Once in HCMC, I checked into the hotel, that Jamie and Samitha (two previous intake AYADS that I had met on Phu Quoc Island) had booked for the three of us and then hit up Ben Thanh Markets for some food and a bit of shopping for belated X-mas presents. As always, it was a little claustrophobic inside and the traffic was out of control as well. Just when I felt like I was getting the hang of crossing the street, HCMC traffic always puts things in perspective!
I continued to wander around into the evening and took some photos of some attractive monuments, the city hall and one of the other government buildings. The Vietnamese love of fairy lights was out again in force.
On Saturday morning Jamie, Samitha and I headed out to meet our bus tour to take us to Cu Chi to look at the tunnels used by the VietCong during what we know as the Vietnam war but what the Vietnamese refer to as the American War.
After that we got to look at some of the self-made weapons and traps that the Vietnamese devised. Insanely painful, but quite ingenious at the same time. We also got to see traditional uniforms as well.
After this, we finally got to walk (I should say crawl!) around in the tunnels. We travelled about 50m underground. It was claustrophobic and pitch black. They were even so narrow I was scared that my hips were going to get stuck and I've lost weight since being over here. And I would have taken a photo except I was using my camera and phone to light the way because the tunnels were pitch black. Here are a couple that I managed to take.
After we returned to HCMC, I went to the War Remnants Museum which was a very distressing but important experience. I likened it to going to Auschwitz-Burkenau concetration camp when I was in Poland. It's not exactly an enjoyable experience but it's something you need to do to understand the people and the country and their history a little better. The war remnant's museum had very graphic example of the effect of Agent Orange. What suprised me was the extent of this effect. A study was done in Australia that found that one quarter of all wives of men that served in Vietnam and who were exposed to Agent Orange had suffered a miscarriage.
Children in rural areas of Vietnam are still being born with serious defects as late as 1998. There were photos of some families who had three of four severely deformed children as a result of Agent Orange.
One of the nicest parts of the museum (and the only place I really felt comfortable taking photos) was the last room which had drawings from the children of Vietnam about the war and their hopes for peace and for the future.
Then it was just time to grab my luggage and a quick bite to eat whilst perusing the crazy traffic, before it was time to grab a cab for the airport. You need to allow 1+ hours to get to the airport due to the traffic.
Up next: A recap of the last few weeks. Includes: Award ceremonies with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a Vietnamese businessman singing "By the Rivers of Babylon" and pre Tet (Lunar New Year) madness.
