Part 13: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam
- mpleva
- Mar 28
- 6 min read
Within a week of arriving in Dalat, our hosts and neighbors Ed and Buffy had arranged for us to visit the Con Dao islands (see previous post), accompanied by their friends Colin and Bridget, who were also visiting from Washington. Since all flights to the islands go from Ho Chi Minh City, the plan was for everyone meet in HCMC the night before, and then spend 2 more nights there on the way back to Dalat. What to say about this crazy place? Many people still refer to it as Saigon, so I will go with that, because it's prettier to say and easier to type! We thought Chiang Mai was frenetic with energy - arriving in Saigon was like a thunderclap on a clear day. This frantic city with its exploding population is considered the motorbike capital of the world. The streets and highways are literally a river on 2 wheels (or more like 4 million), with traffic doing absolutely everything everywhere all at once (except stopping for pedestrians, haha).
Our stay would be centered in the Binh Thanh District, where Ed and Buffy have a coffee roasting business and café (Bel Coffee). Also known as "Little Tokyo 2," this labyrinthine neighborhood has been listed (by some people on the internets) as one of the coolest in the world. It feels like falling down a rabbit hole in more ways than one, with its warren-like maze of passages and secret places. Ducking into a nearly invisible and crowded alley will lead you to another even more crowded alley, which suddenly opens into a whole courtyard crammed with cafe's, bars, and shops. The street we stayed on was lined with eccentric bars, izakayas (informal Japanese taverns), tons of tiny restaurants, and of course coffee houses everywhere. With so much incredible food all around, it was great to have such expert guides to take us to their favorite spots. But the heart of it all is Birdy.
This is a fantastic little bar with more room on the street than inside, great cocktails and excellent music. It has its own little community of locals and expats, and we spent a lot of time meeting and chatting with many of Ed and Buffy's friends there. Another favorite spot was the stand up Sake bar next door to our place, which is practically a master class in its own right. After literally climbing through the window to stand at the tiny counter, there is a wall behind you covered with a periodic table of sake to choose from, each categorized into various flavor profiles. The sweet Japanese lady who runs the shop will patiently help you make your choice(s), and provide you with wonderful snacks.
The first time we ventured out on our own was late in the day, so we went to the zoo and botanical garden, since it was close and relatively walkable. We were more interested in the gardens than the zoo, but it turns out they are the same place. It's historically interesting as one of the oldest continually operating zoos in the world, but it doesn't seem to have been greatly updated since opening in 1869. Many of the habitats are little more than tiny concrete enclosures, with the occasional giant polka dotted concrete toadstool for decoration. Another more modern addition was a giant fairy tale castle for the kids' play area, which seemed pretty surreal to be in a zoo. People were feeding animals everywhere you looked, and we even saw someone petting a monkey (they were on the outside of their giant cage, but apparently that's normal).
With only a couple of days to explore, most of our roaming was centered in District 1, which is the central urban area of Saigon. First up was the war museum, with predictable results. We didn't really take a lot of photos there. Very bleak, but important. It was all pretty difficult, but the worst part (for me) was the section on Agent Orange and its terrible effects on the population. Of course despite knowing the manufacturing process produced a highly toxic dioxin content, Dow Chemical and Monsanto were cleared of any culpability by Congress, and chemical 2,4 D is shockingly still in use in the U.S. today. We have yet to watch it, but there's a pretty good documentary on PBS (while it still exists) called "The People vs. Agent Orange." Here is a link to the trailer:
A good antidote to the war museum was the Reunification Palace. There is a ton of important Vietnamese history here. It was originally the site of the Saigon Governor's Palace, built by the French in 1873. When that building was bombed by 2 dissident Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilots, the current building (then called Independence Palace) was commissioned by President Dinh Diêm 1962. However, he wouldn't live to see its completion. Diêm escaped from here through the underground bunkers and tunnels during the coup d'etat of 1963, but did not ultimately escape his assassination two days later. President Thiêu, previous head of a military junta, then ruled here until the North Vietnamese Army crashed two tanks through the main gate on April 30, 1975, essentially ending the Vietnam war. The provisional government then changed the name again to Reunification Palace, to commemorate the end of the war. It's a great example of 60's modern architecture, with many symbolic elements of peace and leadership incorporated into the design. The interiors are lavishly beautiful but stylistically simple. We had lots of fun exploring from the living quarters, state rooms, recreational facilities and movie theater to the helicopter pad on the roof. But the basement was best of all. With the Presidential bunker, shooting range, command center, communications rooms and over 72 meters of escape tunnels, it was like something out of an early James Bond movie.
Other spots we checked out were Turtle Lake, a tiny oasis in the middle of the craziness of the city, where workers on their lunch break go to take a nap in the shade; the beautiful Art Deco post office; and the famous Caravelle Hotel, where press correspondents were stationed and sent their dispatches during the war. Sadly the bar was not open yet, so we couldn't see all of the old photos there. We also decided to take advantage of being in the city to find some needed travel items, and braved the massive Saigon mall scene. As we are not avid shoppers it was a bit overwhelming, but a welcome break from the 90+ degree heat and humidity.
For our last night, it was time to venture out to the original Little Tokyo. It's located in D1, in the heart of the city, but seems completely hidden away at the same time. Stepping through yet another tiny alley, all of a sudden you are in a completely different world. This neighborhood was much more crowded and crazy than where we were staying, full of hanging lanterns and carved wooden store fronts. The night-life was in full force, with a bit more of an "adult" atmosphere. This place is always strange and surprising. Often you will go on a weird adventure (possibly through someone's living area) to get to the bathroom of a restaurant, or will see someone's single-room dwelling, with their scooter parked next to their bed. Shrines of all sizes, illuminated with LED lights, are tucked away in crazy places.
We went to a stand up sushi bar so small that half of the space was taken up by the kitchen and staff. The rest of the available area was literally back-to back with customers. The sushi was fantastic and the sake flowed freely (but not for free, haha). Of course we met more of Buffy and Ed's friends here, and stopped at a couple more hotspots in the area. When one of their favorite places was too crowded to sit together, we were led off to what looked like a completely nondescript building. We weren't sure what we were doing there, when suddenly a panel in the wall opened up to reveal another tiny, neon-lit bar inside. Forget about the worm in the bottle of tequila - in Little Tokyo it's in a shot of saké, with the most notable difference being that the worm is still alive! We didn't rise to the challenge eating it, thank God, but we saw it happen, and won't forget it any time soon. It seemed like a fitting metaphor for our last night in this place.
Though we aren't typically city people, we were glad we had the chance to dive into this teeming heap of strange for a few days and see some of what it has to offer.
Next stop... Hoi An!
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