Ho Chi Minh City ... Let's Pay Uncle Ho a visit!! (Part 1) 越南，胡志明市

Visit to Ho Chi Minh City, the Land of Uncle Ho!

越南，胡志明市

Ordinarily, we wouldn't think of visiting Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, at least not when we have two young kids! Sounds too exotic.  However, opportunities to do new things come in strange ways, so seize the day!

我们没有打算访问胡志明市，越南，我们有两个年幼的孩子。然而，我们有机会访问越南，所以我们抓住了机会！

In our case, we were on a re-positioning cruise from Singapore to Shanghai.  One of the stops along the way was the port of Phu My, which was a gateway into Ho Chi Minh.   Our research revealed that Phu My was a commercial port with nothing nearby.  Cruise ships would dock at unoccupied berths at the container terminal.

我们走航从新加坡到上海，在海洋航行者号。其中一站富美港口，越南胡志明市附近。

On this visit, the highlights were the Presidential Palace and War Museum, together with some Chinese temple and shopping area.

亮点是总统府和战争博物馆。

Alert - Some of the pictures are from the Vietnam War era, and may bring back memories for viewers who had been involved in this very ugly war.  Further, my comments on the blog reflect my personal views.  I apologise in advance if these comments offend anybody.  Please do not take it to heart.
快讯 - 有些图片是从越南战争时代，并可能会带来观众曾参与这个非常丑陋的战争回忆。此外，我在博客上的评论反映了我个人的看法。我提前道歉，如果这些意见得罪任何人。请不要请不要生气.

I thought that the War was quite pointless, though with the benefit of hindsight, everything is clear.  Anyway, the Chinese don't like the Vietnamese much and vice versa, this much I gathered.  So the Domino Theory as advocated by the war-mongers on why the war was needed, was doomed to fail from the start.
我的想法是如下。越南战争是毫无意义的，但事后的利益，一切都清楚了。骨牌理论所倡导的战争贩子为什么需要战争，从一开始就注定要失败的。许多人死亡。他们可能已经死的毫无价值。很伤心。

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This was the view from our aft cabin on the Voyager of the Seas as we were approaching port.  Look at how near the swamps were! 海洋航行者号.

The Voyager of the Seas is a 138,000 GT cruise ship.  When she was launched (1997), she was the largest cruise ship in the world.  Quite fascinating to watch the Voyager sail in such tight waters.
海洋航行者号是一个138,000 GT游轮。在1997年，她在世界上最大的游轮。相当迷人观看在这样紧张的水域航行的航海家。

You could jump off the ship and swim to the shore quite easily, assuming no crocodiles.
你可以跳下船，并很容易地游到岸边。然而，鳄鱼可能会吃了你。

Given that we had a party of 6, we decided to book our own private tour guide cum vehicle for the day. That way, we could go visit the sights at our own pace.  Also, the tour guide could pick us right at the Port, from where we disembarked from the ship. Very convenient.  We were not the only group on private tours.  We saw at least 10 small private vans waiting. 
我们有一个6口之家。我们订了一间私人导游和车辆的一天。我们可以在我们自己的节奏，去参观景点。此外，导游可以在港湾等待我们，非常方便。我们不是唯一的私人旅游。我们看到至少10个小型的私人面包车等。

We found our guide quite easily. He spoke decent English.  The driver could not speak English.  It helps to be able to speak English.  It surely increases your market worth!
我们的导游知道如何说英语。驱动程序无法讲英语。讲英语，赚更多的钱。

On our way into Ho Chi Minh.  Unforunately the port of Phu My is really far.  I took us a good 1.5 hours to get into town. 我们花了1.5小时，到胡志明市。

We fully appreciated the private tour.  We had a relatively new Mercedes Van.  The highway was new and quite smooth, therefore the Van could go at high speeds.  For many parts, we were cruising at 110km/h to 120km/h. 我们坐在新的梅赛德斯范。高速公路顺利。

Motorbikes were very common.  A cheap form of transport. 摩托车是很常见的。一种廉价的交通工具。

Some parts of the highway were under repairs, so that slowed us down a bit.  某些部分的公路正在维修。

The guide got visibly excited when we passed the Coca Cola Building.  Because of the Vietnam War, Coca-Cola only came to Vietnam in 1994.  I read that President Clinton made a historic visit in 2000.   

