SAI GON - CU CHI TUNNELS

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22.11.08

Km travelled 18822

It's raining so hard that I'm really glad we decided to leave this morning. As usual we have to wait a while for the bus to come. For us has been an incredibly long and boring day on the slowest bus ever in the world. We spent ridiculous money for a lunch we didn't order and didn't even finish, plus the bus wasted a lot of time in unjustified stops every hour. We'd been told it was going to take eight hours and it took twelve. But fortunately the landscape was very beautiful along the way and despite the rain, our arrival in Sai Gon has been the warmest we ever had. At Madam Cuc's hotel we're offered a seat, juice and fruit. We have a rest and then we check in. After a shower in the tiny bathroom of our little room, we go downstairs to have our dinner of spring rolls and noodles. It's all included in the $14 of the room so it's exceptionally good value!
I soon fall into a deep sleep while Tom Cruise is showing off his athletic skills in Mission Impossible II.

23.11.08

Sai Gon is a name that I've always linked with my childhood, a time when probably you could still hear that name quite often. For all the people here, Sai Gon hasn't changed name. And despite the fact that its official name is now Ho Chi Minh City, here I'd like to call it Sai Gon.
Sai Gon is chaos, as I've hardly seen anywhere else. It's a pretty anonymous city, a mixture of grand hotels and barracks. It has nothing of the atmosphere I imagined when I was a kid listening to old songs about the war.
For some reason I keep on waking up early in the morning. Michael has not yet lost his gift for sleeping.
It's too late for a breakfast at the hotel and we walk towards the centre hoping to get something to eat on the way.
Here more that anywhere else the streets are crammed with people hassling you for everything, motorbikes, cyclos, guides. We can't even be bothered to say no thank you any more, we just shake our heads constantly.
We have a big breakfast and delicious milk shakes in a western café. Our daily meal.
Streets and pavements are very busy. Rows of shops on either side selling everything you can possibly need (or want?). Christmas is here already, decorations are everywhere, filling shop windows and the entrances to the shopping malls. A leftover of the French, Christianity is quite popular here in the south, churches are widely spread and Christmas is celebrated by many.
We enter the Ben Thanh Market, the Saigon Centre, the Tax Department Store, all crowed. I want to look for a pair of sandals but I'm too fussy to shop for shoes here.
We walk and walk up to the Saigon River. Many people are sitting by the riverside trying to get some rest from the oppressive heat. We sit in the shade.
The river flows slowly and on the other side decaying rustic warehouses line up as far as we can see. In the distance cranes hang over the horizon. Here vendors offer sunglasses, guides, English books and coconuts with the top open and a straw, ready to drink. Shoe shiners would attempt to clean even your trek shoes and we witnessed an argument between a tourist and one of them.
The afternoon we visit the War Remnants Museum. Many say that if everyone in the world could visit the museum, maybe there would be no war any more. I can hardly believe it. And I'm sure that there's a lot more people in the world seeing the war every day than visitors to this museum. But we all westerners that don't have any idea of how a war looks like, we like to fulfil our ideals in places like this. We've been told it is a shocking experience. It is undoubtedly a place to visit, and considering the number of people there and their comments I can guess that some have never seen anything like this. All the atrocities of the American War are on display here, pictures taken during the war showing tortures and mistreatment and mutilation of victims' bodies, and pictures of consequences of the war in kids born with deformations and diseases caused by dioxin and phosphor. I think it is important to see if I think not everyone would necessarily be sensitive to the thing. I'm sure there's plenty of people like the young American guy portrayed in one of the photos with the skull of a VC on top of his tent. I quote a short excerpt from Requiem by David Halberstam talking about the photographs taken by reporters during the war. “Many of their photos (were) taken when few people cared about what was happening there.
Now that the war is past, consigned to the normal negligence accorded to history in America, those images remain powerful.”

