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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Our ride to Ho Chi Minh went well and after an incredibly prolonged wait at customs, we befriended an Australian couple as well as an American girl. We arrived in HCMC in the late afternoon and we, along with our three new friends, began a search for a place to stay. Since our group was now significantly larger, it was a bit more difficult to find a room but luckily we found a backpackers’ area that was full of hostels. We went on a bit of a tour in an effort to find a bank so we got to see a bit of the city during the day time. Once we decided we were beyond ready for dinner, we cleaned up and hit the streets to find a restaurant my diva friend wanted to try out. Navigating around a new place in the dark was a little frustrating but we managed to find this “Temple Restaurant.” Our friend was especially interested in this place because the building was apparently a temple before it was converted into a restaurant. Unfortunately, you wouldn’t know this judging by the fancy decor and elaborate settings. Another unfortunate thing was our shabby wardrobes – we were most certainly out of place. So after our mediocre meal, we dropped in at a rooftop bar and had a few beer. The view was incredible and we spent hours drinking Saigon beer, chatting and watching the city nightlife unfold below.
We had a tour booked for the Cu-chi tunnels so the next day we woke early and climbed on board to a bus that would take us all around HCMC. The first stop was to a center that hires disabled workers to make handcrafts such as paintings, kitchen decor and vases. The reason we stopped here was to shed light on the prolonged effects of the Vietnam war. These people were not simply born with diseases due to flawed genetics – these disabilities are due to the lingering effects of agent orange, a toxic chemical used by the US in the war. Seeing these things first hand makes you realize that a war doesn’t end once a country surrenders – it is something that continues to affect a country generations down the line.
Our next stop was the Cu-chi tunnels, a network of underground tunnels used by the Vietnamese during the war. We started the tour by watching a video briefly describing the war with the US. Before you think it was just another boring history lesson, remember that for the first time we were learning about the war from an entirely different perspective. It was incredibly eye opening to hear the title of “hero” given to a man for killing sixteen Americans in one day. But needless to say, it was a lesson I’m glad to have been given. Following this, we toured around the place and were shown the different techniques used to trick and kill American soldiers. Among these were trap doors that flipped to drop the soldier into flat, pointed steel daggers. There were also many small hidden traps dug into the ground where Vietnamese soldiers would hide before jumping up and shooting Americans from behind. After this, we were taken to the shooting range where people could pay money to shoot a gun of their choice (depending on how much you were willing to fork out). I’m not exactly a fan of guns so a friend and I sat out on that opportunity but the others really seemed to enjoy the experience.
We ended the tour by visiting the actual tunnels used by the soldiers. Now when I say tunnels, I don’t just mean tunnels the soldiers used to get from one place to another – these were places where Vietnamese woulds stay for up to two weeks. There were schools, hospitals and kitchens built into these tunnels. At some points in time, people would have to lay on the floor in an effort to get enough oxygen to breath. So that goes to show just how hard the Vietnamese fought to protect their people. We were given the choice to crawl through a set of tunnels that were widened to make it a bit easier for us “bigger boned” tourists to climb through (remember how small Vietnamese people are). I obviously jumped at the opportunity and I can honestly say that although the tunnels were larger, is was one of the most claustrophobic, cramped and uncomfortable situations I have been in yet. I can’t imagine having to spend weeks in a place like that.
We were home by late afternoon so we decided to visit the market in the city. It was a really good market and I wished I could have spent even longer looking around. It was really fun to be there because the Vietnamese soccer team had made it to finals and everyone, including the vendors would shout and cheer every time their country’s team made it one goal closer to the gold title.
Our time in HCMC was short so after dinner, we were a little sad to board the bus that night and head to Na Trang. But despite this disappointment, we were excited to see the rest of Vietnam.
from: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/vriversbo/4/1266297658/tpod.html
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