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Published: July 18th 2008
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Ho Chi Minh Well, Adam's cheap ploy to get people to comment on our blog worked- glad to see people are still reading!
We are still in Vietnam and as we have a couple of free computers (and printing! - the small things that make one excited...) in our hotel it is the perfect time to get caught up on our travels here in Vietnam.
Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) was a very interesting city- as Adam commented on before the traffic is amazing- I am surprised every time we cross the street that we made it unscathed. The market life in Ho Chi Minh mimicked the craziness of the traffic. Every food stall tried to get us to eat their food and the one we landed at in Ben Thanh market was great. I am continuing to venture outside of my comfort zone trying all sorts of food. Things I never ever would have thought to try a couple of years ago- as many of you know- now are bearable. One of Saigon's famous types of food is a pancake stuffed with different spices, pork and shrimp coming alongside a delicious dipping sauce- the man at
the market had to show me how to eat it- but in the end very good! We wandered around a bit and headed back to Luan Vu- our clean, A/C room- in the backpackers location of the city. GO2 bar was next on the list for the evening entertainment. Right in the middle of District 1 we sat for a bit warding off street vendors while Adam continued his infatuation with watching the traffic pass by.
Day 2
Today we focused on seeing the tourist sites of the city including the Reunification Palace and War Remnants Museum. Both of these places heavily focus on the Vietnam War (American War over here in SEA) and the events leading up to and after this period in time. We opted to take a tour of the Reunification Palace and it was worth it. It was somewhat like the White House up until 10:45 am April 30th 1975, when a North Vietnamese tank hit the main gate, ending the Vietnam War. We were able to see the President's bomb shelter also the base from which important Southern Army decisions were made. It was an informative tour that made us both want to
Intense Badminton
Saigon public park know more about that period in time.
Our second stop of the day did just that. From a somewhat slanted point of view we learned of the acts occurring during the war at the War Remnants Museum- formerly called the War Atrocities Museum-which may or may not be more accurate. All of the machines outside the building were from both armies and fun to play with- see intense picture of me shooting the gun... The museum focuses on how the American Imperialists came into this country. We saw many exhibits on Agent Orange and the devastation it caused along with the cruelty of American soldiers. It was somber to walk through the museum, and especially hard as an American. We both felt for a strong country impacted by this time in history. The museum also had a great exhibit on the journalist from across the world covering the breaking stories- it was amazing the way their short lives ended and the stories they were able to give the world as a result of their hard work.
Day 3
Today reinforced why I hate organized tours. We decided to head out to Cu Chi tunnels about 20K outside
the city and read the best way to do so was on one of the hundreds of tours offered by a travellers cafe. The tunnels were constructed by the Vietnamese as both a place to live underground and a base for guerrilla warfare. The trip was long, about 2 hours to get out there on the large bus, all while listening to a tour guide who loved to hear his own voice. We finally made it there and everything from the lines to not being able to see anything because of the large tour group was frustrating. The tunnels themselves were pretty neat though. They were so small and to think that people lived in them for up to 16 months only to go out and take a bath at night was incredible. The best part of the trip was getting to crawl 100 meters through them- it was hot, stuffy and compact- really gave one a sense of what it was like. It is also a good thing there were different entrances tot he tunnel maze as the first one didn't quite fit Adam- see picture 😊
Tonight was decision time- we had been going back and forth
over where to go for our last week in Vietnam. It made sense to stay in the South as that was where we were, but nothing quite sounded right- the beaches and mountains sounded o.k., but the bus rides to get to them and the time it would waste didn't. We were thinking about staying in Saigon another couple of days, but I made a somewhat offhanded remark about going up to North Vietnam and we wandered into a travel agency to even see if it was feasible. The next thing we know, a half hour later we booked our flight for a take off of 12 hours later.
Our trip was revived!!- and we needed to go celebrate for the night. Saigon has a lot of makeshift restaurants and bars on its streets so we sat and enjoyed some tapa like Asian food and cheap 'Saigon' beer- 40 cents per large bottle. A fun relaxing night, feeling completely content with the decision to head North.
Hanoi Day 1
Right now I am writing from Hanoi- which is our base while we are in Northern Vietnam. The city is very unique having an extremely
Lunch
In Saigon we stopped at this cafe- felt like a night club with the trendy people and techno music... these are our drinks. strong French influence. The pro's are it is a lot cooler temperature wise here at nights- where I almost just almost could even use a jacket.
We arrived here yesterday- and ate a restaurant called Little Hanoi. It was great, but we felt so silly coming into there on our Lonely Planet recommendation, along with all of the others who had done the same evidenced by their books also laying on their tables. We headed back a bit early after being caught in the rain and tired from travelling. Our hotel hasn't been the best as it's surrounded by loud construction projects on both walls causing our room to flood from the torrential rains, and after we switched rooms our hot shower didn't work- I think we have just been unlucky as it seems like a great hotel and the staff is very nice.
Day 2
We do have a good location as we are staying right near Hoan Kiem lake. This lake is the people's pride and joy based on old tales from centuries ago. Here is also the place in the early mornings a lot of the city comes out to exercise before it gets
too hot. Adam took advantage of this early this morning while I couldn't bare to wake up too early.
Today we tried to fit in touring the sites (mainly Ho Chi Minh's Museum Complex)- but it was closed for a reason still unknown to Adam and myself. We took the multiple military guards standing outside the complex at their word and went to see the Temple of Literature instead. This was the first university of Vietnam focusing on teaching Confucius way of thinking. We listened to some traditional Vietnamese music and Adam bought their cd to listen to while studying- maybe it will help him study a bit better?
We're off to see a water puppet show tonight- should be good- or we just wasted 2 whole dollars... This is the origination of the show and we have '1st class' seats. Tomorrow we head off to Halong Bay for a 3 day 2 night cruise on a luxury 'junk' (doesn't sound right- but it is supposed to be nice) boat. We will spend our days cruising, kayaking and swimming in the UNSECO site- can't wait.
Puppet time,
Christine
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