There were more motorbikes compared to cars.  But the cars looked quite new.  Japanese brand.

Some tall buildings, as we got closer to the city centre.


Not sure what building this was.


Looks like a church, probably from the French era.  Yeah, first the Vietnamese kicked the French out, then the Americans.

Here we go - Rules for Visitors to Independence Palace.  Notice they called it Independence Palace.

Check out this Video of the Van approaching the Presidential Palace.  Look at the number of motorcycles!

Our tour guide called this the Presidential Palace.  Didn't hear him utter the word Independence.

It looks rather nice in the bright sun.  Well, I can fully understand why the Vietnamese see this as an icon of Independence.

Now, it is not everyday you see tanks exhibited near a palace.

Tank 843, most likely the most famous Tank in Vietnamese History.  Remember, 843, 843.

The 843 was a USSR made T54 Tank. This was the tank that broke through the side gate of the Palace on April 30th, 1975.

Tank Crew of Tank 843.  I don't think they faced any resistance taking over the Palace.

Nice tank.

Another angle of the tank.  The General Purpose Machine Gun on top looks to be still functional (under the waterproof cover).

Tank 390 - Now this tank is ever more famous, because it broke through the MAIN gate, on 30th April 1975.  Alright, move aside Tank 843.  It was 390 that we were looking for.  390, 390!

I have a feeling the machine gun on top is still serviceable.

Yeah, a Palace Gate would be no match for 390.

Alright, we head into the palace.  This must have been a meeting room of sorts.

Yet another meeting room.  Apparently, the then Vietnamese Government (not the Communists) were pretty incompetent.   They talked, and talked some more.

A group of tourists listening to an animated lecturer.  Later on, we were told by the guide that these tourists were from Vietnam.

A bust of Uncle Ho.

Father of Vietnam.

There was some maps in this room.

More maps.  Looking at the geography, one begins to understand why the war was an impossible one for the Americans to win.

Dragon!  It does look rather Chinese.

Looks like Mahjong?  Didn't know that Vietnamese played Mahjong too.

The Palace had its own cinema.  This was one of the two film projectors.

The guide told us that the Vietnamese President used this helicopter on his visits to villages and other parts of Vietnam.  I guess the Americans provided the complimentary transport.

Now, you may be wondering what is the red circle in front of the helicopter.  It reads:

"At 8:30AM April 8 1975, First Lieutenant Pilot Nguyen Thanh Trung Flew F5E and threw down 2 Bombs at the right target here."

Not bad for a precision bombing run. Strange, I thought the F5E was an american jet?  And, I don't recall the F5E being designed for bombing.  I thought it was an air superiority fighter.

A closer look at the helicopter - 445, flying the American insignia.

A view of the city from the Palace.

If most of that were jungle, it would be very difficult to take and hold ground.

According to the guide, the numbers you see are the casualties inflicted on Vietnamese by the Americans.  More than 600,000 died, so he claimed.

More maps.

Switchboard?

Some form of typewriters.

All the Communications equipment left behind.  Makes for a good display.

Looks rather sophisticated, in a dated way.

More equipment.

Yeah, the President had a Combat Duty Bedroom.  Sounds oxymoronic, I know.

 That was the American jeep used to ferry the Vietnamese President around.

Photos of the Vietnamese victory.

Alright, let us conclude with the excerpt from the Political Report:

"Time will fly but our people's victory in the cause of anti-American Resistance to save our country shall make one of the brightest pages in our national history, a radiant symbol of the complete victory of the revolutionary heroism and human mind, which shall be entered the world history as a brilliant feat of arms in the XXth century, an event of great international important and profoundly contemporary in nature."

Quite interesting to reflect upon this proclamation.

Go to my view of the War Remnants Museum, Part 2 of thie Ho Chi Minh Review.

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