Lee n Tan

Early start, our bus pickup was 8am. I think our agency missed putting us on the correct bus so when we eventually got on one I don’t think we left until around 8.30am. It took nearly 2hrs to get out there with a stop – of course – at a lacquer factory. The workers were all disables and made everything from bracelets to dining room suites. It was interesting but we didn’t buy anything!

When we eventually got there we watched a documentary made in 1967 about the Cu Chi people and their life relating to the tunnels and the war. The tunnels themselves are about 200km in length with 3 different levels.

What they created was amazing they lived underground for 20 years. They created bunker type rooms for meeting, eating, cooking, sleeping etc. They had booby traps set for when the enemy decided to crawl into their home!! They even devised a way to hide the smoke from the cooking so they were not detected. The tunnels originally were only 1.3m high and about 70cm wide, they have been enlarged for the tourists but not by much!!

As we walked around the grounds we noticed ant-like hills dotted through the bush, these were a way to get ventilation to the tunnels, hidden around the bottom where air vents. They had a display of some of the mantraps they used to use…..definetely wouldn’t want to get caught in their tunnels. We also saw some of the hidden entrances and what they call spider tunnels.

There was about 100m for us to walk/crawl through and about every 10m there was an exit. I didn’t get very far….about 2m and then I turned around and went back out!! Bit peeved off with myself for not trying to go to the first exit point but it was just all a bit much. Lee went right through to the end, by the end he was down on his hands and knees crawling along as the further you went the smaller they got. There were even tunnels that lead to dead ends, also as you move through the lighting got less and less so by the end it was pretty dark, sweaty and dirty.

Amazing that they lived in them for 20 years.

We got back to Saigon around 3pm and had a bite to eat then back to the room to rest up in the aircon for tomorrow.

Brekkie @ Kim Cafe then went across the road to Puta Travel and booked for the Cu Chi Tunnel Tour tomorrow, then the following day down to the Mekong for the day to check out village life.

After brekkie – which was actually lunch – we set off walking the streets again…..this is one crazy city – 9 million people and 5 million MOTOS!!!! We walked for about 3-4 hours, Lee bought a groomer so he can do his hair and that beard which has crept up again!

As we were nearing the hotel we spotted a street cart with loads of people around it, this many people something must taste good!!! It was a fresh baguette, mini meat patties (another lady was cooking these over coals beside the cart), cucumber, onion, chilli sauce and another sauce oh and some fresh coriander. Absolutely scrumptious for only 10000 Dong about 60-70 cents!!!!!

We are both exhausted again so we had a shower and lie down back at the hotel. Lee ended up shaving his beard and I shaved his head with the new clippers! Later in the evening we went back out and had an average dinner @ a bar on the corner.

Once again a sluggish start to the day!

We headed out on foot at 11am to check out the sites of this city. We hadn’t had brekkie so we stopped in at the Ben Than Market and sat at one of the food stalls and had some local dishes. We saw City Hall, The Opera House (nothing like ours!!) then we walked around the downtown area and checked out the shops. Just across the road from The Opera House was a patisserie, so we stopped in and had some treats – strawberry tart and chocolate eclairs! After the indulgence we check out Notre Dame Cathedral and The Post Office all quite big landmarks in HCMC.

The Reunification Palace was next on the list and it was built in 1966 as Sth Vietnams Presidential Palace, we were able to get a free English speaking guide for this tour so that made things a little more interesting. The first communist tanks crashed through the gates on 30 April 1975. The palace has been left as it was on this day (they have fixed up the gates!!) and is still being used today for government meetings in the south. The top floor was a dancing hall and stage, the floor below was an entertainment floor for the president and his family with a cinema, gambling room, library and dinning area. From his office on another there was a a secret door to a staircase that led down to the bunker in times of bomb threats. Down in the basement/bunker where all the war rooms with maps of the enemies position, radio equipment, phones etc. it was very interesting.

Next on the sightseeing list was the War Remnants Museum – not for the faint hearted!!! It had graphic photos of the victims of the war – those who suffered torture as well as those affected by the US uses of chemicals (agent orange) which is still affecting people/children today!! When we left the museum we came across a little supermarket and found some cheese and biscuits to put in our fridge….a little treat for later.

