Page 36 - Seniorstoday November 2023 Issue

min-city earlier known as SIAGON and HO CHI MINH or SIAGON CITY is a
many people still like to call it that. A lot vibrant, buzzing, one time capital city
of time went in transit before and after where modern skyscrapers and incense
the flight and not much time was left to infused Pagoda temples coexist peacefully.
do anything more. Late evening we could There are many classical style landmarks
catch the extraordinary, richly curated such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, The
AO SHOW at the Opera House. The Opera House and the Ornate City Hall as
show depicts the charming beauty and well as the art-deco Post Office.
cultural richness of Vietnamese life in the The Post Office is unique. We visited the
countryside. The show is a unique mix 110 year old post office. It’s one of the most
of Bamboo Circus, acrobatic acts, dances interesting places. Not only is it housed in
and the theatrical visual arts. Brilliantly a heritage building it has a colonial look
performed by a world famous group. Sorry and feel, with the vibrancy of modern time
no photography was allowed. The Opera both together. The open courtyard invites
House building has its own old world everyone to pose for photographs with the
charm and added to the beauty of the show imposing building seen in the background.
with its beautiful ambience. Again due to Once you get in through the grand arched
too many things to see, and time was short, entrance you find a colourful market in
so we had to choose and missed seeing the front and on both the side passages,
the water puppet show which is also very
popular it seems.
HO CHI MINH CITY is famous for the
CHU CHI tunnels. This is also a historical
site where the locals hid and lived in
underground tunnels during the war.
Very informative trip, but depressing I
thought. Especially to know how and why
these tunnels were constructed and how
the Vietnamese survived in the harsh war
time conditions for long periods. These
hand-dug tunnels were used by soldiers
for hiding, communication and supply
routes. The tunnels changed the course of
the Vietnam War. The well camouflaged
entrance holes lead into a network of
incredibly narrow tunnels that stretch for
over 200 km connecting command posts,
hospitals and shelters. The tunnels helped
the Viet Cong soldiers to launch surprise
attacks at their foes. Made and used since
1946 during the French-Indo- China war,
they are narrow and deep, best avoided by
people who have claustrophobia.

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