Blogs from Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia

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Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi January 9th 2020

Our trip to Vietnam starts with an 11hr Drive & border crossing. On the way there, I'm reminded of how utterly crazy some of the wild wild west driving you see in Cambodia. There's a motorbike and small trailer pulling some Air Con units. Instead of tying them down, some lad just sits on top of the boxes to stop them from falling off. You can't make this shit up. We get a public bus with another younger Intrepid group. The guy who's organising the crossing asks us to handover our passports, visa and $1 each. It seems a bit odd, like all the people on the bus do the same, but hey, if it makes our crossing faster, who cares. We pass through the Cambodian border check fairly quickly, get off the bus and walk ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi January 12th 2017

We got up early and went down to breakfast as we were being picked up at 7.15 for our trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. We went to breakfast early so that we would get time to eat before we got picked up. the breakfast at this hotel was amazing and once again catered for everyone. After breakfast we waited in the lobby till our tour operator arrived. We ended up in a group with an Aussie family from Adelaide with Mum, Dad, 2 boys aged 18 & 16 and a daughter aged 14. We were all taken by bus (via some pick ups at other hotels along the way) which took about an hour, to a place where we all got on a speed boat, where we were joined by another Aussie family with 2 ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi November 15th 2016

Day nine and we enter the chaos that is Ho Chi Minh city. Our hotel is lovely, not fancy but family owned - the family live downstairs with their little dog 'Minho' and are very friendly and kind. We wandered out to find some breakfast and ended up in the 'No stress' cafe, noodles with an egg and vegetables started off the day along with possibly the strongest coffee I've had since I've been here. We were back at the hotel and ready to jump on a bus to go to the Cu Chi tunnels by midday, slightly stunned by the scale of things in the city - it will definitely take some more exploring! The bus journey was long and bumpy, but provided good views as we moved out of the city into the outskirts. ... read more
Thick vegetation.
Inside the tunnels.

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi September 16th 2016

Anticipation is building as we try to organise ourselves for the impending Tuesday departure - Wellington - Auckland - Ho Chi Minh City. I haven't visited Vietnam before, something I've wanted to do for years, while Lyn has been several times for work and pleasure (sometimes they're not exclusive). We are spending time in Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi, Ha Long Bay, Hoi An and in Cambodia for a few days via Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. We finish with 5 days in Tokyo. While Lyn is working I'll be touring up a storm and trying to soak up as much of the sights, sounds, smells, atmosphere as I can. Woo hoo!!... read more

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi January 30th 2016

I was busy taking some photos from my window seat when the aircraft was approaching the Ho Chi Minh city (HCMC) airport. To my delight, it was a sunny afternoon once again and I had a good opportunity to do some aerial photography before landing. I looked around and I saw buildings all over the places once I crossed the Mekong delta. HCMC is a populated city alright! Once the flight landed, I collected my luggage and came out of the terminal. I was going to stay at Silverland hotel for three nights, and the deal was that the hotel would arrange my transportation from the airport. I looked around and it was not difficult for me to identify the gentleman holding the signboard bearing my name. After the initial ‘Hi, Hello’, I was transferred to ... read more
Mekong Delta
From airport to the hotel
Endless motor cycles and scooters

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi December 24th 2015

December 24, 2015 Another early morning today. Everyone was up at 5:30 am, breakfast at 6:00 am and then meeting our tour at 7:00 am. We are in the famed city of Ho Chi Minh City, aka Saigon. Today’s tour is focused on visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels. These tunnels were famous during the Vietnam War. Included in this tour was a countryside visit on our 3 hour drive to the tunnels. We boarded our bus around 7:30 am and then drove through a small part of Saigon and then to the countryside. While driving, the tour guide promised we would have time to drive by some of the major sites in downtown Saigon. For the next three hours we drove through the countryside north of Saigon and our port. We passed miles and miles of ... read more
Lilly Farms
Moped crazy in Vietnam, main form of transportation
These are utility line. This is crazy and confusing.

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi November 9th 2015

The Vietnamese are cool people. I never thought that they would invite me to fire an AK47 at the Cu Chi Tunnels and pose like Rambo on an amoured vehicle. I've crawled through over 100 metres of tiny tunnels, seen the lethal traps and hidden down holes. It's fun now, despite the sweaty heat, but it would've been a horrible way to exist back in the 60s and 70's. The day didn't start so good. I had suspected that Qatar Airlines had more nasty surprises for us, but it still was a horrible shock to be poven right when our luggage didn't arrive with us when we finally got to Ho Chi Minh almost a day late. I was suspicious that when we asked staff in Doha and Kuala Lumpa if our luggage was being sent ... read more
Drago fruit
Drinking the dragonfruit juice
Lunchtime restaurant

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi August 7th 2015

Day 19 - Củ Chi Tunnels and War Remnants museum A good start to the day, up and around at about 7am. I always stay good first thing, and am usually in pain by lunch, and in agony by bedtime, but am noticing that good spells are getting longer every day! I make my own life difficult as I refuse to miss anything! After breakfast today, we are being picked up to go on a group tour to Củ Chi tunnels. The tunnels of Củ Chi are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels located in the Củ Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and are part of a much larger network of tunnels that underlie much of the country. We were shown in, and through some of the tunnel network. Unbelievable! Throughout the ... read more
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Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi July 9th 2015

So we spoke to soon is saying our travels to Vietnam were uneventful. We boarded in Korea to head to Saigon and got a good laugh watching the shit show of people boarding trying to get their luggage on and use a combination of letters and numbers. We arrived Saigon and waited for our visas with only one guy working them. Kirsten commented that it at least when they got their visas their luggage would be there. Heading down the elevators, Lynn and Chester see their luggage on the carousal. Kirsten did not see hers and after a few minutes getting run over by luggage trolleys, Kirsten told Chester she did not have a good feeling about her luggage. And she was right. It never arrived. So she made a claim with a 3rd party who ... read more

Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Ho Chi Minh City » Cu Chi June 3rd 2015

Yesterday we decided to go on a half day tour to the Cu Chi tunnels to learn about the Vietnam war. Our tour guide was a 70 year old war veteran named Sunny who spoke 4 languages and was extremely knowledgable. The drive to the tunnel was around an hour and a half which was a great way to see the other districts and the rural parts of Ho Chi Minh City - which was previously called Saigon. We went through a few districts and found out that there is no district 13 as 13 is a unlucky number and is taken very seriously here. We were wondering why there is a 12th and 14th floor in our hotel but no 13th! When we stepped out of the air conditioned car we instantly started sweating in ... read more
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