Our final stop in Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City (Day 72 - 75 by Chris)

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Friday 27th November 2015

Today we took another sleeper bus for the bargain price of £4 each for 5 hours south to Ho Chi Minh City, now going to be referred to as HCMC as its a pain in the bum to write. We arrived in the late afternoon and was dropped off just around the corner from the backpacker area of Bui Vien. We had chosen to stay at Giang Son hotel for 4 nights with a cost of £7 each per night. We chose this place as the reviews claimed it was close enough to the restaurants but down a side street so hidden from the noise and lights. We arrived and were told to go to their 'number 2 hotel' down the road. They told us to go back to where we started. It turns out there was an error with the booking so they arranged for a motorbike to take us to their 'number 3 hotel' which was 200 metres away. Finally we checked into our room which was simple, but good enough for us and the price. We then headed out for some food and a drink. We went to a restaurant which was number 3 on Trip Advisor called Bun Cha which is the name of the restaurant, but also a type of food in Vietnam. This place opened at 5pm and we arrived at around 5:02 and there was only 1 table left. We took it and ordered some Bun Cha, which is a soup with some pork, but more like crackling and then a side of noodles and lettuce leaf which you add to the soup yourself. We also had a pork skewer and some seafood balls which were 'ok'. After eating we headed to 'The View' which is a bar on the backpacker street which offers great views over HCM. It was pissing it down as we walked to the bar and into the hotel lobby (bar is above the hotel) and passed the Christmas tree (strange thing to see when its 30 degrees outside and you're in shorts). We went in the lift and managed to get a table on the terrace but under a canopy. The views weren't brilliant due to the rain, but it was nice sitting there with a few beers and just chatting. The beers were cheap and Gemma manged to get drunk on approx £1.60. Now that is either a sign of how cheap drinks are, or how much of a lightweight Gemma is. You decide. Afterwards we headed to the hotel to sleep.

Saturday 28th November 2015

We decided to see some sights of HCMC today so headed off after a lie-in to the War Remnants Museum. As the name suggests, this place hosts lots of things from the Vietnam war, or the American invasion of Vietnam as I think I'll refer to it. As you enter, you walk first through a courtyard which housed some American tanks, planes, helicopters and then into the museum proper, there are 3 levels. We headed to the top level and worked our way down. The Museum is set up like a storyboard and walks you though the pre-war, war and post war in chronological order. It added to our deepening knowledge of Asia since WW2 and the impact (mostly negative) that America played in this region. To be fair, this museum does only tell one side of the story, but from what we saw, it was another war created for no other reason than the Americans were terrified of communism spreading and so felt the need to 'Liberate' the Vietnamese of their communist suppressors, but did this by killing Vietnamese people. A pointless war that saw the needless deaths of Vietnamese soldiers, civilians and American soldiers. What was worse though and had the biggest impact on us, was the room showing pictures and explaining what 'Agent Orange' is. This was a poisons gas which America used over the countryside and jungle as they were unable to conquer the Vietnamese in these areas because of their guerrilla tactics. This gas wiped out trees and therefore cover, and also killed thousands of people. The shocking thing about this was that agent orange is still having an impact of the Vietnamese today as the poison gas has caused birth defects in many offspring over 3 generations. A shocking and sombre afternoon.

After our somber visit to the War Remnants Museum we headed back to our hotel to have a nap and then headed out for some food. It was Saturday night so I intended to stay out and watch some football with a few beers, but as kick off is close to midnight here, we went back to the room, Gemma slept and I manged to watch the first half of a game before waking up the next morning wondering what had happened.

Sunday 29th November 2015

We had an excursion booked from 1:30pm from our Hotel, so had a lazy morning eating breakfast and watching some TV. The excursion we booked was arranged by the Hotel but was through a travel company called TNK Travel who I mention because they were very good and come recommended by us. The trip was to the Cu Chi tunnels which is based in an area called Cu Chi about 2 hours drive north west of HCMC . The guide picked us up from the hotel and when realising my name was Potter decided he'd be original and refer to me as Harry! I didn't mind as he was actually quite a nice bloke. We got onto our comfortable, air con bus and along with approx 20 other people were giving a history lesson by the tour guide (Jay Jay was his name) and it was interesting to hear of his own families experiences during the war and also sad to see the passion on his face for the loss that Vietnam had experienced.

