Siagon as the locals call it and ho minch min as the reat of the world knows it, is firstly full of motorbikes. I have never seen so many in my life and they carry everything on them. This includes strapping animals to the back and getting small children to cling on the front.
Our hotel was still included from our tour so was excellent. It was seconds away from benteen markets.
On our first night we went to a water puppet show. This is apparently unique to Vietnam. There is live music with singers and the puppets are operated under the water on poles in time with the music. Of course we had no idea of the story that was being told but it was a great visual display. Lonely planet had rated it as a muat see. However, it was nice but they had clearly built it up too much.
Oliver on the way home dragged me into every mobile phone shop he could see. He was determined to find an s5 for the best price. Eventually, he found a phone shop that was selling it for £300. Bargin. However, the shop had no phones on display, when oliver ordered it, a man got on his scooter to get it. Mafia style with a security man outside. It was an s5 straight from the Verison (American telecom). Oliver checked it over with his technical eye and brought it. Yay no more phone shops for me.
Aa part of our tour package we were taken on a mekong delta tour. A couple we had met at halong bay had raved about this tour. So we had high expectations. We were both very disappointed. It took ages to get there and we spent longer on a bus than there. We did see how they make rice popcorn and got a river cruise. Bit no floating markets which is what I really wanted to see.
Our other half day tour was to the cu chi tunnels. Underground tunnels used by viet cong in the vietnam war. Some 3, 000 people lived and fought the Americans in these tunnels. The displays on show demonstrated how viet cong used bamboo traps.
The most haunting display of the vietnam war is shown at the war reminants museum. We were approached in the entrance by a man who had both of his lower arms and an eye blown off by a bomb. When he introduced himself we shuck his stump. He was selling books about the vietnam war for 8 pounds. I didn't mind buying one from him. I am currently reading a book about called the girl in the picture.
The museum gives graphic details of the torture used on the Vietnamese. Including tiger cages and placing people in cold water until unconscious. However, it is upstairs where you see the true cost of the war. The victims of agent orange, babies born with extreme disfigurement and disabilities in large photographs all along the walls. Preserved in phemaldihide are still born conjoined twins. I struggled to keep myself composed, these children had the same birth year as me. The parents had been drinking the water contaminated with dioxin. It is the most toxic chemical known to man.
We ended our vietnam trip with a rich cultural connection. We stayed in a great hostel and drank free beer on its roof top bar.
