3 very different days in Vietnam!

Day 74 - 07/08/2010 - 16:23 - Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam

So we've had another three days in Saigon (HCMC) and we've had another day looking around the city, and two trips out of town. We went to the Mekong Delta for a day yesterday to the towns of Vinh Long and Cai Be and today we went to the Cu Chi tunnels, where the Vietcong hid out from the Americans during the war. Both were incredibly impressive. Now we are sat in the hotel, sheltering from the absolute downpour that's going on outside. We'll go back out when it's calmed down a bit...

So on the 5th we headed towards a pagoda on the edge of the city centre which was completely unspoilt by tourism. It was very beautiful but the walk there was pretty hard in the heat and humidity. We walked back towards the city centre another way, stopping for lunch and then going to the War Remnants Museum - a museum dedicated to the Viet-American war. Some of the stuff the Americans did, including the chemical warfare was absolutely disgusting and it's been surprisingly swept under the carpet. How a victim nation could forget something that serious so soon is beyond me, America have got away with it! Shocking. Chemical warfare and nukes, the only nation to ever use them, yet they preach to the east, that they can't make them. Hypocrites. They certainly aren't afraid to show you the pictures of Americans holding up heads and decapitated corpses either, as well as all the deformities and unborn foetuses that were deformed as a result of the chemicals. Very very harrowing!

Anyway after all of that, we headed back to the hotel - another long walk. We've seen a great deal of the city, despite its size. We're impressed with ourselves! I like the place. It's as busy as Hanoi, but because of its size, it doesn't seem as hectic. People are very friendly here too and certainly less pushy I think than in the capital!

Yesterday we went on a 12 hour trip to the Mekong, towns of Cai Be and Vinh Long. We did quite a bit of stuff, we visited local companies - making honey and candy, went for a bike ride, in a rowing boat down the canals of the Mekong as well as visiting local markets. You really got a feel for the countryside and how people live out there, it was very nice. We bought some of the candy they made as well as a couple of delicious dragon fruits (2 for 30p!) from one of the markets. Incredible day, was really nice. Our tour guide was very funny as well - we actually saw him today too, going to the tunnels and a temple on a full day trip with another coach - we said hi! On the way back yesterday he really struck a chord with me - he was telling everyone on the coach that in Vietnam he doesn't earn much money, but he doesn't care because he is happy. I guess after all the Vietnamese have been through in the last century or two kind of brings it home how lucky we are really!

That evening we went out for tea at a real street food restaurant, where all the table and chairs were plastic and designed for midget. I had some incredible salt and chilli prawns, they were massive and very tasty. We both (yes, Laura drank) washed back a few beers and just sat watching the world go by - absolutely fantastic.

Today we did the tunnels. They were also absolutely awesome and our tour guide today was also very funny. He said he liked being called John Wayne for some unknown reason! He also made jokes about how he needed us to wear stickers as we all look the same (sounds familiar eh!) and just was generally very friendly and slightly eccentric! He knew his stuff though, and he knew where to find all the little things in Cu Chi, such as the sniper tunnels and traps. Very very interesting! I climbed through the tunnel we were allowed to - it was original length and had not been widened (although there was one there that had been!) It was 50 metres long and was very tight - all fours was the easiest way to get through! They had emergency lighting in the tunnel and it was still very dark. One corner particularly, I think they deliberately placed the lights so it felt "real". I had to feel my way along the tunnel as I really couldn't see a thing! I did however, manage the whole 50metres although I was sweating like mad, and glad to have some fresh air! Apparently there are 3 levels of tunnels and this was the one closest to the surface!

Incredible few days. Tonight is sadly our last night in Vietnam and tomorrow morning we're off to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Vietnam is truly an incredible country and well worth a visit!