Woolly says – With the sun bright and the humidity at an all time high, rather than walk we took the cheats option and grabbed a cab, the air con was a blessed relief and as we headed through the busy city streets of Ho Chi Minh it gave us an opportunity to take in more of the city. The scooters and motorcyclists made me chuckle with there range of helmets with sun hats, caps and towels underneath them as they carry the whole family plus the kitchen sink. Our last day had arrived and I wanted to see if I could learn more about Uncle Ho, it seemed sensible to check out the museum dedicated to him (each city in Vietnam has one), with the hope that leagues of school children would allow me to actually look round this time. The dusky pink building stood in a lovely garden surround with a view across the river, as we looked around for a ticket counter a young man pointed us to the front door and waved us in, a freebie!
All of the museums we have been to have either been ridiculously cheap or cost us nothing, well done Vietnam.
Woolly says – The rooms were filled with photographs of the great man and gave us information about his early life. Ho Chi Minh was born and given the name of Nguyễn Sinh Cung on 7th August 1908, although this is his generally accepted birth year, at various times he used five different birth years; 1890, 1891, 1892, 1894 and 1895. He was one of four children, his father was a Confucian scholar and teacher, and due to his refusal to fight for the French, young Ho was exposed to the ideas of rebellion at a young age. Having left school to travel he took a variety of jobs that took him to France, America, the UK (were he worked as a dishwasher in Crouch End) before heading to Moscow in 1923 where he studied communism. As we finished the ground floor and headed upwards a large tour group arrived, I raced upwards with the hope of getting a chance to see everything before they took over.
The first floor told us about the independence movement from 1941 and the war that had spit the country, hundreds of photographs show Ho Chi Minh meeting troops, cuddling children and working in the fields to support his people.
Woolly says – He seemed to have a tinkle in his eye and looked how an Uncle should look. Having managed to look around thoroughly I heard the heavy steps of the forty strong guided tour and took to the wraparound veranda which showed pictures of every temple in Vietnam which is dedicated to him, there were hundreds, maybe my fans can dedicate temples to me in the future, something to discuss with Jo! Behind the museum was what looked like a huge Junk boat and having peered at the access routes from above I thought I had found a way to go and take a closer look. Zoe didn’t look impressed with my idea of walking but having convinced Jo to buy us drinks and have a short rest they followed behind me most obediently. The Junk was called Elsie and was actually a very posh hotel bobbing happily on the Saigon River, a bit pricey for our pocket. A quick look at the map and we set off through the streets towards the market.
It took a while to walk the couple of kilometres due to rest stops, the weather conditions were sapping our energy levels and my small friend never minds a snack stop!
Woolly says – Ben Thanh Market is one of the earliest surviving structures in Saigon. The clock tower stood out from the more modern structures surrounding it but gave little away to what was beneath it. The market developed from informal markets created by early 17th century street vendors gathering together near the river, it was formally established by the French colonial powers after taking over the Gia Định citadel in 1859. Inside was cool and bussing with noise and colours, we ambled along aisle after aisle resisting the stall holder’s shouts to buy from them, material, jewellery, clothes and food items were everywhere, the smell of the Dorian fruit drifted past my trunk at regular points. A little touristy maybe but it proved to be most enjoyable for a shopping trip, one belt for Zoe and a couple of pieces of fruit and we felt we had contributed to the markets economy for the day. Outside the intensity of the heat took over once again and having walked towards our accommodation we found a comfy restaurant table with a fan that blew directly onto me and sat watching the world go by. Jo was gazing into the distance and I knew she was mentally checking the details for our onward travel tomorrow, another country to conquer, I wonder if a mammoth has been to Cambodia before?!