Ho Chi Minh City - Day 2
Our last day in Vietnam. We have a decent hotel breakfast. Not the best, but they have an omelette chef and cereal and a few other staples, so we are set up well for the day.
The tour guide picks us up at 8am ready for our trip out to the Củ Chi tunnels to the North of Ho Chi Min City. This large network of tunnels were used by Viet Cong solders during the wars and played an important role in many battles, including serving as their base for the "Tet Offensive".
Its relatively quiet on the roads today, being New Year's Day which is a public holiday. Within about 45 minutes we're out of the main city and stop off at a place where people with disabilities from Agent Orange create art. We get a quick tour of the their workshop and overview of their process. We don't buy anything but grab a coffee for the road.
About 45 minutes later we arrive at the tunnels. The guide has been telling us many stories along the way, reiterating how spiritual the Vietnamese are. And despite not having a common religion across the country, they still have many similar customs and beliefs in terms of ancestor worship, belief in spirits and ghosts etc.
The first entrance to the tunnels we find is an example of a secret entrance which once the person inside closes the lid, would be impossible to see. Its also almost impossible to fit in as well. Jeff tries it at the end of the tour and manages to get in and out, just.
We are told the stories of the tunnels as we see some of the entry points. We are shown the examples of the booby traps that the Viet Cong were experts at crafting. The main aim of the traps was to maim the US troops approaching, rather than kill. The reason being that it takes 2 men to drag an injured soldier all the way back to base, so the traps were an effective way of thinning out the number of soldiers that would be advancing on the area.
We watch an old Viet Cong propaganda video showing how well the soldiers were performing from these tunnels and their various approaches. Many of the videos included women soldiers, who were indeed a large contingent in their army.
We have been hearing gunshots in the distance during the tour, and did read that there was a firing range here. We round a corner and all of a sudden the shots are deafening and we all quickly put big 3m ear muffs on. After a quick suss of the situation Jeff deems it "fairly safe" and is keen to give it a go. He buys 10 AK47 bullets for about $30 and heads on down. With no communication or instructions Jeff is now shooting an AK47 at a target about 60 meters away. No luck in hitting a target. But man, that was fun!
We meet back up with the tour guide and now approach some tunnels which we can enter. There isn't a lot of clarity in how these tunnels work, so we plunge in, followed by a lot of other people. Its starting to get busy. We've been told its tight going in there. When we see that they go a few levels deeper still we back out. We are both a bit claustrophobic and its not clear if its one way in, one way out or what the go is. Plus, we're about twice the size of the VC who used to inhabit these tunnels, it would seem. We back out.
We get served some traditional tea and tapioca. You dip the tapioca in the tea to soften it up, then dip it in some salt and peanut kind of mix. Quite delicious, according to Jeff. Its a good snack and probably would keep you going for a while.
We are lucky to come across another run of tunnels and its a bit quieter. We understand now that you just keep going until you come out again about 20 or 30 meters away. We take the plunge with an older English couple from Liverpool who are also a bit apprehensive. So there were a lot of words of encouragement flying around between us all over those 20 meters. A minor panic-attack from Courts doesn't slow us down. We get there and glad we did. Our admiration for anyone involved in this war is already high, but man, you have to take your hat off for the Viet Cong living in these tunnels. That is beyond us.
The tour ends as the place is starting to get very busy, but apparently this is a pretty quiet day.
We head for home, quickly freshen up and head out again. We grab lunch at a place known for its Bun Bo Hue, which is fast becoming the dish of the trip. This one is no exception. Courts is red-lining with the chili but survives that, just, and off we go.
We saw some sandals being made at the Cu Chi tunnels from used car or truck tires. They are called dép lốp, aka Ho Chi Minh sandals. We learn later that this approach to foot-ware is somewhat common across the developing world due to the fact they are cheap to make and very durable. Jeff is intrigued and in the market for some sandals. These would be pretty cool and would probably last. So we aim for the big market in town called Ben Thanh markets.
We arrive and immediately realise there will be no dep lop here. Its completely packed with knock-off bags, shoes, soccer shirts. Jeff is almost tempted by a fake Japan soccer shirt, but the quality was pretty bad so we walk on.
We aim for the Saigon Skydeck, which has an observation level for the public. We head via a chemist with a sleepy resident cat.
The Skydeck doesn't disappoint and gives us a feel for the vastness of the city, plus the amount of low-hanging smog. Its has a unique feel to it, but at the same time you can see elements of Paris if you squint. We do a slow 360 degree lap and take it all in, satisfied that we are getting our bearings a bit better in HCMC now.
We have a couple more spots to checkout on our list, including Saigon Central Post Office. We grab a fresh coconut for the road and off we go. Its late afternoon and the lighting in the city is gorgeous. The sun isn't exactly "out". I'm not sure if it even can really come out in Vietnam at this point, but its trying its best. Its very humid, but its nice to be wandering about.
We get to the post office in one piece. The traffic is nothing like last night but we don't have as much Dutch Courage when crossing the roads and you always need your wits about you. And someone to hold your hand. The post office is gorgeous, of course. I don't know what you call the architecture, but I like it. Of course the key colours of orangey-yellow and green are at play, and a giant portrait of Ho Chi Minh has pride of place. The array of souvenir shops lets the place down, but the fact that its still operating as a real post office brings it back up a ranking point.
We head to a nearby Starbucks to make the tough decision of which mug to get. We settle on Ho Chi Minh City, for those playing at home.
We are running on empty at this point. We still have a decent walk home from here. We set off and take in a few more views of the city past Independence Palace. As problematic as the whole French Colonial history of the place is, it surely has added some character to this part of the world. French architecture, palm trees, street side food. Its a great combo.
One last banh mi for the road. We find a place that seems to have a reputation, rather than just being a hole in the wall. We watch some kids playing badminton in the street across the road while we wait. We take the banh mi home, along with our little bag of groceries (yogurt, water, snacks). The banh mi is maybe one of the best of the trip. Very classy. Very delicious.
As we wind down to another Hollywood Classic and pack our bags there is one last surprise in store for us; the hairdryer, which we haven't used since we figured it was broken, has spontaneously combusted. Yep, its on fire, along with Courtney's toiletries bag.
Courtney's approach to the issue is more along the lines of Basil Fawlty. Jeff puts on his Cibil Fawlty hat and somehow manages to put the fire out before it gets out of control... or before the smoke alarm goes off... there is a smoke alarm in here, right?
After our heart-rates have settled down a bit, Jeff takes a photo of the damage and heads to reception to let them know. He asks them to check the smoke alarm as well. No, I don't want to set an alarm, I want you to check the smoke alarm before the next fire starts.
And with that final chapter, that closes the book on a wonderful, crazy, mind-opening Vietnam book. Looking forward to chapter two one day.
