Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Next stop…Ho Chi Minh City..formerly “Saigon." We found this charity box at the airport in Hanoi. How can you resist?

We took a tour out to the Cu Chi tunnels. The Viet Cong had tunneled three tiers of tunnels underground. They lived there during the day…and only came out at night. They had a mess hall, cooking room, meeting rooms, etc. This is an example of one of the many “booby traps” they set up. This one in particular was meant for the army dogs. The “grass door” lays flat, until someone steps on it.

One of the tunnel entrances. It was covered with a bamboo mat to keep It hidden.

Another booby trap. This one was put underwater….when a soldier stepped high in the deep water they would step into this. Our tour guide’s foot…he was an interesting guy. Told MANY elaborate stories about how he was in the American Navy “very high up” fighting on the side of America. Yet, in the next breathe he was angrily attacking America for all that happened. Made for a confused tour group.

After Dean shot 10 rounds with an AK-47 (and I stood with my fingers in my ears) we got the opportunity to crawl through a 50 meter tunnel. It was incredibly hot, dark and impossibly small.

At this point I think I was mumbling to myself…most likely not something appropriate for children’s ears. I was desperately trying to keep up with the girls in front of me…who were about 5 feet tall and could almost walk. The tunnel was pitch dark…and had many turns…at some points you would have to drop down a level or climb up…I usually found these spots with my knee or by bumping my head. I just wanted OUT.

The next day we headed to the War Remnants Museum. It displays exhibits on “war crimes”. Photo’s of all the horror’s of war…civilians killed, Agent Orange victims (jars with deformed fetus’s in them, photo’s of handicapped children, people burned by Napalm, etc) Incredibly depressing..and of course America was the “enemy.” A few times Dean and I noticed locals taking pictures of us (Americans) looking at the exhibits. Very awkward for us.

We walked around Ho Chi Minh City…much cleaner and prettier than Hanoi. They had sidewalks (most of the time) and traffic lights. It made it much easier to get around.

We walked to Ben Thanh market. While walking down a clothing aisle we got accosted. There was a chorus of "Madame! You buy this!!!!!!!!" They even grabbed a hold of me. It is sell, sell, sell all the time. Next up...Cambodia! We are ready for a vacation from our vacation.