Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) & Cu Chi Tunnel Tour

Ho Chi Minh City: Jan. 24-27, 2009

The bus ride to Saigon was not quite as exciting as the ride to Mue Nei, but we were still fortunate to be part of the game of chicken that that the bus driver was fully into on the way back. Heaven forbid that bus drivers in Vietnam don’t partake in this game that risks the lives of their passengers. We made it safely to Saigon and found our little hole in the wall “bed and breakfast” called The Ordinary B&B that we called home for the next few nights. It was ordinary for sure and definitely not a “boutique B&B” as it had stated. We dropped our bags and pulled out the city map to find out where we were in this large city to see if there was anything worth seeing before we went to bed for the night.

First Impression of Saigon: 1 trillion mopeds!! That’s right, I believe I numbered Hanoi with upwards of a billion mopeds, but this city takes the cake. I’m not sure if it is because the sidewalks are a little bigger that it just looks like more, but there are more mopeds in this city that you can swing a stick at. Same rules apply for how many people you can fit on a moped or what you can fit on a moped, and again, we say just about everything. With the TET Holiday coming up, the streets might have been a little more crowded than usual, but I wouldn’t know the difference anyhow. I just knew that I couldn’t cross the street or even try until that light turned green for me to walk. (Check out the Line up of mopeds)Cu Chi Tunnel Tour: Jan. 24th

(This is where B's still needs to finish his story! Hopefully one day that'll happen becuase he's a really funny writer! But for now, I'll fill in the rest of our trip details.)

We decided to use Delta Adventure Tours (http://www.deltaadventuretours.com/) to book a 1/2 day trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels. It was around $16 per person. We took the boat there and returned via the bus. Cu Chi was a major battleground during the Vietnam War. We were able to visit and also go into a section of the 200km tunnel network system located at Ben Dinh 50 km from Ho Chi Minh City. http://www.cuchitunnel.org.vn/

On the way there we went through some water that was pure black. I've never seen water this dark in color, and the smell was about enough to make you puke with one sniff. We thought the German lady behind us was going to lose it. We quickly put on our face masks and held our nose until we got through the raw sewage. The housing along the way. We have so much to be thankful for.

This area was well known during the 1960s for its facilitation of the Viet Cong. The Viet Minh originally dug some of the tunnels during the French invasion. Most of the Cu Chi area was taken over by the Viet Cong and these tunnels became their area of refuge and everyday life. The tunnels were an effective network for waging guerilla warfare on US troops. The tunnel system stretched from Saigon all the way to the Cambodian border. It was a 3 tiered system, and the lowest level was where they would run to in case of an emergency or for survival if needed. The tunnel system was comprised of various types of trap doors, storage areas, hospitals, kitchens, meeting rooms, living areas, command centers, etc. They basically had an entire community underground. At one point, there were 7 villages and 16,000 people living in the tunnels.

The Viet Cong’s strengths in the Cu Chi area was one of the reasons the Johnson administration decided to involve the US in the war. In order to deal with the threat of the Viet Cong in the south so close to the capital, the US established a base camp in Cu Chi. Unfortunately, they built this large base camp right on top of the Viet Cong’s tunnel network. The 25th Division lost many soldiers due to surprise attacks (shot to death in their tents at night) and it took them months to figure out how this was occurring. The tunnels definitely gave the Viet Cong an advantage. They would initiate attacks and then disappear into their trap door and system of underground tunnels. The Australians also helped the US launch large ground operations but never managed to locate the tunnels. As a result, the US turned to the use of chemical defoliants and napalm, but the Viet Cong still remained safe in their tunnels

The US then began to send their soldiers down into the tunnels once they were discovered. They obtained the name of “tunnel rats” and there was a really high causality rate of these soldiers. The Germans implemented the use of German Shepherd dogs which were still easily taken with the trap doors. The Viet Cong would bathe with American soap to deter the German Shepherds from finding them. They would even wear captured US uniforms to confuse the dogs. In the late 1960s, US B-52s carpet-bombed the whole area and destroyed a fair amount of the tunnels and the surrounding area.

Our guide reinforced how difficult of a war this was. Since both sides were Vietnamese, it was difficult to tell a bad guy from the way he looked. The only way a Viet Cong soldier could be identified was by his sandal strap tan. If they wanted to know which side they were on, they’d ask the soldier to remove his sandal.

Many important events were planned from the tunnels like the 1968 TET Offensive.

-Lonely Planet Vietnam

Our guide reviewed the map with us of the area and of the tunnel system. The fierce area of battle became known as the "Iron Triangle."

Brian getting into one of the little entrances below. This is how tiny it was. I guess it's a good thing that the Vietnamese are super small individuals. This is another entrance. Only 2 of the tunnel systems are still kept open for tourism. The other entrances--so our guide told us--have been sealed up with concrete.This little hole by our guide's feet is an example of where the smoke would come up when the kitchen was in use. The Viet Cong would have to cook at a time of the day where it wouldn't be noticeable. The best time to cook was when it was foggy or raining.

An example of the trap door system. Yikes.

Going into the tunnel.

