Oh Saigon!!!

"It's called Ho Chi Minh city, but still considered Saigon by all of the Vietnamese".  This is the first statement spoken by our couchsurfing host, Phuong, that made Marjie and I think there was so much meaning beyond those words.  And we were right.  The history, pain, joy, beauty and smiles of this city speaks volumes and it's something you can just feel.  We arrived in Saigon, exhausted after 2 full days of bus rides and airplanes, and I knew automatically we were in for a treat with this one.

Marj and I really wanted to couchsurf in Vietnam, largely because of the history and we were determined to get in with some of the locals.  It's hard enough to learn about the complexities of Vietnam and the war so we knew staying with a couchsurfing host would be a strong and unique way to learn about the city/country.  We really lucked out with our host in Saigon as he lived through much of Vietnam's changes, and we earned each others trust in such a way that he shared so much of it with us.  We feel honored and privileged to know him and to be privy to the information he shared.  To respect his privacy, I'll only share his general story, as I tell about our time here.

After a long journey to get to Saigon, we decided to sleep in and then just walk around and see where it led us.  Hanging with Phuong for breakfast was a treat....We learned he is adorable, very smart, curious, open-minded, loves music/reading and has a lot to say....we were loving him!  He gave us the scoop on the local buses and we headed out for Benh Tanh Market.  We were told only to eat there, not to buy souvenirs as its all overpriced.  All I care about is food anyway so that was like music to my ears.  I met a young girl on the bus who told me she could tell we were nice because we smiled a lot....I guess our excitement of day one was obvious.  She said she really wanted to learn English so she could travel - so we practiced on the bus ride a bit.  I had been told by many people, both Vietnamese and travelers, that the Vietnamese were hard people and not as warm as other SE



Asians.  Granted it had only been 24 hours, but we were pleasantly surprised to have come across so
many nice and helpful people so far.

Marj is from Louisiana, but her soul city (as she calls it) is NY and she lived in the city for many years, as have I.  I say this to express how we are both used to pretty large cities with lots of cars, people, traffic, yada yada.  Yet, I looked at the street I had to cross to get to the market from the bus stop and became slightly nervous.  I don't think I've ever seen so many motorbikes in one place together, all going around in a circle of the market monument.  It's hard to express how overwhelming walking into yhe middle of all of that would be.  Yet, Marj and I enthusiastically held hands and went for it (Luckily Phuong warned us about this and gave us some tips) and we survived!  We jumped onto the sidewalk after 2 life threatening street crossings and high-fived each other.  Once in the market, we hit up some fresh vegetarian spring rolls and a vietnamese pancake (pancake filled with veggies and meat if you're not a veggie, fried =yum).  After meat infest Philippino food, it was so nice to be able to eat something purely vegetarian. Satisfied with my first snack, we carried on with our leisurely stroll in this lovely city and stumbled upon beautiful grounds/building which happened to be the Reunification Palace, one of the historical sites we had wanted to visit.

The Palace offered free tours so we got some good info.  Basically, the palace has been built, re-built and "owned" by the various different countries who have held stake in southern Vietnam at any given period during its tumultuous history.  After French rule ended in 1954, southern Vietnam's first president lived at the palace and it served as a site for many governmental meetings and hosting of international guests.  It is one of the most significant sites of the Vietnam War as it was bombed on Vietnam's Liberation Day on April 30, 1975 which marked the end of the war and the reunification of north and southern Vietnam, hence it's name.  This would be the first of many tastes of the war.

After an afternoon heavy on the emotions, Phuong gives us a ring to meet up.  He takes us to few more well known sites: Notre Dame Cathedral, Post Office, Opera House and City Hall with a





famous statue of Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Minh is known as Uncle Ho.....Marj and I think this is absolutely hysterical because of its ridiculousness).  Most of these sites were new to Phuong too!  Afterwards, he took us to this little vegetarian joint that sold cheap delish food down a little side street off the beaten path.....it was exactly what I told him I was looking for and it didn't disappoint.  More variations of fresh spring rolls, a noodle dish chock full of veggies and sauces and washed down with a passion fruit shake.  Three people waddled out of the place with full bellies for the price of 6 bucks....the local food is so cheap!!

It was at this dinner that Phuong began to share details of his family history.  His father worked for the Saigon government during the war (meaning, his family were not communist supporters and fought on the southern vietnam/american side during the war).  In 1975 northern vietnam won and reunified the country, turning lives and families upside down.  Not that the war itself didn't do that in and of itself, and many Vietnamese wanted to reunify, but now people who were just in civil war were now ruled under a unified communist government.  Anybody who sided with the southern Vietnamese that was not  snuck into the safety of American borders by the American government, was sent to "Re-education Camps", basically a nice term for prison, to be reeducated on a unified communist Vietnam.  Phuong was 8 years old, the eldest of 5 siblings with a 25 year old mother now responsible to find a way to feed her family.  They were poor and didn't have enough to eat, as most families lived during this time (again, not like things were much better for most during the war, but things got worse afterwards) largely because after the war ended, Vietnam closed off its borders to everything until 1991-ish.  Phuong would walk 10km every day to deliver rice to his dad through the gates (the camp only provided one meal a day and so the family was responsible to provide more if they wanted to, even though there was next to nothing to give) and take care of his siblings while his mom tried to sell things at the market.  Eventually his dad was released yet the government continued to make life difficult for these families regarding getting an education, finding work, etc. Basically, anybody from a family with a French or American history (as in support) is discriminated against via unfair disadvantages regarding jobs and education.  The government made it nearly impossible to do either.  Although this problem, corruption, unfairness, bullshit as I like to call it, still exists it has improved since 1991 when Vietnam re-opened its borders.  Phuong had written a short story bout his experience and let us red it....it was super powerful. It was an emotional dinner yet we were so grateful for it.