The tunnels, for those that are not aware were a network on tunnels, approx 1m high and the width of one average size person built 3 metres underground in the jungle. They were used by the Viet Con (the army fighting against the Americans) and covered an area of 250 sq km. They were so complex that they also included a kitchen area, hospital and sleeping quarters. We were given the opportunity to go inside one of the tunnels which had 2 parts. The first part 20 metres long and was made slightly bigger for the 'Western Tourist' and the other was 80 metres long and of original size. We opted for the smaller one but struggled to walk through as you're essentially squat walking in a very narrow space. We cant quite imagine how people could live down there for the years that they did. Before we entered the tunnels though we watched a video explaining all about them and he area of Cu Chi. The video was in black and white and was made during the time of the war. The TV was positioned under the flag of Vietnam and a portrait of Ho Chi Minh himself. This was propaganda in its finest form. Originally made for the Vietnamese people, it was dubbed into English and explained how a girl during the war had served in the tunnels as a soldier and she was awarded numerous medals for 'Killing the American Devils'. We sat and watched with an open mind, but also aware that we were watching propaganda. After this, Jay Jay walked us through the area and showed us small hidden entrances into the tunnels, some booby traps that were used to kill American soldiers and then finally the tunnels themselves. After this, we had the chance to shoot some weapons on the shooting range which we declined. We then headed back to the Hotel having had a good half day tour. We went out for dinner on the backpacker street and then went to bed.

Monday 30th November 2015

Our final full day in HCMC and Vietnam 😞

We had arranged a tour to the Mekong Delta through the same tour company as our trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This time we had a guide called Yen, who was on par with the other guide, Jay Jay. We were collected at 8:30am and driven to the Mekong Delta which is based 2 hours south of HCMC . The area is popular as the Mekong River runs through and ends here. The Mekong River is one of the longest in the world and start in Nepal and runs through China, Laos, Cambodia and ends in Vietnam. The tour first took us to My Tho where we were taken to a small village to sample some locally sourced honey which was mixed with tea. There was an opportunity to hold a bee hive which we declined but we ate some fruit and sampled the honey tea. The tea was nice, but nothing special. They gave us a fact sheet which explained that the honey they had basically cured any disease know to man. Seriously, this sheet listed almost everything from eczema to head aches and cancer. Perhaps this was overselling the honey, or someone should seriously look into this as many people could do with this honey medicine. We also got to see 4 local farmers play some traditional instruments and sing. This was lost on us 2 and gave us a headache as they all seemed to be playing their own tune. A harrowing experience.

We then walked down some lovely little paths through and past streams and coconut trees to an offshoot of the Mekong River. Here, we climbed aboard a tiny rowing boat that could only fit 4 people and the driver. We slowly made our way down stream passing very green vegetation giving this a mystic lost land sort of feel. We only spent about 5 mins on the boat before we arrived at a stop where we got to try some sweets made from coconut and saw the process from which the local people make the sweets. They were lovely and sweet, but we felt this was an unnecessary stop, and like the honey stop, was just an attempt to flog some crap to the tourists, something we weren't bothered by, but the group of 5 Filipinos on our group were only too happy to do. At this same stop a man appeared with a big bag and inside was a python. We had an opportunity to have a photo taken with the snake around our neck and this time I obliged. I stood there trying to look calm but secretly crapping myself as the snakes head peered into my eyes and its body wound around my arm. Gemma quickly took some pictures and I quickly returned the snake to the owner. For the rest of the day my neck and shoulders stank of dirty snake.

We moved on from the snake/coconut stop and boarded a pretty large boat that would take the whole group 30 mins down the Mekong River to another island called Ben Tre where we stopped for some food, which was very simple rice and fried pork, most of which we gave to the dog sat next to us. We chatted to a Spanish couple who gave us some information on accommodation to stay at when we visit the island of Koh Rong in Cambodia in a few days time. Their pictures looked incredible and we are hoping for a similar experience when we venture there.

Our final stop was another short boat ride down the river and to a pagoda. This was quite a new temple/pagoda place and has 3 huge Buddhas, one big fat sitting Buddha, one reclining and one standing. A nice enough thing to see but not mind blowing and the whole area was only 5 years old and so we felt it was something built to show tourists rather than an actual working temple. We then got back on the bus and made our way back to HCMC. This day was so-so. It was nice to see the River and even get to travel down it on a boat, but the time wasting stops which only benefited the local people trying to sell us crap was a disappointment. That evening we had a pizza at a pizza restaurant next to our hotel and then went to the room to watch 'The Killing Fields' movie in preparation for our trip to Cambodia the following day.

And so this brings our time in Vietnam to a close. After 3 weeks of travelling from North to South we both had an amazing, unforgettable and varied time. We've seen amazing scenery in Halong Bay, hustle and bustle in Hanoi, ancient relics in Hue, amazing relaxation in beautiful Hoi An, a Russian resort in Nha Trang, a laid back vibe and sand dunes in Mui Ne and finally a western feel from HCMC. This truly is an must visit country if you're ever in Asia. Its varied, cheap, beautiful, friendly and so very easy to travel around. We are sad to be departing, but our trip must continue and the next place on our list is Cambodia.....

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