Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

We arrived safely in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) around 2pm on Saturday, and our initial thoughts were very positive. We liked Ho Chi Minh better than Hanoi. It seemed a lot cleaner.

After checking into Madame Cuc's Hotel, which was a bit of a let-down, we wandered the streets and stumbled across a burger place a lot like McDonald's, called Lotteria's or something equally random. We each got a cheeseburger combo for around $NZ3. Oh by the way, we noticed NZ got spanked by Aussie in the cricket, but we are knowledgeable enough to note that the game had little meaning and Bond was rested. We'll reserve judgment for next Saturday...grand final (and in the meantime pray that the South Africans cause a semi-final upset).

On the advice of our French friend, Crystal, we found a good pub ("Allez Boo Cafe") to watch Tottenham v Arsenal live and sink a few lagers. Unfortunately the soccer was a little upsetting, after Arsenal led Tottenham 2-1 at White Hart Lane and conceded a goal deep into stoppage time to draw 2-2. Bernie, that's like Southland leading Canterbury at Jade Stadium 21-14 and conceding a 95m try after 83 minutes. You know my pain.

Sadly our digital camera battery died halfway to Saigon. We have purchased a battery charger and are in the process of charging the battery, so more pics (including more of Merv) to follow.

On Sunday we went on a half-day tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels. It was an amazing experience and one of our favourites so far. Contrary to popular belief, most of the tour was spent outside the tunnels (thankfully - see below) as we walked around the Cu Chi area. In brief, Cu Chi is a strategically positioned location about 50km from Ho Chi Minh where the Americans built bases, but which the Viet Cong attempted to control by way of an elaborate tunnel system.

It is difficult to convey how ingenious the whole set up was, between the underground hospitals, kitchens (fully equipped with 2km long shoots for the smoke/steam from cooking to pass through so that if the Americans saw smoke coming from underground and bombed the spot, the tunnels, miles away, were still quite safe) and air vents underground, through to the escape routes into the Saigon River (complete with bamboo "snorkels") for when the Americans were bombing.

The most gruesome part of the experience was seeing the booby traps dug by the Viet Cong and fashioned out of a flimsy bamboo cover hiding all kinds of nasty metal and sharpened bamboo spikes. It wasn't difficult to imagine the horrific injuries this must have caused some unfortunate American soldiers...especially since scenes of impalement had been painted on a wall for us - complete with blood, and mildly surprised faces.

Next up was the much anticipated AK-47 firing range (these are the weapon of choice in Afghanistan at present). Tim made the most of his 10 bullets (see Tim pictured below firing an AK-47!!!). Megan wasn't really interested.

Most people fired 10-20 bullets (at USD1.30 each) but some delightful Poms in our group bought up a storm, well over 150 bullets (and then charmingly boasted that they had just spent a Vietnamese person's annual income). Anyway, the shots were incredibly loud and 150 of them later, we can only hope they now have burst ear drums. Incidentally, the force that comes from firing an AK-47 is enormous and even rocked Tim back on his heels. So the scenes from Rambo and the like, where they fire two semi-automatics at once, one in each hand, are highly unrealistic!

Then came the tunnels! Very, very small and dark (pitch black at some points) and HOT - it was 35 degrees, and coupled with the clay and being 5m underground made it feel like an oven. We didn't last too long - we crawled a short way along the tunnels and then escaped out of the first exit. Judging by the sweat pouring off the people who went the whole way through, it was probably a good move.

On Monday we visited a lovely palace type thing with fancy rooms and ornaments, where Helen Clark had recently visited! We then carried on to the War Remnants Museum, which involved a rather disturbing but compulsory look at the atrocities of the Vietnam War. Our final stop was a return trip to the markets, where Megan invested in a French soccer shirt, as we have just booked tickets to see France v Ukraine (Euro 2008 qualifier) at the Stade de France in Paris on the 2nd of June. Exciting stuff!

Megs and
a Vietnam-
ese girl











Bear at
the burger
place

Megs -
Cu Chi
Tunnels











Tim -
Cu Chi
Tunnels

Tim
firing an
AK-47!










Megs and
a tank

Heli-
copter

A fancy
palace...

...with a
gambling
room!