We took a taxi back to the hotel as we were both buggered from walking for like 6 hours!! We freshened up and put our feet up for a while and ate our bickies and cheese. Once we had had enough of a rest we went for a walk to try and find somewhere to eat. We went on the opposite side of the park and found a great place…….they had OYSTER BAY SAVIOUGN BLANC on the menu!!!! We of course had to have a bottle. The meal was good …….the wine was fantastic!!!!

WHAT AN INDULGENT DAY!!!

Woohoo it’s DAY 100!!!

The only problem was it was very uneventful. I had a terrible night sleep, bites on my back played havoc (still!!). Hence we didn’t get moving till late. We went and had brunch at Kim Cafe – as we missed the free breakfast. The food was very nice, I had Chicken with Lemongrass and Lee ordered Pork in Fish Sauce. My meal arrived very quickly but after 30mins his still hadn’t arrived, we asked our waiter and he rang out the back in a big flap….they had forgotten it (2nd time this trip they have forgotten his meal). We didn’t quite know what to expect but we it did arrive it was delicious not too much of the fish sauce taste as it was so heated it had caramelised. 2 out of 2 meals now that have been awesome.

While we were eating/waiting for lunch it started bucketing down so we decided to go back to the hotel and upload some photos and update my posts!!

Before we headed back we popped into a travel agency and checked out tour options for down south in the Mekong Delta. The owner of the agency is from a little village down there and he does private tours through his village, we will book one in the next couple of days!!

It’s 8.30pm now and we are still at it!! I think its time to call it quits and have some food!

We went for a walk and took a seat at a corner restaurant that served Pho (Vietnam is famous for its Pho). Lee had Beef Stew with Bread and I had Pho but with no Beef (by mistake) but they were both very good. We made the mistake of sitting outside on the street so we were hassled  by all the street sellers, one girl quite disabled selling books had Lee’s ear and next minute he was getting a massage from a guy that had been hanging in the background. We both didn’t quite know what to make of it and we let him carry on with his massage. He gave Lee a real beating and then at the end – of course – asked for money and then wanted to give me one. It took a couple of minutes to make him understand I didn’t want one, we gave him some money and he walked off. Our little disabled friend said ‘make sure you ask how much before next time….everybody wants money in Vietnam’ wise words!!

We walked around a bit and stopped in this little shop and Lee found this beautiful green necklace for me, then we made our way back to the hotel.

What a day ended up being 12 hours door to door. We left Sihanoukville at 7.45am and headed for Phnom Phen, we arrived about 11.30am. Ana our travel agent told us there would be no changes etc of our bus. Well we had to hop off and the bus didn’t leave PP until 1.15pm, so we went across the road for lunch and we probably had the best meal we have had in Cambodia.

We hopped onto our second bus and head for HCMC. The day was very dark and gloomy and we had patches of rain on the way. The highlight of the trip was crossing the Mekong River….by barge. The bus drove onto it and then off the other side with all of us on it. Our bus driver must have been from Thailand as the bus hurtled along the road only slowing for farm vehicles and cattle that he couldn’t wiz past.

At the border before we were allowed off the bus our temperature was taken for Swine Flu, it was really strange as only the foreigners on the bus were tested, none of the locals were touched. The process was fairly painless, we had filled in all of our forms prior and our bus boy had sent them all in while we were getting tested. So all in all it was a pretty quick border crossing, no shonky officials trying to bribe you or anything.

We arrived in HCMC at 7.15pm and it was bucketing down, luckily by the time we were dropped off it had stopped. Once again we didn’t really know where we were going to be dropped off but it just so happened it was the same road we had found a guest house on. So we just walked a couple of hundred metres and found a bed for the night down an alley way at Hoang Phong Hotel for $17US per night including breakfast. This place is full of little back alleys and laneways.

Dinner was fantastic, fresh spring rolls and Vietnamese Pancake with chicken, shrimp and fresh vegies…..absolutely delicious!!! The restaurant we ate at had 271 items on the menu and that didn’t include drinks and sweets…..amazing what they can produce in 1 kitchen (Thailand was similar).

I think we are going to love Vietnam. We have only been here a couple of hours and already we have a great feel for the place.