Blogs from Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 7

I've always enjoyed war movies dating from the World War I and World War II... it's a shame how I've 'only' heard of the war in Vietnam but have no clue what it's all about.... how it started.... and how it ended... I must admit that it was more of a disturbing shock for me when I saw the other side (the vietnam side, since being in Canada all I see is the hollywood american war heroes) of the war during my visit at the Cu Chi Tunnel... and after I visited the War Remnants Museum at Ho Chi Minh it opened my eyes to the reality of war and what exactly happened during the Vietnam War... something more than the eye can explain... reading the description of the war remnants and seeing the pictures of ... read more

Our Vietnamese border crossing was at the newly opened border town of Ha Tien with a final destination of the island of Phu Quoc. We left on a journey that should have taken three hours from Shinoukville but in fact took six. A lot of the stoppages were unnecessary but we did not suspect what was to come. Upon arrival at the port at 12.58 we knew the boat was supposed to depart at 1pm but as there were 30 tourists who had all booked the onward journey to the island we assumed it wouldn't be a problem. Having exchanged our bus tickets for boat tickets we hurried down to the pier only to see the gangplank raised and the boat ready to leave. Despite the protests to the crew the boat did indeed leave without ... read more

I was up at 8.00am this morning with a severe hangover before getting the tour bus to the CU CHI Tunnels. These are a complex of underground tunnels that some of the Vietnamese people retreated to during the war. They fought from underground using various deadly booby traps, sniper holes and other tactics with the limited resource they had. There was a short walk into the jungle first of all before reaching the complex. The Tunnels go to 10 meters deep, it gets really hot under the ground and is totally pitch black. I learned quite a lot about the war here and it’s odd to think that it only happened around 30 - 40 years ago. The tour guide was a real raconteur and kept everyone entertained. Some of the tunnels can’t be entered anymore ... read more

Das zweite Ziel der Tour waren die Tunnel von cu Chi, ein ausgedehntes Tunnelsystem, das den Partisanen der Vietcong als Lebensraum und Basis für Guerilla-Angriffe auf amerikanische Streitkräfte und ihre südvietnamesischen Verbündeten diente. Unser Führer hieß Hai (ja, wie der Fisch) und er entschuldigte sich bereits zu Beginn der Tour für sein schlechtes Englisch. Er hatte selbst im Amerikanischen Krieg, wie der Vietnamkrieg hier genannt wird, auf Seiten der Amerikaner gekämpft. Danach hatte er zwanzig Jahre lang kein Englisch mehr gesprochen. Nach dem Krieg war es nicht einfach für ihn, einen Job zu finden und auch heute noch verdient er laut eigener Aussage mit 5 $ am Tag weniger als andere Guides, die 8 $ verdienen würden. Wie sich aber herausstellte, war sein Englisch durchaus verständlich und seine Erläuterungen von einem trockenen Humor geprägt. Wir waren ... read more

PHNOM PENH TO HO CHI MINH CITY It took the entire day to cross from Phnom Penh to the Vietnamese border, to tackle customs and then to reach Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) itself, but on Tues 10 November 2009 we crossed into Vietnam and at 9pm we finally arrived at our destination Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). NEVER MIND ALL THE BICYCLES IN BEIJING, THERE ARE A BILLION SCOOTERS IN HO CHI MINH! The first thing which struck us about Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) was the sheer volume of scooters there. There were billions!! No exaggeration! Looking out from the bus, you could just see a sea of heads, you couldn't even begin to count how many gathered at each red traffic light (well thats if they bothered to stop at the red ... read more