Previously known as Saigon, as well as the ex-capital of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) seems to stand nowadays as a modern metropolis. The streets are lined with both plain Asian-city style buildings, and a fair share of beautiful French colonial arquitecture, and some impressive skyscrapers. Large avenues, exploding with motorcycles, rickshaws, and cars that you can almost not see a spot of tarmac. Comparing it to Ha Noi, in HCMC the roads are so much bigger and consequently the the quantity of vehicles is significantly higher. Therfore if crossing the road at the capital was challenging, in HCMC it was closer to a mission, life or death truly at stake.

HCMC surprised us in many ways beginning with its gastronomy, which speaks strongly, from delicious “pho” or noodle soup that can be enjoyed in the local market, to exquisite Indian and Japanese cuisine. In addition the modern look of the city was something that we were not expecting at all, and sometimes it even made us forget that we were in Vietnam. In particular, the area of the Opera House and the Notre Dame Cathedral (same same, but different to the one in Paris!) had a very elegant and wealthy look, dressed with French arquitecture and impeccably clean streets. 23/9 Park was a wonderful green oasis in the middle of downtown. This park had a life of its own, with an abundant amount of ongoing exercise and sports, including energetic aerobics classes moving to heavy electronic house music, senior’s ballroom dancing, bachata classes, competitive groups of locals playing badminton and kickball, and groups of feng-shui practicers.

One afternoon when strolling through the park, we were stopped by an ambitious group of young university students who were looking to practice their English. This group gathers 2 times a week in the park and kindly asks foreigners to speak with them. After a 1-hour chat we were given hand-made bracelets to thank us, which was very sweet of them. We were truly impressed by their eagerness to learn and sincere kindness.

Unfortunately, HCMC is not all about beauty and happiness. Visiting the War Remnants Museum and the Cu Chi Tunnels introduced us to the sad history Vietnam passed through not too long ago. In total the Vietnam War caused around 4 million casualties, not to mention the immense damage caused by the horrifying chemicals spilled by the USA airforce (Agent Orange) causing disabilities not only to the Vietnamese but also to some of the USA ground forces, and als passed through to their children and successive generations leaving people in deeply saddening conditions.

Our excellent tour guide at the Cu Chi Tunnels, Jackie, was a veteran of the anti-communist Vietnamese army, also having trained 1 year in Chicago. He fought against the communists Viet Minh and Viet Cong. Jackie explained to us in detail the hardship and sorrow that him and the Vietnamese people went through, and we were truly impressed by his fantastic oratory skills as well as saddened by his stories. He pointed out that the new generations are eager to forget what happened in the war and they just want to move on with their lives in a modern society. He recalled that “We’ve been in war for over 100 years -Chinese Invasion, French Colonialism, the Japanese Invasion during World War II, again the French Colonialism, the Vietnam War, and finally the war with Cambodja against the Khmer Rouge-, people no longer want to know anything about war”.

The Cu Chi Tunnels were underground tunnels built by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War, reaching 200 km in length and up to 10 meters in depth. Here the Viet Cong hid during 17 years as Cu Chi City was a free-bombing zone where the Americans were allowed to drop as many bombs as desired, especially the ones they had to get rid of in order to land in safe conditions. After walking through these tiny tunnels (and to think they made the tunnels larger for tourists to experience better), we cannot imagine how people spent almost two decades living in such a small, lightless, and claustrophobic space. To finish the tour, and do a truly touristy and macho thing, Josep shot a few rounds with an M16 while Martina made sure to document it.

After a few days in the big city, we decided to head off and relax in the tropical Phu Quoc Island, making it our last stop in Vietnam. We were just a day away from meeting who we now refer to as our Vietnamese Mother…