Ho Chi Minh City: Bangkok reloaded

If they'd buried Ho Chi Minh like he asked he'd be rolling in his grave. These days Saigon seems about as communist as the Mall of America. The intended statement in the scene above (a statue of Uncle Ho holding a small village child in front of the Hotel de Ville turned Communist Party Headquarters) gets a tad murky when you cross the street and walk past Marc Jacobs and Tag Heuer. I was never one for ideological purity anyway, but I'm just saying...Ironies aside, Ho Chi Minh City is a booming metropolis, complete with Times Square-rivaling billboards, and the densest moto traffic imaginable. Apparently, the power grid is still playing catch-up though. The prevalence of scooter drivers has spawned an moto fashion that was previously unknown to me. They've got helmets disguised as sun hats and Hello Kitty embroidered face-masks among other things. We visited the city's main sights, including the War Remnants Museum, which documents American atrocities and weapons in Vietnam. I found the exhibitions on Agent Orange and press casualties the most interesting. We also took a day trip out to the Cu Chi Tunnels (while you're mulling that over consider that there was a bus line there called Phuc Duc, and we paid in dong, so I've already heard every bad pun I care to). Our guide there had flown Huey's for the South Vietnamese and offered a slightly more nuanced version of events than was on offer at the Museum. He also explained that because he fought against the north his children will cannot pursue higher education or work for the police or military.
We combined our trip to the tunnels with stop at the bizarre Cao Dai Temple in Tay Ninh. Cao Di combines Taoism, Buddhist, and Confucian teachings with a worship of number of saints, including Victor Hugo and Sun Yat-sen. I kid you not.






The food in Vietnam was generally some of the best of the trip, and the fare available in the capitol was no exception. Minced pork spring rolls and avocado juice at Bahn Cuon were especially good. Bean paste buns from a street stall were a bit bland, but they had these cool stamps so they get a shout out nonetheless. Finally we enjoyed DIY BBQ amid the twinkly lights. You know that's a recipe for success with me.

xoxo Jessie