over a strange country named Vietnam. Often they would be shouting inaudible things at each other above the noise or for some reason shooting at nothing but jungle. Other times they would be carrying other men who looked badly hurt and in a lot of pain, I didnt really know why but as a youngster it looked very exciting.
One thing I did notice though was that often the country that they were flying over looked really beautiful in places, particularly if they were flying around dusk or sunset and it made me wonder whether all the excitement and shooting had really been necessary.
As I grew older and began to understand a little of what had been happening I decided that one day I would like to travel to this country and see for myself whether it had managed to regain any of its beauty or whether indeed it had ever lost it.
When I cleared customs that day late in April 05 I realized that the world was indeed crazy all those years ago because it was far too hot to be running around and fighting, and anyway all the people appeared to be really friendly and welcoming.
One of the first hurdles to overcome as I`m sure everyone agrees who is new to it is crossing the road. I took a birds eye view from the safety of my hotel room on the Pham Ngu Lao road to watch how the locals do it first. A small break in the traffic and off you go, steady but unwavering and NO hesitating and even though the traffic gets to within an inch or so of your shirt thats it, a couple of days later and you wonder what all the fuss was and chuckle at the new arrivals who were as nervous as you were.
The first afternoon I visited the War Crimes Museum which is a fair way to spend a couple of hours as most tourists have found. The displays were graphic enough to remind us all that war is a terrible thing and innocent people suffer horribly, a bit of an eye opener to say the least.
While driving back to the hotel I asked the driver what all the decorations were for and he replied that it was a celebration to mark the 30th anniversary of the end of the war, I hadnt realized that in my excitement but it could prove to be a bonus.
Saigon is a great place to eat and drink cheaply, I found I could have a big bowl of Pho in my favourite cafe on De Tham and a freshly squeezed juice for less than $2.
And how about the trips? Well, booking mine on Pham Ngu Lao Road next to the hotel I paid $4 for the Cu Chi trip and $11 for the Mekong Delta day trip which was fantastic value for money.
Four days was just an appetizer really and I can hardly wait until early 2007 when I will explore north to south with a stop some where in the middle. I wonder how many people have decided to do something similar?

I took a photo in the war museum that would really spook me a couple of weeks later. It was a wounded GI and the picture filled the frame nicely.
When I arrived back in the UK I took my memory card to a photo store to get a selection of prints to show to friends and family. I settled down to eagerly look at the pictures and in the meantime the television was on in the background. When I got to looking at this print I noticed on the screen a black American guy around 55-60 years old wearing military dress uniform and talking about an event from the late 1960`s in Vietnam and he was saying that after the explosion he kept asking whether his lieutenant was okay. It was my man in the picture I was now holding and there he was talking about the very incident, yes it was damned spooky and I was transfixed. Coincidence or what?
I believe the picture was titled PURDY.

What makes a place special? Food? Yep. Architecture? Yep. History? Yep. For me a place is truly defined by its inhabitants. The Saigonese were so welcoming, so eager to move on from the past ond grab a ride on the train to the future one cannot but admire them. A nation that has overcome so many obstacles with so much loss and still have a smile on its face deserves our respect at the very least.
A trip into the Delta is a great way to escape the heat of the city and relax in the Foodbowl of Vietnam and see local farmers and markets at work and it is impossible not to see some really cute local kids.
This group of girls would not let me go until I had taken ten or so photos of them and in the end I had to pretend that I was still snapping away.