Saigon and Hoi An

Cao Dai Temple

High School graduation

         After 26 hours, 3 plane changes and 12 time zones,  we arrived in Saigon.   Immigration is an interesting experience.  We applied for our visas before we left, we completed the applications and sent photos, and received a visa, or so we thought.   But we had to submit our visa with more photos at the airport.  Fortunately we had  a guide to lead us through and fast track the process for us,  we thought we already had our visas,  I don't want to think what would have happened if we had tried to go through immigration with our "pre-visas".  There were officers everywhere in their green uniforms, with a red star, reminding us that Vietnam is a communist country.
Saigon is a very frenetic city, fast paced and noisy.  Scooters buzzing around everywhere and traveling in swarms.   They reminded us of hornets after their nest had been hit.  They carry everything and anything on the scooters, mirrors, building materials, balloons, food stalls, you name it, it has probably been loaded on a scooter in Vietnam.  We saw a family of 5 on one, two of the kids were sandwiched between their parents and the other was between dad and the handlebars.  Most Vietnamese travel by scooter as cars are very expensive and taxed heavily, 150%, plus there is no place to park a car.  Scooters park on the sidewalks, so pedestrians have to walk on the road. Traffic flows, but it is chaotic, worse than Lima.  Traffic lights are just a suggestion, if there is a space, someone will fill it.  I am surprised there are not many traffic accidents.  Most scooter fatalities are due to drinking and driving.
Saigon has undergone huge growth in the last 15 years, before that there were no tall buildings (more than 5 or 6 stories).  Now there are many skyscrapers and 10 million people (all with scooters!).
We had a tour of Saigon and saw the War Remnants Museum which again reminded us that we are in a communist country as it was very much anit-American, making them out to be the evil aggressors who killed only innocent women and children.  Despite the obvious bias, it was a very moving and disturbing display of pictures of the war, it really made you aware of the horrors that the Vietnamese people and the American soldiers endured.  We also saw the famous gates of the Presidential Palace (now called the Reunification Hall) that the tanks crashed through at the end of the war.  We visited the rooftop bar of the Rex Hotel where the "Five O'Clock Follies" occurred.  It was very interesting to see places that we heard about during the war.
The next day we had coffee at the restaurant owned by Kim Phuc's (the little girl who was burned running down the road, which was on the cover on Life) family and then visited the Cu Chi tunnels.  We met a Viet Cong war veteran who told us about life in the tunnels.  He lived in the tunnels for 12 years with his family, 2 of his children were born in the tunnels.  They had kitchens, sleeping quarters, uniform and weapon making facilities and hospitals in the tunnels.  We got to travel through a few of them, one 100m long, they are small, Dan had to crawl on his hands and knees, even I had to at one point.
We also visited a Cao Dai complex where they worship Jesus, Buddha and Confucius.    It is several square kilometers with its own facilities.  It is like the Vatican as they do not pay taxes.  They even had their own army before 1975.
 Our experience in Narita Airport:
We left a camera on the plane in Tokyo, so Dan asked a policeman for help.  He escorted Dan to the  head of the line at the airline desk where they immediately had the camera returned.  While I was waiting for him, another officer, brought me a chair so I could sit while I waited.  What a pleasant and unexpected airport experience, take note Toronto Pearson.

Scooters in Saigon

Surgery in the Cu Chi Tunnels

House decorated for the New Year in Hoi An

Post Office in Saigon

Working in Okra fields

Cao Dai ceremony