A Few Days in Saigon

Spent a few days in Saigon for a network conference. The weather was generally good, pretty warm (mid-80s F) and very humid. It rained at least once every day of my trip which helped clear pollution out of the air and generally make things more comfortable. Smaller things are easy and inexpensive. A Mobfone SIM card bought off the street for 70,000 dong ($3.50) offered unlimited 3G coverage that was better than AT&T in San Francisco and $0.15 text messages to US and global numbers. Calling Vietnam toll-free numbers was also completely free with the card. 50,000 dong topup cards are widely available.

There are a real lack of interesting tourist activities in Saigon. A few churches are preserved, the Hotel Des Postes had many tourists but is still essentially a functioning post office with a giant (50m?) communications tower sticking out of it. The Ben Trang Market was a real waste of time, as was wandering around the backpacker district (Pham Ngu Lao).

The tunnel complex at Cu Chi is a somewhat bizarre tourist trap celebrating the efforts of the locals to resit the French then Americans with a series of tunnels dug up to 30 meters into the ground. They used these to funnel supplies from the southern end of the Ho Chi Minh Trail into Saigon. The Americans relentlessly bombed this area from 1966 until the early 1970's. The location is about 70 km from central Saigon and took around 50 min in a minibus. The tour starts with a video celebrating two locals who were "excellent killer of American". There was an advance warning from our guide that the movie was very communistic and we could leave if it was too intense, but more than anything I found it sad that given a chance to show an informational, potentially hard-hitting review of the needs behind the tunnel complex, they have gone with a 1967-era video with poorly-staged footage. I think a real loss of opportunity given what may be the level of understanding other tourists at the site may have. After the video the walking tour moves to tunnel entrances, traps for the enemy soldiers (read: Americans), a walk through an example tunnel "expanded for tourists", and to the shooting range. Yup. You can shoot an AK, an M-16, or several other automatic rifles for about $5 per round with a 10 round minimium.

Not many rickshaws around, but their drivers are pretty aggressive in wanting you to give them a dollar for a ride somewhere. What you have plenty of are motorbikes. All day and all night with incessant honking. Crossing the street, particularly a main street or around a plaza, simply requires a step of faith into traffic such that that the mass of bikes, cars, and buses will avoid you. The bikes are pretty good at doing so, car less, and buses don't seem to stop for much at all. The walkability of Saigon is pretty low, at least without considerable stress and concern for safety. The cabs from the couple reputable companies (Mai Linh, Vinasun) are very inexpensive ($2 for a 10 min ride) and generally available.

The Park Hyatt Saigon is everything that a hotel should be. Great service, excellent rooms, beds, restaurants, bars, and a decent location. You do pay western prices with local beer at $6.70, breakfast at $25 (although fantastic and obviating the need for lunch) and rooms approaching $350 with vat and service. Happy to have had a conference rate for most of my stay.