We had to both squat and walk with a hunch in our back in order to walk through the tunnel. I can't imagine having to walk like this all the time. At one point, I was walking like a monkey with bent knees...:) They measure around 80 cm wide by 1.2 m tall.

An example of the height of inside the tunnel. This is a German friend that we met on our tour.

Going to Vietnam as Americans, we didn’t know what to expect. The people were amazingly nice and welcoming. Our tour guide reiterated that feeling we had when he told us how they don’t hold grudges on the past, but how they are progressive and want to move forward. He said when he was younger that his dad would make him exercise and train as if he was going to war. His dad never thought there would be a time when they weren’t fighting. In Vietnam, to us, it seemed as if they welcomed any tourist with open arms. We really have enjoyed the people in this country BUT BEWARE....the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City is very Anti-American.

We stopped at the War Remnants Museum on the way back from the tunnels. The museum houses machinery, aircraft, weapons, photos, and documents mostly on the war with America. It was first opened in 1975 to display exhibits on war crimes and aftermaths. An interesting exhibit they had was a collection of photos taken by 134 war reporters (from 11 nations) killed during the Vietnam War. Some of the photos on exhibit were the journalists last images to take before being killed.

The photos of the My Lai massacre March 1968 and the bottled fetuses damaged by the usage of Agent Orange were very disturbing. We also viewed a model of the Tiger Cages here-the French colonial prisons (basically torture holding cells).

Four times the amount of bombs used in WWII were dropped on Vietnam during the war. From 1961 to 1971, the US sprayed 72 million liters of toxic chemicals over Vietnam including 44 million liters of Agent Orange containing 170kg of dioxin. It was later found out that 1 Tablespoon of dioxin could kill a city of 8 million people. From walking through the city, the effects of Agent Orange were still visible in the many defomed people we saw.

Back to Saigon to celebrate TET. This cute lttle girl was playing on the hammock.

After the North Vietnamese victory in 1975, the first piece of legislation at the first National Assembly in 1976 saw the name change to honor the country’s greatest nationalist leader. The city's name was changed from Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City. The city has around 8 million people and 3 million mopeds!! Compared to Hanoi, it has wider boulevards and grand colonial facades in central District 1 that were contributed by the French.

City Hall below and Nguyen Hue Plaza: This building was originally a French Hotel and was built between 1902 and 1908. Visitors aren’t allowed indoors, but it’s great to look at the amazing colonial style architecture at night or during the day.

We stopped to watch a band perform in preparation for TET.

We also had to grab a bite to eat. We settled on a little food stall serving Pho Ga!

The city was decorated as if it were our Christmas. Lights were up, flowers were arranged, and the people were with their families enjoying the night.

The whole promenade was lined with flower exhibits and amazing arrangements and landscaping.

Here's one of the many flower exhibit examples.

Chuc Mung Nam Moi—Happy New Year!

TET: Tet Nguyen Dan (Festival of the First Day) aka Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year. This is one of the most important dates in the Vietnamese calendar. Families all reunite and gather together to celebrate the coming year and to also remember those that have passed before them. TET is a time to gather and celebrate and many people take the whole week off from work to be with their families. It might take some people a week to reach their families with the terrible traffic during TET. This is why we were able to see all the chaotic TET preparation in Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, and the traffic to Mui Ne—the deliveries and purchases of decorations and fruit trees not to mention those trying to get home to their families was in full effect.

According to Lonely Planet Vietnam, “TET rites begin seven days before New Year’s Day. This is when the Tao Quan—the three Spirits of the Hearth, found in the kitchen of every home—ascend to the heavens to report on the past year’s events to the Jade Emperor. Altars, laden with offerings, are assembled in preparation for the gods’ departure, all in the hope of receiving a favorable report and ensuring good luck for the family in the coming year. Other rituals as TET approaches include visiting cemeteries and inviting the spirits of dead relatives home for the celebrations. Absent family members return home so that the whole family can celebrate TET under the same roof. All loose ends are tied up so that the New Year can be started with a clean slate; debts are paid and cleaning becomes the national sport. A New Year’s tree (cay neu) is constructed to ward off evil spirits. Kumquat trees are popular throughout the country, while branches of pink peach blossoms (dao) grace houses in the north and yellow apricot blossoms (mai) can be found in homes futher south. On New Year’s Even the Tao Quan return to earth. At the stroke of midnight all problems from the previous year are left behind and mayhem ensues. The goal is to make as much noise as possible. Drums and percussions are popular, as well as fireworks. The events of New Year’s Day are crucial as it’s believed they affect the course of life in the year ahead. People take extra care not to be rude or show anger. Other activities that are believed to attract bad spirits include sewing, sweeping, swearing, and breaking things.”

Chuc Mung Nam Moi!

Our friends we met while waiting for the fireworks. They didn't speak English and we didn't speak Vietnamese, but we had a great time watching the show. Their little girl just loved B.

Check out the mopeds.

D shooting a live round on a M-16 riffle. $1 per round. Take special note of the Sony headphones. That's right...no eye or ear protection. How's that for safety?

B shooting...of course he was a lot more accurate than me!