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Published: August 8th 2007
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We left Mui Ne slightly down after a lack of sun and weren't looking forward to the prospect of a Hanoi-esque city in the rain! Thankfully Saigon hasn't disappointed, has been lots of fun and the weather has been good to us.
Our first day we decided to do some sight seeing around the city and found a friendly cyclo driver to take us to where we couldn't be bothered to walk!This was another fun, if a little scary cyclo ride- there are 9 million people in Saigon and 9 million motorbikes-this says it all!! Our first stop was the Jade Emperor pagoda which also had a small and dirty pond outside but with loads of funny turtles inside pushing each other off rocks into the water! The pagoda itself was very impressive and had a peaceful, very calming atmosphere inside. Next stop was the Notre Dame Cathedral- one of many catholic churches here ( Vietnam is 90% buddhist, 10% christian). Next door was the general post office which actually wasn't as dull as it sounds- a huge building unchanged since the 1800's. After a spot of (expensive) lunch - we were in the rich area of the city with
claire and a python
...the only girl to brave it! all the Ritz-like hotels - we passed by the city hall which stands at the end of a long tree lined avenue that looks especially impressive at night with all the lights lit up. We took at look at the river front and the Ben Thanh market- a huge, busy mixture of Vietnamese and tourists.
Finally we've found a mango shake worthy of our first one in Louang Prabang-needless to say we've gone back several times since this discovery!! We're staying near the De Tham International cross roads which is backpacker central in Saigon with plenty of choice for yummy food and drinks and hundreds of tour agents. We booked onto two tours for the following days; a Mekong Delta trip and a visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels.
Up early and armed with chocolate croissants for the journey we headed off to the Mekong Delta. The trip started with a boat ride to see some fishing villages; the prime economic trade in the area and continued round four of the islands in the Delta. Next stop we saw where they make rice paper which was really interesting and we got to try a bit- surprisingly tasty. After
lunch we got back onto our motorised boat and slowly made our way through one of the small tributaries- with Chris getting to spot a water snake lucky devil! We got to listen to some traditional Vietnamese music for the first time which was nice and tried some tea- not so nice! We then transferred into a horse and carriage - with a very small but strong and speedy horse pulling all of us fattys along!! We then had a stop for afternoon snacks in a small jungle village where they make honey. Chris held one of the bee's nests and we got to try some home made Vietnamese Sake with honey which was strong but delicious! Our guide then whipped out a gigantic python which us two brave adventurers hung on our shoulders though it got a bit friendly with Chris and slowly started to wind his way round his neck a little bit! After all that excitement we got into a small rowing boat and had a gentle ride down one of the really small tributaries of the Mekong which was really peaceful. Our day finished with a visit to the local coconut candy 'factory' where we saw
it being converted from raw coconut and sugar to some not so tasty sweets!
After a tasty dinner we had a couple of games of pool and then were joined by two Nigerian guys who suggested playing a game where you all pick a number and once you're numbers been potted you're out of the game (Ama- you'll be proud to know Chris won!) .
Up early again the next day for a trip to the famour Cu Chi tunnels- a huge network of 250 km's of tiny tunnels that the local people dug in order to shelter from and in the end fight against american soldiers. Not once could you stand up straight in the dark tunnels- resulting in many bumped heads! We were in there for no more than 5 mins and were completely exhasuted by the effort it took to crawl the small distance we did- you can only imagine what it would have been like spending weeks at a time inside. We also saw some grusome traps that would have been laid on the jungle floor and covered in leaves and almost always ended up with the victim being impailed on bamboo spikes. There
chris in a hole!
these are the tiny entrances (which also lead to tiny passages) at the Cu Chi Tunnels was also a gun range where you could fire machine guns and AK47's - the noise of which made the whole place shake and made imagining what it must have been like during the war a little bit easier ad we could hear the crackle of gun fire as we walked through the forest.
The afternoon was spent at the war remnants museum back in Saigon which was an extremely humbling and moving experience for us both. As well as US military hardware such as tanks, helicopters, planes, guns and shells from the war itself there was also an in depth photographic account of life during the war and the effects of the war including the chemical weapons used - one of which 'agent orange' caused, and still causes huge deformities in new born babies and many other serious health implications- the pictures of which were emotional and often distirbuing to say the least. There was also the intact remains of the 'tiger cages' where up to 15 people, often political prisoners, could be kept in a tiny windowless stone cell for years. It was particularly moving given how recent such events took place, seeing the very places for
ourselves and also knowing how few lessons have been learned since.
Our time in Vietnam has unfortunately come to an end- we are catching the bus to Phnom Penh in Cambodia tomorrow are now off to enjoy our last evening in Ho Chi Minh city....
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