Lauren in the Lion City: May 2011

Market day on streets
all around Saigon
Photo: Desiree Koh

I have been most excited for my trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, still known to everyone except government officials as "Saigon." I simply ravage any Vietnamese food and am curious to see this country that has played such a significant role in American history for the past 40 years.

In the most anti-climactic moment on this blog, I have to admit it's hard to find words to describe the experience.

It easily has been my favorite Asian travel experience so far. There is something very beautiful in its simplicity. Here was where we simply strolled and observed life -- shopkeepers and vendors tending to their stalls, psuedo-chefs whipping up streetside banh mi, mounds of various sticky rices, lanes and lanes of the infamous motorbike, along with key historic sites like the Reunification Palace, War Remnants Museum, Notre Dame and the rooftop of the Rex Hotel (where the GIs conducted their daily press briefings, coined the "five o'clock follies," during the war.

Motorbike parade. Every day.
Photo: Desiree Koh

In an ironic twist, we happened to arrive on the exact anniversary of Reunification Day, aka the Fall of Saigon, when the Communist tanks stormed the iron gates of the Reunification Palace and essentially kicked out the Americans.

Presidential Receiving Room @ Reunification Palace
Photo: Desiree Koh

So the story goes: after the tanks crashed through the gates of the palace, a Viet Cong soldier ran to the fourth floor balcony and flew the flag for all to see. The South Vietnamese government awaited the VC in the second-floor presidential receiving room, where they greeted the VC officers with, "I have been waiting since early this morning to transfer power to you." VC replied: "You cannot give up what you do not have." The palace is eerie. It looks nearly identical to how it looked on that day. They haven't changed much but to put up some glass walls and entrance ropes.

Infinitely more eerie was the War Remnants Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes. There was little new information per se, but what was astonishing was seeing it from a very different perspective. There were photos, stories and exhibits you wouldn't see in the States, for various reasons. We came face to face with the atrocities from that war ... the My Lai massacre, Agent Orange, torture, destroyed villages ... haunting images. Our favorite part was the Requiem Exhibition, which includes a collection of striking photos from war photographers from around the world, as well as feature stories and insights on their lives, deaths and experience.

A sampan ride. Heaven.
Photo: Desiree Koh

We spent three full days in Vietnam, including a Sunday day trip to the tunnels of Cu Chi, 250km of intricate tunnels the VC dug and used to harass the Americans and South Vietnamese for years, undetected.

We then floated along the islands of the Mekong River. A very worthwhile jaunt, with the highlight being the time we spent island hopping with our private guide. We schlepped through a remote tropical forest, sampling various tropical fruits from the trees. We then had tea and more fruit at the home of a local family (who owned the trees we were enjoying!).

Des took amazing photos -- the best way to see our experience.