Saigon

There are so many strange and unusual aspects to Saigon that life there took on a surreal quality at times: there was a near complete absence of cars; school girls in white ao dai cycling serenely along amidst the cacophony of sound from thousands of motor cycles, carrying anything from live ducks hanging from the handlebars to a father and six (yes, six!) children, even two of the largest German Shepherds ever, one being carried by the passenger and the other standing with front paws on the handlebars; the Apocalypse Now! bar has choppers painted on the ceiling complete with fans as rotor blades and the most famous phrase from Francis Ford Coppola’s film ‘Charley don’t surf!‘ on the wall.

Whilst the oppression and lack of freedom of speech did not surprise us having been in Russia, it is still a disturbing experience to meet and get to know people who were on the losing side and have suffered ever since the fall of Saigon in April 1975. I believe it is justification for those who tried to keep communism at bay, although some of the methods used were clearly mistaken. Our head security guard at our compound was a fighter pilot for the South and had trained in the US; since 1975 and after eighteen months in a re-education camp where he lost all his teeth, this intelligent and friendly man has been unable to have an official job. There are many more like him living on the streets as cyclo drivers; such a human wasteland...

Favourite Haunts

The Temple Club

Duong Truong Dinh

Stylish restaurant, bar and club lounge

Saigon Central Mosque

Excellent lunch-time curry beneath Saigon’s mosque

No 5 Bar

5 Duong Ly Tu Trong