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Published: January 18th 2007
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Thinking
I may have the hat, but there's no fooling the locals into thinking I'm one of them... Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is as busy as any other Southeast Asian city I've visited, with the addition of more drivers.I can now officially say that the drivers here are crazy! There are millions of motorbikes in this town and they crawl through the streets in swarms, though I’ve yet to see an accident of any kind. They’re extremely efficient and smart drivers, and although they’re system seems totally out of control, it flows like clockwork. I’m not sure if I could handle driving over here though…
We found a nice hotel with 2 cheap rooms (We’re still traveling with Erin and Koren) and had a few lazy days exploring the sights and enjoying the unique Vietnamese culture. We started by making a trip to the grocery store where we found the cheapest liquor ever. Vodka was sold by the jug, 5 litres exactly, and at dirt cheap prices. We bought a flat of Sprite and Fanta to mask the taste - it barely made it palatable. There’s a reason it was $5 eehhgggg.
We also enjoyed some sushi (which I haven’t had in quite a while) and lots of fresh baking, though I’m having trouble falling in
Tunnel Entrance
Thousands of South Vietnamese soldiers poured in and out of this hole... though I had trouble just posing for this shot. love with the food here. The list of local food I won’t order in the future is growing, but the list of favourites remains vacant. Specialties include catfish, eel, snake, turtle, frog and other “mystery” meats. I also don’t think they’ve ever heard of Food Safe, which makes ordering something simple like chicken unadvisable. I could foresee myself, or any other traveler becoming a vegetarian quite quickly if lengthy time was spent here.
Our first day of activity involved Erin, Koren and I taking a day tour north of HCMC to the famous Cu-Chi battlegrounds. It was here that the Vietnamese guerillas fought a large defensive from the invading Americans in their 75 mile long tunnel haven. With hundreds of entry and exit points, these perfectly hidden tunnels housed thousands of Vietnamese for months while they shrewdly attacked the Americans, seemingly “appearing out of nowhere.” The grounds above the tunnels are now a historical landmark, and offer a lot of history about the war. Swimming pool sized craters are scattered throughout simply labelled "B-52 hole." We had a chance to walk the tunnels, more appropriately crawl for me, and it was quite an experience. It’s no wonder the Americans
Immobilized
One of the tanks the Vietnamese stopped with their landmines - in its exact place of destruction. couldn’t infiltrate the tunnels because they wouldn’t stand a chance moving their huge bodies through the tiny tubed maze.
We passed dozens of rubber tree farms on the way back to HCMC, and stopped next at the War Remnants Museum. This place had it all. Inside was an abundance of history, both tangible and literary. Every weapon used by both sides was displayed in plain view, from landmines and nail grenades to rocket launchers and tanks. There were so many photos of victims of American brutality and the effects of war; it was very eye-opening. Around the building were heaps of old American military vehicles and hardware; tanks, helicopters, fighter jets, bomber planes, artillery guns and old bombs (both small and massive). In other buildings there were old prison cells, torture devices, guillotines and jail history. In others there were scores of photos by journalists, wartime propaganda posters from all over the world, and old Vietnamese history pieces like their declaration of independence. Overall I thought the museum was very impressive, and it really showed the history of war first hand.
After a quick rest we hopped in a taxi headed to the Water Park; we needed something
It's a Trap!
Around the area were dozens of these traps, extremely vicious and very camouflaged. The spikes here are hidden under the swinging door. fun to do after our day of history. For only a few dollars we had unlimited rides and the park almost to ourselves. We enjoyed the wave pool, tube rides, drop rides, the zip line, and classic tunnel slides. The slides were so fast the they gave us skin burns, bruises, noses full of water and even some brief damage to the family jewels. No regrets though, the day was awesome. We even witnessed a strange music video being filmed of a really young girl. She had a full camera crew of about 15 people filming her in various spots around the park singing her weird little melody; we got some good laughs and some video for ourselves.
We also had a fun night of bowling with the girls. Surrounded by neon balls, lights and pounding techno we enjoyed what seemed like a regular night for the local hipsters. I surprised myself with a great game, have a perfect score until the last end or two, I’ll have to do some bowling when I get home, anyone wanna join? We didn’t get home until 1am and after a quick/terrible 6 hour sleep we began a long day of traveling
Leftovers
These are just an assortment of the tonnes of bombs remaining after the war. to the Mekong delta. I have so many photos of our overnight/boat trip that I’m going to make a separate blog…
Until then, adios!
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non-member comment
QUAMES!!! im so proud of you!!! you are learning so much and i am learning so much by reading your blogs. keep up the great blogs, it makes me feel like you're alot closer to home than you are. missing you terribly!! love you. ps. taker easy on that wodka!