When we arrived at the park we were told that they were just shutting up for the day and that we were therefore not allowed in. It was only early afternoon by this point but I could see that they were setting up for something inside. With Tët (Vietnamese New Years) being just around the corner I figured it was probably something to do with that. Avoiding crossing the road as much as possible, we made our way back to our accommodation, stopping in at a few shops on the way.
The next morning we were booked in to do a tour of the Chu Chi tunnels. This was the underground network used by the north Vietnamese during the Vietnam war. Kay, unfortunately, wasn't feeling very well that morning and so I went on the trip alone. I met three lovely girls on the bus and ended up spending the day with them. The trip was very informative and I learnt a lot about the Vietnam war that I didn't know before. This wasn't difficult since I knew hee-haw before. Our first stop before the tunnels had been a lacquer-wear factory where we got to see all the lovely lacquer things for sale in Vietnam being made. It was interesting to see that they often use egg shell for the designs. Once at the tunnels we were shown the hidden entrances which were tiny. We were allowed to get in and have our picture taken, which we all duly did, apart from one lady, she was a bit on the larger side and when she asked if she could have a turn, an employee seemed to appear from no where and shout "no, no lady! Not for you!". I did feel a bit sorry for her but, he was right, there was no way on this planet she was going to fit in. These holes were designed for tiny Vietnamese, not overweight westeners. We were shown some of the booby traps that they had set for the Americans. These were pretty awful, but I'm sure very effective. Even with all the tourist stuff, the place was quite densely forested and it was quite easy to imagine how the opposition, especially those not from Vietnam, must have felt. Not knowing if you next step would be your last.
Then came the fun bit! They have widened one of the tunnels by 50% to allow us 'large' westeners to experience crawling through. Even with it being widened, they were still very small and very claustrophobic. The tunnels around HCMC go on for around 75 miles, but we only went about twenty metres or so before the heat got the better of us and we surfaced for some fresh air. I had read in a review on tripadvisor where the reviewer had said the highlight of their day had been when "a big fat American got stuck in the tunnel" and they all had to back out. I kinda secretly wanted this to happen again while I was there.
When back in HCMC, thankfully, Kay was feeling much better and so we decided to quickly go to the war memorial museum. It wasn't something I thought i would be hugely interested in and so thought the hour we had would be enough. What a mistake, there was so much to see and read there that we could have easily spent a few hours there. The museum is very one sided and concentrated mostly on all the horrific things that the American / South Vietnamese troops did during the war. It was quite upsetting to read some of the things, especially the effects that Agent Orange has had on the Vietnamese people since the war. This was one of the herbicide and defoliants used during the war, the chemical is still causing human mutations. The U.S have only just recently agreed to partially fund the clean up needed after using this chemical, this came after decades of court proceedings. This was not just a war crime and a crime against humanity, but also a crime against nature.
That night, myself and Kay travelled to the other side of the city to get a 'chippy' from JJ's fish and chip shop. When we finally found the place down some maze of an alleyway we were greeted by an English man who told us that they now only did take aways and had no where for us to sit. We ordered our chips and went for a short walk to see a obscenely lit up church close by. There were statues of angles with lit up halos. We ventured back and collected our chips and rode back to our accommodation to enjoy them. Must say, they were definitely worth the trip!
The next morning myself, Kay and two of the girls I'd met the day before all went on a day trip to the Mekong River. Yes, this is the same river I spoke about in Cambodia. This river starts in China, and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and finally ends in Vietnam. We had a wonderful guide that day who gave us loads of advise for travelling in Vietnam. The told us how to cross the road, closing your eyes and just walking is his method apparently, he also told us to make sure and take care of our belonging too as drive-by muggings are common, even more so since it was the run up to Tët.
Our first stop that morning was a typical cafe in suburban Vietnam. Lots and lots of hammocks and not a table in site - heaven! The reason for this, he explained, is that many people do long journeys on their motorbikes and because they are quite uncomfortable, they need to stop every couple of hour or so. This is where the hammock cafes come in, they can have a quick snooze and a coffee and set of again.
We then went to a pagoda which wasn't very impressive on the inside but they did have some huge Buddha statues outside. One laughing Buddha and one standing. We took a boat to Turtle island for some lunch before stopping at a coconut candy factory where we got to see them make the candies and also got to taste them while they were still lovely, hot and fresh. While we were at the factory our guide produced a huge snake from a cage and we all had a shot at holding it. It was much much heavier than it looked!
It was there that we got onto small long boats, in fours, and went on a short trip down the Mekong river, in the obligatory rice hats of course. Our tour ended with us having some honey tea, fruit and getting to listen to some awful traditional Vietnamese music. A fantastic day out and all for only about $7! Bargain!
That night Kay took the plunge and bought a rucksack to replace her enormous bag which now had a hole in it. We didn't have time after dinner to go through all her belonging and throw stuff out so the empty bag came along with us on our first proper sleeper bus to Nha Trang. We had slept on night buses while being away but these ones in Vietnam actually have beds! Not the comfiest beds on the planet I must say but I huge improvement on the upright seats we'd slept on previously. Next stop, Nha Trang for some beach time and to hopefully catch up with our long lost friend Rosie!
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