Ho Chi Minh and the Cu Chi Tunnels

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After arriving in Ho Chi Minh yesterday to gang nam style things did not quickly improve. We got in a taxi gave the driver our address and he dropped us in the middle of a street with the same name as our hotel and then tried to charge us double what was on the meter. There was a huge sign which said ONLY PAY WHAT IS ON THE METER so we stuck to our guns and he finally accepted that he was in the wrong and went leaving us with no idea where we were. Taxi men were going are you looking for hotel? It's there!! Pointing at the Sheraton which looked amazingly expensive. We wandered up and down looking for our actual hotel. We found it right on the other end of the road sort of tucked away. I was feeling very stroppy by this point and was sick of people telling me to BUY NOW!! So took five minutes to chill out and stop being so touchy!
Once I'd stopped being a stroppy cow we went for some lunch and then to the war remnants museum which was pretty eye opening. It was mostly photographs and stories written in both English and Vietnamese. It was really interesting but just very sad. There are still being children born who are deformed seriously because of agent orange. Once we had finished with the museum we caught a taxi and headed back to our hotel. We were feeling weary and not up for much so had an early night which probably did us the world of good as we woke up ready for our amazing trip to the chu chi tunnels. We had booked it with a reputable looking travel agency and when a big bus pulled up we got on happily. There were a large mature Australian couple and a family of four from South Africa. After driving around for 10 minutes the bus stopped and we were told that bus was going to Cambodia and we had to get off for our tour. Oh my word! The bus! It was a 20 seater.. There were 24 + our guide on there. He stood up the whole 2 1/2 hour each way journey. We were like sardines. We stopped after about an hour at a factory where people who had been deformed due to agent orange were employed by the government to make souvenirs. It was like a cross between a sweatshop and a zoo and Eireann and I both felt very uncomfortable. Behind the factory was a shop with lacquer goods. All the westerners on the tour then waited for the Vietnamese on the tour who were quite embarrassing with all the pictures and things they were taking. Back on the road our guide finally started his talk. He was very interesting. He was a viet kong (meaning Vietnamese red) soldier. He had fought and lived in the tunnels as a young man. He showed us his scars where he was shot by Americans. Then he sang songs. Homemade songs. All to the same tune. All made up. None which made sense. We would get to know that tune well as he sung it A LOT so we could find him amongst all the other thousands of tours which were taking place. The tunnels themselves were such a disappointment but I'm sure that was down to the fact our tour took so long. And was so big we couldn't hear what was being said. And our guide said things in English then Vietnamese and then slow simple English for those who were French or Dutch. He also repeated himself a lot. He told us about his new young wife who is 30years younger than he is and we all had to coo over a picture of his 5 year old son. Everyone was glad when it was bus time as we were tired, hot and hungry. We waited and waited. One of the Vietnamese families had gone missing. We carried on waiting and waiting eventually the emerged from the on site restaurant having had a full sit down meal whist we waited. The New Zealanders were getting very irate by this point. Once we were FINALLY back in Ho Chi Minh we decided that we were ready for Cambodia and went on the quest for a travel company who weren't in the business of cramming us into a sardine can for 6 hours. We found a place which seemed too good to be true. A private tour. Just the two of us with a guide. A decent hotel stop over and the fast boat to Phnom Penh included. We risked it and booked it and tomorrow will tell if we have just paid for something we don't get... Night night!

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