Ho Chi Minh

6 – 11 August 2011

Where to start with for Ho Chi Minh…  68km of Highway 1, progressively increasing traffic and the city taking seemingly forever to reach.  A skyscraper city once I reached it.  New skyscrapers being built on nearly every block in the CBD which was quite a contrast to the tourist area (about 3-5mins walk down the road) which was jam packed old buildings and markets and stalls everywhere.  Very much the poor and the rich areas and the rich getting richer.

Reunification Hall where the South Vietnamese Government was over thrown by tanks

Some of the many traps used by
 the Vietnamese

Chu Chi Tunnels was my first factory tour.  30 odd tourist on our bus and we were only one of many buses.  Everyone trying to squeeze in and see what is being talked about and arms coming from behind you with cameras.  Explanantion given then it was “Ok! We move on now!”  All very touristy.  I took to the back and slowly wandered behind at my own pace. 

We did get to crawl through a 100m stretch of original tunnel which made it totally worth it.  We only went through the upper most, widest level (1.2m x 0.7m I think) but it small enough!  Some sections narrowed down and you ended up on your hands and knees and on one part I had to slide sideways to get down.  Great fun and you got a real appreciation of what it must have been like and the lengths the Vietnamese would go to during the war.  The amazing thing was that the lower tunnel levels (6m deep then 9m or 10m deep) progressively got smaller, 90cm x 50cm then 50cm x 70cm.  It got stuffy and small enough what we went through I could not imagine hiding out 10m underground in a 50cm x 70cm tunnel for 5 hours waiting for bombing to cease..

Just a little bit of elbow room

It has been interesting passing through the different countries and seeing the different ways they have been affected by or the techniques used to fight during the war.  Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam all devastated by bombs and landmines, Laos using a vast cave system and Vietnam using a vast tunnel system to provide safeguard from attack, outsmart the US (is that hard…?) and use as a military headquarters.

Factory Tour number two – The Mekong Delta.  Think it would have been better if I just rode down there and spent a couple days cycling over all the bridges to get an idea of the expanse of the delta.  The tour didn’t really achieve that, it just seemed a random collection of attractions and activities put together with some not really feeling Mekong Deltra-ish:  A snake on your shoulder over a cup of fresh honey tea, a horse and cart ride back out to your boat, walking along a dirt path with tourist stalls all down it and stopping to try some tropical fruits that you can get all over Vietnam.  Good entertainment level, I just think I was keener to see the massive expanse of the delta but this may be best done from an aeroplane!

The Handicap Handicrafts enroute.  Seemed wrong walking through here and taking photos, but I ended up buying a painting so I supported them on some level. 

Once around my neck I felt pretty vulnerable!  Felt bloody strong sliding through my hands and could easily imagine it squeezing me to death if it wanted.

Floating down one the canals 

A token horse (small) and cart ride

A local goodie:

Ban Xeo - shrimp, pork and sprout pancake roll, chilli sauce and salad. mmmmm

Caught up with Mike in Ho Chi Minh for dinner and went along to his local seafood restaurant.  Snails (suckers), snails (edible), clams, mussels, and much more depending how hungry you felt... 

The sucker snails - you had to suck then to get the 'meat'

Well it has been about 4 months on the go cycling around SE Asia and I have finally made it to my final destination, for this part anyway.  It will good-bye to cheap living and eating and soon enough into the expensive world of the UK.