Having a great time with the tour group, in Saigon at present. The Vietnamese are remarkably friendly and open, as well as being keen to relieve us of our last dollars. They are doing quite well in that area. After arrival Tuesday we had lunch at Indo-Chine restaurant although we probably were not in the mood after the two flights - I slept well but others could not get off and were a bit grumpy. We settled in at the Rex Hotel (Shirley, it's Rexcellent thanks) large air con rooms, good facilities in the heart of Saigon which is beautifully set out. Many of the buildings are French Colonial, dating from the mid-1800s as do many of the inner city parks and avenues. There are many very modern buildings including a skyscraper with gigantic swimming pool cantilevered out 2/3 of the way up.
The traffic is intense, mostly light motorbikes and scooters. Nothing stops except at the rare traffic lights, it simply slows and merges with other traffic that flows on and on. Even pedestrians move through the stream, technically on marked crossings, but still nothings stops completely.
Today, Wednesday 20 April, we had our city tour starting with a sobering two hours at the War Relics Museum. Cheery at first, we gradually became more thoughtful as we moved through the exhibits. Of course, it was presented as seen through Vietnamese eyes and may be thought to be slanted because of that. But I thought it covered the facts quite well, if somewhat deficient on any bad stuff the VC might have done and heavy on US atrocities. The rest of our day tour was interesting but unremarkable. Thursday we go to the tunnels at Cu Chi, Friday on to Vung Tau (for which I will send another bulletin).
Cheers, Mike
The traffic is intense, mostly light motorbikes and scooters. Nothing stops except at the rare traffic lights, it simply slows and merges with other traffic that flows on and on. Even pedestrians move through the stream, technically on marked crossings, but still nothings stops completely.
Today, Wednesday 20 April, we had our city tour starting with a sobering two hours at the War Relics Museum. Cheery at first, we gradually became more thoughtful as we moved through the exhibits. Of course, it was presented as seen through Vietnamese eyes and may be thought to be slanted because of that. But I thought it covered the facts quite well, if somewhat deficient on any bad stuff the VC might have done and heavy on US atrocities. The rest of our day tour was interesting but unremarkable. Thursday we go to the tunnels at Cu Chi, Friday on to Vung Tau (for which I will send another bulletin).
Cheers, Mike
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