24.11.08

Km travelled 18942

Today we visit the Ben Dinh section of the Cu Chi Tunnels network. Before going we have the chance to meet some people at the breakfast table. Two French girls and two Malaysian girls. I end up chatting more with the latter and I had the opportunity to ask for some advice for our trip in Malaysia. My attention falls for some reason on the fact that she always talks about flying from a place to another and about how convenient it is. I suddenly realize how many people we met along our way that had the same attitude. I think if I'm the only weirdo in the world that is trying to avoid flying as much as I can because I'm concerned about the environment. But we met a lot of people that would rather take a 45 minutes flight than a 4 hours train. How come? And I'll tell you what, also, among all the travellers we met I didn't hear anyone talk about it. I probably got into these thoughts also because I had the feeling travelling through all these countries that all the efforts I, and we, make very day to do something good for the environment, or at least to avoid doing bad, are completely vanishing, erased by the incredible amount of waste and pollution produced in these countries.
Now western countries seem to me incredibly 'green'!
But this has nothing to do with our day so I'll cut it short and apologies for the digression.
Today is Binh to take us to the tunnels, a veteran Vietnamese that fought on the American side. So apart from the Cu Chi tunnels, which I recommend to visit even if the place is very touristy, and about which you can find plenty of information, we listen to Binh's story.
We listen to what he has to say about the war and about Vietnam.
He reminds us how long Vietnam has been under foreign occupation. In 1870 the French came and settled for 70 years. They leave with the arrival of WWII. Vietnam is severely bombed by Japan, and at this time America makes its first appearance here helping Ho Chi Minh government against Japan. When he mentions Hiroshima and Nagasaki I must admit that my first thought is how can it possibly be that America mess it up wherever it goes.
Anyway, in 1963 the Sai Gon government is overtaken, Kennedy has just been murdered, and Nixon sends American troupes to Vietnam. Here we start.
I write only what he says. The north is alone and has old Russian weapons, the south has many allies. In 1968 Binh leaves Vietnam and goes to the USA where he's trained, and in 1969 he comes back to work as a rescuer on the battle field. In 1971 all American allies leave, it's a war without reason. Left alone, slowly the Americans withdraw. In 1972 only 70000 are left, in 1973, after bombing Ha Noi, all Americans leave. One year after US cuts all the money to the Vietnam war. Binh is imprisoned in 1975 and will be in prison for four and half years. Until 1995, Vietnam is under the embargo. He remembers that the first thing to be everywhere the 12th of july 1995, was Pepsi.
What's left is a poor country, with loads of handicapped people begging, three millions children born with disabilities, that now the government is training to work.
A country with too many people for its wealth, at the point to have to introduce a two kids policy, miserably failing in front of a 65% of the population being Buddhist.
That's the overview we receive from Binh. But what about the tunnels? I'll say it briefly because you'll find this information everywhere. Vietnamese start to dig this incredible network of underground tunnels on three levels in 1948. after 17 years the total length of the tunnels is 258 km. At the time the Americans came to Vietnam, they built a base on top of the tunnels without even knowing. When they finally discover them, they can't get inside because American soldiers are too big. During the years they tried everything, Napalm bombing, gasoline, water, German shepherd dogs, but they won't succeed and they won't know how complicated and efficient is the system of the tunnels. The Viet Cong fight during the day and repair the tunnels at night. When in 1970 the Americans finally get in using drilling bombs, it's too late. Communists already arrived through Ho Chi Minh trail.
When the Americans leave Binh is offered to go to the States and avoid future imprisonment. He says “thank you, but I don't trust you any more, we've been left alone, I'll stay in Vietnam.”

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Comments

[Linda]

Vietnam and Cambodia
I am sitting here reading about your sights, thoughts, observations, impressions and the history of Vietnam and Cambodia. Tears are filling my eyes for the innocent peolpe who have been doomed to be born at that horrific time in the civilization of their countries. As you say words are meaningless in the enormity of their suffering within their own countries. Your writing is incredible and has conveyed the absolute horror that is unimaginable to us - how can anyone do such things and think up such cruelty? I am also thinking of you both and hoping you are managing to continue enjoying your travels. I also agree with your thoughts, and appreciate your efforts, to 'save our planet'. You are not alone in your thinking. Take care and thank you so much for your reports. Lots of love, Linda

[annonomous college studen]

Permission
Hey your story is really interesting. I was wondering if it would be ok for me to use one of your images for a project i'm doing on claustrophobia. Thanks