At last, some education

Today was my third attempt to do some museum-visiting in the city. I got the 11.30 bus into town and went for lunch at a chain cafe called Pho24, which is just at my bus stop. Pho is the national dish of Vietnam, a noodle soup, usually with either chicken or beef, which is served in a huge portion with beansprouts, chillies, lime and fresh herbs on the side for flavouring. I was keen to have an enjoyable lunch after yesterday's disappointment, but I didn't think much of the pho. I had tried this dish once already and didn't like it much, but I hoped that at this chain, which Annie and Jessica had both recommended to me, I would find it to be better. But still, for me, it was unexciting, the only distinctive flavour being the chicken, which was tough and gristly, Chinese-style. As someone who is not that keen on meat anyway, this didn't appeal to me much. Nevertheless I was filled up by the half-bowl I finished; I think pho can always be relied upon if you need a hot, filling meal on the cheap.

It was a pleasantly warm day as I left and walked to the museum, as it hasn't rained as much today and yesterday as it did last week. The Museum of Ho Chi Minh City is situated a short walk from Dong Khoi, on Duong Le Ty Trong. When I arrived I was displeased to see two couples posing for wedding photos at the entrance, a sight I have not been able to escape so far around the city and has become an irrational source of annoyance for me. I later learned that this building is considered one of the most popular sights for wedding photographs in Saigon owing to the neoclassical style of the building, which is painted baby-blue, as well as the attractive old staircase within.

The first room I entered was based on commerce and trade in the city. Saigon is built around a port, which led to its development as a manufacturing and trade centre. Exhibits within the room included photographs showing the development of the port, displays of lights, ropes and other equipment from boats, and scales and containers used to measure rice. Across the entrance hall was a room devoted to industry and handicraft in the southern regions of Vietnam, which explained that mechanisation in Saigon was pushed forward in the French colonial period, with modern technologies being introduced to factories and workshops between 1954 and 1975. The sign by the entrance to this room explained that although the economic role of cottage industries found in small villages had now diminished, there was still significant cultural value attached to such handicrafts. To demonstrate, the first exhibit showed pottery, which has been present in Southern Vietnam since the stone age in the production of bowls and plates, vases and statues, and continues to thrive in district nine of the city, as well as the Cu Chi area I visited last week. Next was jewellery making, present from the second century but which grew rapidly during the 18th century when the process of clearing waste from the city led to growth in manufacturing, and is today focused in districts five and six. Wood engraving was introduced to Saigon in the 17th century by Viet and Hao immigrants and today Vietnamese wood engravings are exported to several countries world-wide. Shoe-making, textiles and bronze casting were also represented in this room, before a central exhibit of photographs and machinery relevant to the modern industries that dominate today, such as telecommunications, electronics, biotechnologies and information technology.

Saigon riverside- 2005, 1955

Another room downstairs is focused on the administrative process of establishing the city of Saigon, which was of course to become Ho Chi Minh City in July 1976, the year following the communist capture of the city. I learned that Saigon became an administrative centre in 1698, and that the present-day city is divided into 24 districts. A chart of 2006 figures showed that the average population density in the urban districts was 10,905 people per square kilometre. The lowest population density for urban areas is in district two, the richest area of the city (ex-patriots with compounds and drivers, and home of the president of Nike SE Asia, I'm told), and highest in district four, the small industrial suburb near the port that I pass through every day on the bus. Unsurprisingly, Jessica's affluent district where I now live (seven) had a relatively low population density. There were also some interesting photographs in this room comparing the palace, riverside and city centre in 1955 with 2005.

