Saigon Day 2

SAIGON Day TWO

Today we caught an 8am bus that we had booked the day before to the Cu Chi tunnels. Now these tunnels are only about 30km outside Saigon but it took about 2 hours to get there. They are out off tiny roads And, we had to stop at the infamous pit stop/place that sells you homemade crafts at outrageous prices (for Vietnam, moderate prices by our standards). We finally arrived at the tunnels though. The first thing I want to tell you is that our guide referred to us as “my group of 48” since that is how many people were on our tour bus. Upon arrival at the Cu Chi tunnels you watch the world's greatest video. Literally, it is the best piece of propaganda I have seen – and I loved looking at the Nazi stuff. This video was Ho Chi Minh style anti-American propaganda. Some key phrases included “like a little batch of devils they fired... into schools and at Buddhas” and the proudly bragged in the video that “bamboo traps which use to be used to catch animals were now used to catch the American enemies” and they claimed that “America wanted to turn Cu Chi into a dead ground – but Cu Chi refused to die”. There were countless of quotes that were equally priceless but I didn't get a chance to write them all down. You get the gist. I tried desperately to buy a copy of that beautiful masterpiece of propaganda but they don't sell it – go figure! Anyway, then we got to walk around and see how they hid from the US Gis, all the traps they set for them, and then we got to crawl around in the tunnels. At best they are 1.2 meters high (about 4 .5 feet) and Sarah and I crawled through the most we could, including points where we literally crawled on hands and knees pushing our purses in front of us and I was carrying my camera in my teeth. Yes, I do have some pictures. Anyway, I had thought Bangkok was hot until we got to Hanoi and Vietnam which was a whole new breed of heat. Well, these tunnels took it to a new level. The heat was ridiculous. We were covered in dirt and sweating bullets but loved the whole experience, truly priceless. As we were leaving the Cu Chi tunnels, they gave us the option of going to the on site firing range and paying money to fire the whole American weapons they had collected like AK 47s. An 8 year old Asian book in our group got to fire one. I was very disturbed and lets just say I did NOT take the opportunity to fire the US abandoned Vietnam war relic AK47s.

Now, let me take a moment to tell you all about some of the beautiful things I saw carried on motor bikes in Saigon – refrigerator, tvs (in the box), computer monitors, computers motherboards, etc. This is all on something smaller than a Harley. Oh, also with all the driving around I notice that there are a plethora of Ho Chi Minh posters all over Saigon, whereas I saw very few in Hanoi. I found that interesting, but not that surprising.

The Clintons and there visit to Vietnam in 1995 is very popular in Vietnam. You know if the shop you go in our the place you eat is someplace they visited. They also sell lots of books about the Clintons, go figure.

Just an FYI, so far from my experience in cities in Vietnam, men's hair is much more done up and eccentric than womens. Women tend to have straight hair whereas the men often feather theres and whatnot. While I am on the subject of beauty in Vietnam, they sell skin bleaching solution and whitening powder here. The women especially are desperate to have pale skin. They want it so much they buy and where these gloves that go up to where a t-shirt would end while they are walking or driving a motorbike to prevent there skin from tanning. Now in that heat, that is a really dedication to the quest to be pale.

Finally, I think it is funny that while the war museums and other war relics yell messages of Communism and anti-Americanism they are milking it financially for all it's worth – seems pretty Capitalist to me. Just a thought though....

After the Cu Chi tunnels we went the Reunification Palace, the same palace that the Viet Cong broke down the gates of on April 30, 1975. Now, let me first say they have preserved it much as it was on that day (including tanks in the yard) and all I can say is HELLO 1970s. The entire place is in yellows and greens of the 1970s with the arictecture straight out of the Brady Bunch. I loved it. Brady Bunch with a Communist twist and plenty of Ho Chi Minh posters. Downstairs in the basement is the war command center of the South Vietnamese President, complete with all his maps - my favorite part, Also, they have the spots where the bombs were dropped on the palace marked with red circles, which is pretty entertaining. Apparently the Viet Cong who first bombed it now runs Vietnam Airlines domestic flights. I flew them to Saigon. Lovely.

Post the Palace we ventured back to the hostel. We went for a drink at the Rex Hotel rooftop bar and tried very unsuccessfully, as in 4 massage parlors later, to get massages - a new goal for us in Siam Reap, Cambodia. The Rex Hotel bar was highly overpriced but gave a great view of the city and took credit cards we we smiled and payed. The, we went to dinner at a place called Milwaukee that had Harley Davidsons everywhere and I ate some Mekong fish with a cheese. It was good. We also got Saigon beer on draft which is pretty damn tasty and cold. Then, Sarah and I decided we must try snake wine our last night in Vietnam and we headed back to Saigon bar near our hostel to try some. Literally, the man poured us two glasses out of a vat of snakes in juice. He even pulled the cobras head out of the jar to give us the full view of the snake. We cheers and drank and boy is it gross - tastes like rotten black liquorice. But, try everything once. And yes, we do have pictures.

We left the next morning at 8am for a long bus ride to Phnom Pehn, the capital of Cambodia!


Oh, on a personal note.I have news!!! First, my little cousin Jensen's soccer team won FIRST PLACE at Badger State (aka Wisconsin) soccer games!! WOOO HOOO! Also, Emily accepted a Peace Corp placement in Rwanda that leaves in January.That means I shall be in Cameroon, Sarah in Mozambique, and Emily in Rwanda! Keep those posts coming guys! Also, sad note, Germany lost the EuroCup final game 1-0. They lost to Spain. I was crushed. Next time guys! Next time! However, on the bright side, that should make Jensen's and her soccer team's upcoming (as in the next few days) trip to Spain all the more exciting. Too bad they are too young to enjoy the marvelous bar action that goes with winning the EuroCup - I suppose I shall have to rise to the occasion and head out for a beer right now in their place. Hard life I have right??