I fibbed again for another cheesy title. Saigon isn’t gone. The airport still bears the identifier ‘SGN’. It was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976 to celebrate the formal unification of North and South Vietnam.
Uncle Ho, as he is affectionately known, is a bit of a legend around here – his picture has appeared a couple of times in previous blog posts. He is considered the founding father of Vietnam and oh boy, did Uncle Ho have a vision and some serious determination.
After spending 30yrs working and studying in the UK, France, USA, USSR and China, Ho Chi returned to Vietnam and had a vision – an independent Vietnam with some Western ideological values blended with communism.
When Ho Chi declared independence in 1945, he opened with the same words used in the American Declaration of Independence. Probably seemed like a smart way to bring the yanks onside, but it didn’t work. Something to do with that big political ideology C word I think.
Uncle Ho and the North Vietnamese then spent decades at war with the South Vietnamese, the French and the Americans until his dream was achieved. That is a lightly armed resistance force fighting military superpowers. Told you he was determined.
Here is his face looking down over the formerly French post office:
We also met with Emma’s childhood friend Virva for some dinner, drinks and a small tour of District 1. The heat, humidity and road chaos took another step up in HCMC. We felt a bit like overwhelmed sweaty lambs in the small amount of time that we had here. Thanks for looking after us Virva!
The War Remnants Museum is a rough one. I’ve visited Dachau and Auschwitz Concentration Camps in the past, but this is a lot more graphic with plenty of gnarly content to read. It’s a brilliant museum, but you’re gonna need a herbal tea and a couple of biscuits afterwards.
Tons of military hardware around the museum:
And that’s pretty much it! We are now home, jet lagged and ready for the cool UK weather.
I’ll post some closing thoughts in a final blog post coming soon!