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Published: December 2nd 2006
The bikes preparing for take off
It is impossible to show by photo how crazy the streets really were with bikes! We have good videos of it though.Well i normally don't enjoy the big cities as much as the smaller ones but this one was different. My favorite city so far! It is complete and organized chaos! The buildings are all really nice. In HCMC they tend to build up instead of outwards. Most of the buildings are really high but with only one room on each floor, leading to climbing a lot of stairs! On the roads there are very few cars but millions of bikes! There is not much traffic control and the police officers and Vietnamese have to help the tourists across the streets because it is so busy and there are no lights controlling the intersections. Everyone just honks and gos!
The city itself did not have a great deal of stuff to see or do but just being in the environment was entertaining enough. When we first got there we just did our usual first day exploring on a walking tour of the city, visiting all the key places. All over the streets there are so many different vendors selling anything and everything! One night we were sitting with a group of new friends and they wanted to try every kind of
Sight of our walking tour
Not something you would expect to see in asia. food that went by on the food carts. So they put in about 2$ and we all tried about 20 different types of food. Most of it was pretty strange and could be a reason why i am sick now...but nobody else is. Another great thing so far about Vietnam is the cheap beer Hoi. It is only 7000 dong per pitcher! That is only 40 cents! It is crazy cheap.
One other day when we were in HCMC we went and visited the Cu Chi tunnels. These are a network of about 250 km of underground tunnels that the Vietnamese made to hide from the americans during the war. They remained underground for so long without them even knowing. It was really difficult to go through the tunnels that were widened for tourists let alone the ones that the Vietnamese lived in for years.
The great thing about traveling to all the countries around south east asia is seeing how different each country really is. You wouldn't think that they would be that different but they are.
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Dad
non-member comment
Very Interesting
Hi guys! You have been doing a wondeful job of keeping us up todate on your travels. I look so forward to talking face to face and seeing all the pictures and hearing the stories of your travels and the new friends that you have met. Keep safe and keep in touch. I miss you guys. Look forward to hearing from you.Love Dad