Ho Chi Minh city

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The 10 hour bus trip from Kratie to Ho Chi Minh city via Phnom Penh turned into a 14 hour trip. Crossing the border was straightforward, we all piled off the bus at Cambodian immigration and got our exit stamps then walked about 25 metres to Vietnamese immigration where they checked our visas gave us an entry stamp and it was back on the bus. We were treated to a spectacular lightning display as we approached HCMC and then it bucketed down but stopped just as we entered the city. What a crazy place this is, so many people and so many motorbikes nearly all of them little 100cc or 125cc Honda scooters. I gotta buy shares in Honda. Got seen off by the taxi driver that took me to the hotel but even so I wouldn't have got the length of Wairau Rd for the same money at home. The Bali B Hotel is pretty central to everything and very clean and tidy, probably the best I have stayed in to date.

DAY 2

Arranged a day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels where the Viet Cong fighters, and the villagers that supported them, hid right under the noses of the Americans during the Vietnam War, known as the American war here. They had over 250km of tunnels stretching from the Cambodian border to within 30 odd km of Saigon itself. The VC were extremely clever at hiding the tunnels and any evidence of them having been built. They would fill up bomb craters with the excavated dirt, or drop it in the river, or even build fake termite mounds with it and the entrances were well disguised. The tunnels themselves were tiny, there's no way the average sized European could get into them. The Americans employed Filipino and Thai soldiers (known as Rat soldiers) to go into the tunnels when they found them. The Americans used dogs to try and find tunnel airvents so the VC would steal US soap to place over the vents to disguise the smell. There was an enormous tonnage of bombs dropped on Vietnam, as well as Cambodia and Laos, and only around 80% of them exploded. When the VC found unexploded ordinance (uxo) they would take them to underground workshops, cut them open and use the explosives to make mines and grenades. The bomb cases were cut up to make booby traps. We were treated to a 15 minute propaganda movie about the Cu Chi fighters. It was not unlike the Pathe news reels that we used to get before the movies. Different bad guy though. As you walked around during the tunnel area it felt almost like a war zone as there was the constant sound of automatic weapons fire from the firing range. I has my 1 second of fun and fired off 10 rounds with an M30 machine gun. At $2 a round it could get seriously expensive to fire a extended burst.

In the evening I walked down to Bui Vien which is a street lined with bars and restaurants. I found a little Vietnamese restaurant about half way along and sat out on the street watching what seemed to be the whole of humanity parade past, girls plying their various trades, ladyboys doing the same, Vietnamese and foreigners all coming to see and be seen. Absolutely crazy place. Met a lovely Irish couple from Donegal and whiled away the evening with them.

DAY3

Today I headed off on another tour. This time of the Mekong delta. After a 2 hour bus ride, every bus ride is a minimum of 2 hours in HCMC as the average road speed is around 40km/h because of all the scooters, took a boat to Unicorn Island to watch coconut candy being made. As I got off the boat I whacked into a low hanging metal sign and split my head open. Luckily I had my hat on so at least the wound was clean. When I took my hat off to check it blood cascaded down my face and over my shirt. One woman on the tour almost fainted and had to sit down. I could have done with a sit down myself. Anyway got most of it washed off and on we went to a little honey making place and one or two others. It was mainly an opportunity for the locals to sell their wares at inflated prices to tourists. Did take a canoe trip through overgrown waterways which was fun but otherwise it was a bit touristy for me. The heavens opened again as we got back on the bus for the trip back to the city but it was just a light shower by the time we got back. I then spent 45 minutes finding a pharmacy to get some betadine cream to stick on the hole in my head, had the equivalent of KFC from a street stall, one of their secret ingredients is definitely chilli, and called it a day.

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Comments

[Lisa]

Brings back memories!
oh the phrases "10 hour bus trip from turned into a 14 hour trip" and "It was mainly an opportunity for the locals to sell their wares at inflated prices to tourists....it was a bit touristy for me" really bring back memories! Very excited you found a Vietnamese restaurant in Vietnam though lol!

[Garrick]

I'll never forget the sound of that gunfire echoing around the forest at Cu Chi, so surreal as you wandered along trying to listen to the guide tell propaganda stories about the evil invaders. We went for the cheap AK47 option at only $1 a bullet, but looked on in envy as some maniac blew hundreds of USD on several minutes of sustained M30 fire from the back of the jeep. :-)