On 23rd June I woke up a bit hung over from the previous night’s whisky. The electricity had gone off, which didn’t exactly help me get to an early start. It turned out to be my room where the problem was, so I asked to change rooms. My insides weren’t feeling that great so I took it easy, but in the afternoon went to the Museum of the Revolution.

This was predictably political, but had a lot of information about the French period of occupation prior to separation of North and South and the US involvement. Unfortunately there wasn’t much in English and the guide’s English was barely intelligible.

Later I went to the uncompromisingly named “Museum of American War Crimes”. This had many photos showing supposed atrocities, but little else other than some captured US military hardware outside.

They gave everyone who looked like a foreigner a souvenir leaflet:

A sudden heavy rain storm forced me to take shelter for half an hour before heading back to the hotel, where Alain appeared (he’d picked the same hotel). A German guy was also there and we all headed out for a meal later. However I was starting to feel feverish again by bedtime.

I slept badly but got up early to go and check the status of my reservation to Manila. To my relief it was now confirmed for 25th June (it had been wait listed) but I had to go to the Vietnam Airlines office to buy the ticket itself, even though the flight is (thankfully!) with Philippine Airlines. The cost was $130 which is less than I’d expected.

Foreigners are obliged to register with the police in Vietnam within 48 hours of arrival, so I went to do that, which was a confusing and apparently pointless bureaucratic process. After that I was feeling quite tired so headed back to the hotel for the afternoon to find that I had a temperature. I stayed off food for the rest of the day.

Listening to the BBC News I heard that a Philippine volcano called Mount Pinatubo was continuing to spew ash everywhere, after a cataclysmic eruption on June 15th. I wondered if it will be visible from Manila.

On 25th June I was feeling a bit better – I was up early and had breakfast with an Israeli girl, who is only the third backpacker I’ve seen since first arriving in Indochina! I then went out for a quick photo-tour of the city centre, on a motorbike taxi.

The French influence is very evident in the architecture, with many streets looking very European. But the typical conical nón lá leaf hats, and bicycle taxis, are a give away that this is not Paris!

The Notre Dame cathedral is a little over 100 years old and is an imposing sight.

Last stop was the former US embassy, famous for the desperate scenes of evacuation by helicopter from the roof, as the Viet Cong rapidly closed in on the city 16 years ago, in 1975:

Military helicopters ferried hundreds of Americans and South Vietnamese to carriers offshore, during the final 24 hours…

Curiously, the most famous photo of the “last flight out”, evacuating Americans during the fall of Saigon, isn’t of the embassy at all, nor is it the last flight, nor is it a military helicopter, and nor are they Americans climbing the ladder:

It is actually from an apartment block in another part of Saigon and is a civilian helicopter trying to get South Vietnamese out of the city.

Given that my 3-day transit visa expires today, it was time for me, too, to evacuate Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City as it’s now called) so I headed to the airport, presenting my ticket out.

However, bad news awaited me at the check-in counter. The ash from Mount Pinatubo had closed Manila airport, and the plane wasn’t able to come. They said to try again tomorrow. I was concerned about my transit visa expiring, but was told that it shouldn’t be a problem and that the immigration officials were aware of the cancelled flight.

I headed back to the same hotel and actually got my same room back. I continued to read my novel “Saigon” (fittingly), taking it easy until the evening when I went to the restaurant “Maxim’s” – reputed to be the best restaurant in Indochina. I was a little disappointed since I was expecting a traditional historic place and this was relatively modern. But the food was superb.