This is Ho Chi Minh City after midnight on New Year's eve. Motorcycles are a common sight in Vietnam, especially HCMC. We were told that the population of HCMC is 9 million and the motorcycle population is 7 million. This means that every other baby has a motorcycle too. As a joke, our guide told us that a girl will only go out with a guy if he has more than one motorcycles. If you google "how many motorcycles in HCMC, you will be amused to find blogs such this. The next question you should ask is, how to cross the road. Well, like a friend said after he visited, never wait for the traffic to stop but weave between the bikes. Afterall the motorcyclists are not going at high speed. One of our tour guides told us - unfortunately we only met him on our last day - when you cross the street, always move forward and never backwards because there will be traffic behind you and they expect you to move forward.

Ho Chi Minh City was formerly named as Saigon under the French colony and independent republic from 1955 - 75. It is the largest city in Vietnam. Lonely Planet describes it as a City of Energy which is very true as it is constantly "on the move".

According to wikipedia, HCMC started as a fishing village occupied by Khmers then given to Vietnam as a marriage dowry and "developed" by Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh in 1698. It was under French colony until 1945 when it gained independence. The Vietnam War, known also as the Second Indochina war, the Resistance War Against America or simply the American War, spanned over 20 years from 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975. The US was backing the French in its control over Vietnam. In the War Remains Museum, you can see photos of the war and the atrocities committed during that time. Orange Agent maimed many (unborn) babies, some with 3 legs, 2 elbows on each arm, blind, deformed. If you speak to the American allies e.g. an Australian friend whose uncle fought in the Vietnam war, he said Orange Agent was used to clear the forest so that they can see and differentiate the civilians from the communist Viet Cong. The Viet Cong were no angels actually. The weapons they used were made to kill not just to maim.

Despite their past, many Vietnamese are very resilient and they do not bear a grudge. Afterall, like our tour guide jovial Huy said, grudge just locks you behind in the past and stops you from moving forward (in life). The country is very modern and clean. We were really amazed by the efforts they put in. And the food was great although at the end we were just trying one Vietnamese spring roll to another - fried, non-fried - and a Phở to another - spicy, not spicy - and nothing beats the Phở 2000 which even Bill Clinton visited.