Lost

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I am lost.

I woke up this morning not remembering what day it is. Is it Tuesday? Wednesday? Thursday? Saturaday? I think it is good to be lost when you are on vacation. I think it means that you are not counting the days and just relaxing and having fun. And boy am I having fun. Yes, that is right, I am having fun. To those who helped me plan this trip, listen and listen caresfully...you were right, I was wrong, there was nothing to worry about. Athough, I think it was from all the planning that is making this trip fun!

Today, I meet two comples from Australia who were also "lost". They too did not know what day it was. After hearing us asking what day it was, the tour guide from Siagon Tourist laughed. We asked what was funny and she said that all her tourists always ask what day it was!

As I mentioned in my last blog, today, I jumped on a tour to visit the Cu Chi Tunnel. The drive wasn't too bad because I had read that even though the tunnels are 70km away, it talks about 2 hours to get there because of the traffic and the bad roads outside of the city. It was a small group of us, two couples from Australia and one lady from Austria. The Australian couples were quite nice as we chatted about our current trip, places to see, places to eat and how to bargain at the markets. One couple were new at bargainging and almost bought a tshirt for $8. When the other Austrailian couple and I heard this, we laughed. We told them that they need to bargain and get that shirt down to $4, so the whole trip to and from the tunnels, we all chatted up a storm. Maybe that is why the ride was a quick one.

As for the tunnel, it was quite an interesting and amazing site to see. The entrance wholes are very small, the original one that is. They had made some entrances large enough for us North Americans with our broad shoulders to get into the tunnel. After you manage to get into through the entrance, then there were the tunnels itself. They were super dark and super small. If you wanted to go through the tunnels, you basically have to crab walk all the way though. And they mentioned that it could be about 20-40 meters from a room to another room. What is amazing is that, you have to do this in the dark. You absolutly cannot see in the tunnels so you have to know which way to turn or you might crawl right into a wall or crawl into diferent connecting tunnel and get lost (see, lost is the subject of the day!). Lucky for us, they let visitors into the largest tunnel section. Now you may say, that is nothing, I can go through the tunnels, let me say this, it is very claustrophobic in the tunnels, once you are in and people are behind you, you cannot turn back as everyone behind you have to turn back. And, you can't really turn back because there is not enough space to turn back, you have to crawl backwards! You may not know the feeling till you experience it yourseld, for the 7 of us in my tour group, only 2 people actuall when through the tunnels. Most of us got about 3 meters in and we were done!
* sorry for the blurry picture, I didn't take it and I had more pictures but I think the computer I am on cannot read my camera properly and only some are available to be read.

Next on the list is a trip to the Mekong delta. I had heard that the fruits in the Mekong is to die for. Those are music to my ears as I will be staying on a fruit farm which means unlimited fruits for me?! I hope so but something tells me that my stomach might not be in agreement for this leg of the trip! I will spare you those details if it were to happen.

I am not sure how deleloped the Mekong delta is so I am not sure if I will be able to post more blogs, send emails and text until I get back to the city which is on the 11th or 12th. Hopefully I won't forget any fun and exciting details for the next few days so I can share them with you when I get back.

So, until then, be good, have fun. Hope the weather is good back home as it is here....nothing sun sunny days in my past, present and future days! Haha. Hope work is going well and still running smoothly. How are the Canucks doing? Have we traded Schneider yet?

Till next time....

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Comments

[Rachel]

Hi there
I'm really enjoying your blog and photos as I'm coming to Saigon next week to visit my friend and want to know what to visit. You are the only person blogging at the moment, so thank you! I've tried to register on here so I can write my own but it hasn't gone so well. Think I'm lost in cyberspace somewhere.......... Keep writing!!

[cyvrpilot]

Saigon sights
Hi Rachel! How has your trip been going? What have you seen and done? I recommend Ben Thanh Market. Some good shopping, cheap food and lots to see. Remember to bargain like you never have before. I always cut the price in half at those stalls. I have been eating the local food and haven't gotten sick so I recommend it if you can tolerate it. The food is much cheaper at local stalls and street stalls than at restaurants. You can get a bowl of pho (soup noodles for $1US instead of $6 at the restaurant). Also, the back of the market has the fresh catch of the day so it's cool to see. Another place I just went to is the local zoo, it only costs 60cents US to get in. I have seen most of the animals at other zoos but for 60cents how can you go wrong? I have been going on some tours with Saigon Tourists. I recommend them too. I have visited the Chu Chi Tunnel with Saigon Tourist. I took a 4 day Hanoi/Halong Bay tour with them as well. I will be doing a Mekong Delta tour and a water puppet and dinner cruise this week with them too. Their prices are good too. I have visited a night market in Destrict 7. I don't know if they still have it as it was for Tet (New Year). I don't remember what it's called though. I can find out if you like. Let me know. What about you? Tell me about your trip, or at least let me know when you have started to blog!! Thanks for reading my blog! Hope you enjoy it and it helps you a little. Happy travels Vince