Yes! This is
how I describe Ho Chi Minh City.
Ho Chi Minh was known as Saigon during the war and it was renamed Ho Chi
Minh after Vietnam earned its liberty.
Anyway...
HCM as the city of history because....
The American
aggression that happened about 30 years ago had left the city many histories --
neither good nor bad, both are memorable story to share with the world. The incredible Cu Chi Tunnel is one of
the most historical places I visited. How can it not be historical? Cu Chi village had a great interest to the world, the
American tried to take over the land.
Compared to the American troops that owned sophisticated weapons,
Vietnamese simple equipments such as bamboo, axes, and some simple guns. Luckily, they came up with an
incredible strategy by building a tunnel.
It's a place where Viet Cong (also known as National Liberation Front
(NLF), was a political organization and army in South Vietnam and Cambodia that
fought the United States and South Vietnamese governments during the Vietnam
War) and Cu Chi villager hid themselves from the American troops. It is originally built to protect the Vietnamese from French air strikes in
the lat 1940's to 1950's, and it is re-used during the 60's as a staging ground
for attacks on American troops. The height of the
tunnel is about 100cm, and most of them survived there. Can you imagine that? When I was there trying to crawl inside
the tunnel, I was hardly move my legs, I just couldn’t imagine how they
possibly lived inside the tunnel where it was dark and of course during the war
it probably creepier. But the Viet
Cong knew their tunnel very well. The
entrances were tiny and made for a slight frame, for a large U.S. soldier,
fitting in would be almost impossible without blasting it. Building that tunnel is a smart strategy to escape
from the troops, and the great thing was the American troops could not get into
the tunnel since they had big body that couldn’t fit into the tunnel. Viet Cong also built some workshops
places around the Cu Chi tunnels, so they could build the equipments to put
into the traps. When I arrived at
Cu Chi tunnel for a tour, I could see the marks from Vietnam War were still there.
HCM as the
city of motorcycle….
Well, before I went to HCM I thought that
Jakarta was the biggest city with 17 million populations and with 5 million of
motorcycle users and that number keeps on increasing every year. That is just tons! Nothing can compete with that. Surprisingly, when I got to HCM city
with 5,5 million populations with 1 millions motorcycle users. That is so many, not to mention its city that smaller than
Jakarta. Along the street, all I
could see was motorcycles on the street.
The amazing thing was, they could do almost everything on their
motorcycle; talking on the phone, text messaging, talking to other motorcycle’s
riders as if they were at the back of their back yard, reading newspaper,
bringing pig. They couldn’t even
think about the dangerous thing that might’ve occurred since they only had a
regular helmet, a helmet that almost looked like a hat. Crossing the road was a big challenge
for me there, well.. probably for many tourists there. The traffic lights are similar to other
streetlights -- they’re useless!
On the other hand, I totally understand why people choose motorcycle as
a personal transportation, especially in a big crowded city like Jakarta or Ho
Chi Minh. Well, it’s simply easy
to get everywhere without having to worry about traffic and it’s affordable
too! In a tourist city like Bali
and Ho Chi Minh, we can even rent the motorcycles with cheap price. That way, travelling around the city
becomes easier :)
HCM as the city of Pho’….
This is the part that I
love to write about. Food! Yeah, when I go travelling anywhere,
besides enjoying the sightseeing, it’s a must for me to try the local food
because it’s part of the journey and that what makes the adventure memorable. The most popular Vietnamese cuisine is
Pho’. Pho is commonly eaten for
breakfast, but a lot of people also eat it for lunch or dinner. While I was there for five days, Pho’
was the only food I ate – nights and days. It’s not because I didn’t like other food, it’s because Pho’
tasted sooo good there! When it’s
served it brings out its indispensable taste. This happened to me while I was eating it here in
Jakarta. As I was eating it, the
memory of Vietnam came back to me.
The noodle is made of variety fragrant rice called Gao Te. The broth is
made of stewing the bones of cow and pig in a large pot for hours. Pho’ is served with many different dry
vegetables and chili on the side of the bowl. It’s optional, whether you want to have them or not. Pho also has the added
advantage of being convenient to prepare and healthy to eat. There are many restaurants that serve Pho’; there’s Pho’ 2000 – where
it’s visited by one of the Presidents of USA, Bill Clinton. There’s also Pho’ 24, one of the most
popular restaurants in Ho Chi Minh, and many more. Since it is only Pho’, most people would think that its
taste would be similar from one restaurant to another. I had tried Pho’ from both restaurants,
the taste was quite different. It
even tasted different from the small restaurant around the corner of Pang Ngu
Lou area – it’s called QUYNH. It
was a small place located on one of the traffic light intersections on Pang Ngu
Lou Street, District One, Ho Chi Minh City. Simple restaurant but it had the most delicious Pho’ I’ve
ever eaten – the most indispensable taste of Pho’ that I’ve ever eaten. It served tasty Ice Milk Tea which I
thought no other restaurant served Ice Milk Tea as delightful as the one at
QUYNH. I had tried Ice Milk Tea
from other restaurant but the taste was different. So, for you who happen to visit Ho Chi Minh in a near
future, you should go to QUYNH first, then you’ll try other restaurant. Just for a second opinion :)