Khmer theatre masks

A small room is devoted to the nature and archaeology of the site of the city. From this I gathered that the natural site of Ho Chi Minh City is a staggering 2,095 square kilometres, built on a salt-marsh forest ecosystem. In this room were examples of wood and rock types native to the area, and photographs of archaeological digs, along with some of the finds, which were mostly ancient tools and jewellery. The final two rooms on this floor make up a cultural section, seen from a traditional perspective. A sign explained how Southern folk beliefs were formed from the superstitions of the ancient rice farming culture, and have been shaped and influenced by a multi-ethnic immigrant population. Inside the first room you can see wedding photographs and certificates, an explanation of traditional rites of a wedding ceremony, and wedding costumes from the late 19th century for the Viet, Hoa, Cham (Islamic) and Khmer groups, all of which were very colourful although they varied in levels of elaboration. The second room had exhibits from traditional music and theatre.

The second floor was more interesting, in my view, devoted to nationalist and communist political struggles from the French and American periods. 'Anti-French resistance 1930-54' features biographies of key members of the Communist Party of Vietnam, established in 1930, and a recreation of Ho Chi Minh's Declaration of Independence speech in Ba Dinh square, Hanoi, in 1945. Next door was 'Revolutionary Struggle 1954-75', with images of Buddhist anti-Diem campaigns including the famous sight of monk Thich Quong Duc's self-immolation, and others of global demonstrations against US presence in Vietnam. You can also see weaponry and soldiers' equipment on display and a model of the Cu Chi tunnels, amongst other things. Finally, there was a special exhibit on Vietnamese currency, within which unfortunately I had to oblige with the museum rules not to take photographs. I saw the first coins from the Ding Dynasty years 968-980, which were named 'Thai Binh Hung Bao'. These coins were circular with a square hole in the middle, and four Chinese symbols around indicating the king's reign and the coin's value. There were many succeeding coins to follow, then silver bars, introduced in the mid-19th century. The first notes were Piastres, from the French colonial period. Like the current-day Dong, these notes were beautiful, although the vingt and cent Piastre notes were nearly as big as an A5 page! Finally, the Dong was introduced in 1945.

Recreation of Ho Chi Minh's Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam

Inspiring song of the Outerspace Language School

There were also private collections of antiques in other areas and examples of military hardware in the grounds, but by now I was pretty worn out and some loud music had started up downstairs, where plastic seating had been set up for some kind of event, so I moved on. I went to read for an hour in a square in front of the Reunification Palace, which seems a popular place for young and old to hang out in the city, as there are no benches of any kind in the streets to stop and rest if you don't want to sit on the floor. Engrossed in my book, I was approached by a young man called Nam, who asked if he could practice English with me. I said that was fine, so he sat down next to me and asked me a few questions about myself, struggling to understand as I explained what I was doing in this country. He was studying at the Outerspace Language School, and showed me his textbook. On the front page was the school's song, and I found the lyrics funny. After a while he thanked me and said goodbye. I thought he had been trying to chat me up, and going about it in an unusual way, but barely ten minutes after he left two girls came over and asked if they too could practice English with me! These two were much less bold and stood conferring with each other before shyly asking me a question and giggling. I don't want to sound patronising, as I can't speak Vietnamese and certainly wouldn't feel confident asking a stranger to practice with me, but they were very endearing and it was sweet of them to talk to me. I tried to explain the plot of my book- set in the moors of Yorkshire, which they hadn't  heard of, a romance, yes sort of, but very dark as well! (God's Own Country by Ross Raisin).

I met Jessica in a taxi as she finished work, and before tea she took me out on a bike ride. She showed me a local swimming pool I can go to, and then took me to the spa she is a member of, which she is kindly giving me a token for on Friday, my birthday, while she is out during the day. The bike ride had some challenging moments for me. I tried a different bike of Jessica's today  in preparation for Sunday, when we will be joining a group for a 45km cycle journey to visit an orphanage. But the seat of this bike was definitely too high for me as I couldn't reach the ground when on the saddle, leading to several scary moments at traffic lights as I found myself surrounded by motorbikes and struggling to get on, made worse on one occasion by nearly losing my flip-flop. Better footwear and a lower seat, next time!