Sai Gon the relics of war
I only ended up staying in
Ho Chi Minh City for two days, but
I had a fantastic time!! Me and Rebecca arrived at 6am after an
awful overnight bus journey (it was the bumpiest yet!!) and we
got dropped at the backpacker area, which really reminded me of
the Khao San Road, which I love!! On the first day I spent the
day on my own as I wanted to organise a trip to Cu Chi Tunnels
and to the Mekong Delta, whereas Rebecca wanted to shop, so we
both headed off on our own and arranged to meet up later.
You may be interested in:
►►► Day trips in Sai Gon
►►► Tours to Mekong delta
I managed to book a
tour of Cu Chi Tunnels for the next day and
I decided not to spend New Years Eve in Saigon, where it would
no doubt involve way too much alcohol and lots of
partying.....which on my own is probably a bit dangerous judging
by previous solo drinking nights out (I didn't want to wake up
in a different
hotel again!!). Instead I booked a
tour of the Mekong Delta, starting on 31st December, so I would be in a
small city called
Can Tho on New Years Eve instead.
Later that day I decided to
tour the city a bit and headed off
first to the Reunification Palace - a gorgeous building that the
previous Presidents lived in. Inside it was so luxurious with
beautiful furnishings and lots of fine art on the wall. It even
had its own cinema and gambling room!! For a small entrance fee
you even got a free tour and the girl doing the tour was really
helpful.
My next stop was the War Remnants Museum, which had planes and
tanks outside the building which were really cool - although
probably more appealing to men!! Inside there were photographs
taken from the war, which were really upsetting, some of them
were so gory it was horrible. There was one wall dedicated to
the effects of Agent Orange, the chemical that the Americans
used during the
Vietnam war, which is still leading to birth
defects these days. It was so upsetting seeing lots of photos of
deformed people. The worst thing though were the two jars with
deformed babies in - I can't believe that is on display, it was
horrible and made me feel really upset. I don't understand why
they need to display stuff like that, I guess they just want
you to really appreciate what they went through and what they
are still going through!! I bet any Americans travelling in
Vietnam feel so guiilty!!
Later that day I met up with Rebecca who came back loaded down
with bags from shopping in a market nearby. Some of the things
she'd bought were fantastic deals, so I decided that after my
Cu
Chi Tunnels tour the next day I'd go shopping with her and get
some presents for people back home. I really couldn't believe
how many presents she had bought though - she's Irish, so has a
huge family and I dont think one aunt or counsin got missed
out!!
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►►► Ninh Binh day trips
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The next day I headed off to the Cu Chi Tunnels on a tour with a
company called Delta Adventures, who offered the tour for just
$4 - bargain eh!! All the tours I've been on in
Vietnam are so
ridiculously cheap, you just couldn't do them independantly for
anywhere near the same price. The tunnels were about 2 hours
away by bus, so as is always the way with tours, we stopped on
the way at a place where local people create art using
eggshells amoungst other things. There was a workshop inside
where you could see the people at work and it was actually
really fascinating. I'd seen the items they were making for sale
around Vietnam, but I hadn't realised that they'd used eggshells
for the decoration - it was so clever!!
Next stop were the Cu Chi Tunnels, which were really
interesting. On our tour they took us around the original
tunnels, but some had been made wider so that us westerners
could crawl through to really appreciate what they went through.
I only went through 40 metres of the tunnel and that was enough.
The dark, the heat, the lack of fresh air and the lack of space
were so uncomfortable!! Some Vietnamese actually lived in the
original sized tunnels during the war and there were rooms below
the ground that acted as bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room.
It really made me think just how lucky I am having such an easy
life back home. What strong people to be able to endure
something like that. No wonder the American's couldn't defeat
them. During the war the Americans tried to get them out of the
tunnels firstly by sending down sniffer dogs, which failed as
apparently they put chilli by the holes so when the dogs sniffed
them it hurt their noses. They also tried putting water down the
holes, but again the Vietnamese outsmarted them by creating an
extra layer of tunnels for the water to do down, which went back
to the Saigon river.
My tour guide also showed us the spider holes that the
Vietnamese could disappear down. These are really tiny holes
that they covered up with leaves so that the American's wouldn't
know where they would appear from. They could then disappear
back down the holes again. We were also shown the boobytraps
that the Vietnamese used - it was like something out of The
Goonies or Indiana Jones - they had so many different types of
traps. I definitely would have been scared if I'd been fighting
against them in the war!!!
Once I got back from my tour I spent way too much money
buying
souvenirs and presents from the local market, then Rebecca,
bless her, treated me to KFC and some beer. So we spent our last
night travelling together watching a funny movie called
Talledega Nights with Will Ferrell in, drinking beer and eating
KFC. Wicked. Haven't had a takeaway meal since England!!!
I was definitely sad to say goodbye to Ho Chi Minh city the next day
and even sadder saying goodbye to Rebecca. I'm back on my own
again, which is exciting, but I wish I'd had a friend around to
celebrate New Years Eve with.
You may be interested in:
►►► Ethnic travel Vietnam
►►► Short Vietnam trips
