Braggaboutlife

 After our long trip south we were pleased to arrive at our hotel in
the older part of the City.

First built as the Saigon Palace in 1933, it was converted to flats in the 1940s which
Graham Green then used for the location of Thomas Fowlers “Room over the
rue Catinat” where much of the Quiet Americans action takes place.
It was re named the Grand and totally refurbished and enlarged in 1998.
The brown tower being the new extension which sports a great roof top cocktail bar &
terrace which have spectacular high level views over the City & the Saigon River.

Government owned and as Luxurious as it is, the size of its dining room
emphasises its function as a tourist stop off and hard currency earner.

It could be in any capital city.

Saigon was very Hot & Humid so both forms of liquid refreshment were very welcome.
An early morning start is recommended to avoid the most oppressive midday
heat followed by the pool & then rooftop cocktails.

Our first expedition was to walk the few yards down the “rue Catinat” now
Dong Khoi (General Uprising) to a small park on the Saigon River (low tide).

In colonial days this area was the centre of Saigon’s River trade where all the principal
shipping companies had offices. Steamboat tickets could be bought for all parts of
the Mekong Delta, up the Mekong to Phnom Penh (one of our destinations)
Vientiane and Battambang or round the coast to Bangkok.
Trip boats now depart from this old wharf area (mostly day trips to the Delta).

The river was teaming with boats of all shapes & sizes but the most prolific were
the self propelled dredgings barges which, boat by boat are fast lifting the ground
level of the city above the level of its surrounding paddies.

The Place Garnier & Continental Hotel adjacent to the Opera House.

The Continental took on its current form about 1905 & unlike the Grand flourished due to its central location and modern features such as ceiling fans and modern plumbing. But its heyday
was the mid 1950s when for the French Ex-pats, the Terrace was the place to be.

The old part of the hotel, which overlooked rue Catinat, now an enclosed veranda,
it makes an ideal spot to take time out from the humidity when sight seeing.

Sue & I could not resist an explore.

It seemed like the hotel and its staff had been lost in time, somewhere between
the 1950’s and 1970’s. It took me back to my time in Belgium in the
1970’s, before the wealth of the EU hit it. Forgotten!

 I understand it is to be extended and it will probably end up like the Grand.

During the Viet Min War, Graham Greene
always stayed in room 214 at the corner of the building which
gave him the best view over the Place Garnier. (Theatre Square)

Dinning in the tranquil internal courtyard.

No Disney special effects just white Damask Table cloths.

During the Vietnam War years
the hotel also had more sinister goings on!

The Municipal Theatre formerly the Opera House

Like the Sydney Opera house its cost was much criticised, and due
to the heat it was only open four months of the year.

 It did however transform the Square into the centre of the colonial city.

The Post Office is a fabulous edifice of administrative authority and took 5 years to complete.

As is often the case with colonial buildings its fenestration & design is an eclectic
mix of styles which including Baroque & Ethnic decoration.

Check out the names on the brass plaques, Elect-Trickery as a modern phenomena is
well represented in the names of Gramme, Morse, Daniell, Volta, Ampere and Galvani.
Humphry Davy & several other scientists are also named.

The interior is even more impressive, in addition to its historical maps, and
monumental volume, it also has a mix of classical forms & modern cast iron.

Note the Chairmans Portrait on the back wall.

We were all a little surprised to see Canberra’s name under one of the time zone clocks.

 

 The City and its road and waterway network.

Note the built up Port area on the Saigon River/Ben Nghe Creek junction.

 Unlike many western Post Offices it still performs its traditional function.

The adjacent Notra Dame Cathedral is impressive in its volume
but otherwise unremarkable as such buildings go.

Decoration is minimal & viewing is restricted to the rear of the nave.

I also found the juxtapositioning of the manifestation of spiritual
and physical communication interesting.

Note the ubiquitous red & white radio tower completing the infernal triangle.

One thing we all noticed in our travels through Burma, Vietnam and Cambodia was
that every small town contained such a tool of government control.

The Town Hall

The building work in the foreground is for the new underground.

The interior of one of the capitalist temples of commerce which seems to have survived.

It could be one of the old banking halls of London or Sydney.

The foyer to the Hotel Majestic

This is another hotel where time looks to have stood still (but not the price of cocktails).

I kept an eye open for Hercule Poirot passing time as he awaited his steamer to Europe
but alas he must have been & gone.

Pass through this foyer, but linger a while & view its stained glass panels
(they look 1920’s but we were told they were
put in only two years ago) and the faded black & white photos of past
French celebrities, to the minuscule lift up to the
rooftop dining room.

THE PLACE

for low level views over the Saigon River & the entertainment on the road below.
This is another haunt of Graham Green and his caricatures.

Check out the welcome breezes reflected in the hanging pots.

Modern container & cargo barges pass the old colonial dock at high tide.

If you pass through the dining room and climb a small stair to an upper deck a
more private space can be reached.

Just along the Saigon River one comes to this magnificent bridge over Ben Nghe Creek.

The grace of the slender sweeping arch is totally out of character with the modern utilitarian
concrete structures that we had come to expect at the many river crossings we had
made over the last few weeks. After much investigation all was revealed, known as
the Rainbow Bridge it is the work of Gustav Eiffel and was built in 1882.

 

The new face of Vietnam.

The ramps of the bridge have been sliced of like a piece of discarded cake, this is all the more poignant as they led to the past value less marshland behind bustling river bank wharfs.

As can be seen the river banks are now of feature less concrete and the area
has been transformed into Saigon’s sole less banking district.

In the background Saigons tallest building complete with Heliport dominates the skyline.