2016 - Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City by Bicycle: Day 23: Thu 08 Dec

26 degC, 97% humidity

Walk: 23km; total: 83km

After breakfast we met in the lobby at 8:30am and first-up visited the place where the monk, Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire and burned himself to death (self-immolation) at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963. He was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government.

Next stop was Notre Dame and the Central Post Office which is still a functional PO. Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon is located in the downtown of Ho Chi Minh City, and was established by French colonists. The cathedral was constructed between 1863 and 1880 and has two bell towers, reaching a height of 58 meters (190 feet). The CPO was constructed when Vietnam was part of French Indochina in the early 20th Century. It has a gothic architectural style and was designed and constructed by the famous architect Gustave Eiffel.

We had coffee at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Cafe, opposite the Notre Dame before heading for the Independence/Reunification Palace which, when we got there, was closed until 1pm. So, we decided to try the War Remnants Museum which was also closed so went back to hotel for a rest. Neither of us felt like having lunch as we both had rather large breakfasts and a muffin at mornos. After a rest we began our walking again.

First up was the Palace where we spent a good two hours wandering through - there are a few floors and a large number of rooms. This was where the North Vietnamese Army tank famously (or infamously) mowed down the locked gates to enter at the end of the Vietnam war in Nov 75. We believe the original gates still stand today with a few weld spots where they were straightened out.

The Museum was next and it was a pretty gruesome and somewhat propaganda’ish account. Someone in our group summed it up pretty well - "same stuff, different people, different place" referring to the atrocities we saw in Cambodia recently, and the rest of the turmoil in the current world. The museum comprises a series of themed rooms in several buildings, with period military equipment placed within a walled yard. The military equipment includes a UH-1 "Huey" helicopter, an F-5A fighter, a BLU-82 "Daisy Cutter" bomber, M48 Patton tank, an A-1 Skyraider attack bomber, and an A-37 Dragonfly attack bomber. There are a number of pieces of unexploded ordnance stored in the corner of the yard, with their charges and/or fuses removed. Internal exhibits include graphic photography, accompanied by short text in English, Vietnamese and Japanese, covering the effects of Agent Orange and other chemical defoliant sprays, the use of napalm and phosphorus bombs, and war atrocities such as the My Lai massacre. There were some very interesting quotes as well, with this one standing out, “Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why.” from Robert S. McNamara, former US Defense Secretary. One has to wonder whether any lessons have indeed been learned – Iraq, Afghanistan, etc??

We then walked back to the hotel the long way around, via the river, because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Mixed with the afternoon peak-hour traffic it made for some very interesting road crossings indeed and got quite smoggy. After stopping at the 7-11 type shop on the way back to the hotel for cheaper beers, we only got back just before 6pm. A very long day indeed. Maps say we walked about 28km all up but it made a few errors when we entered buildings and could not access satellites.

After a couple of beers each in our lounge area, it was off to dinner - Barbeque Garden where you cook your own food on a gas fired BBQ in the middle of the table. Wasn't too bad but every time we turned the heat up, the staff would come and turn it down so much they turned it off. They eventually left us to our own devices and we got our skewers cooked in a timely fashion. Greg decided he needed an ice cream so we went via the 7-11 shop on our way home.