Boys are travelling by moto and I'm travelling by bus - so this is where the real adventure begins! Some of you will think I'm brave and maybe some will think I'm crazy but it is so safe here and I am going to meet so many people along the way.
Moving on tomorrow but I'll start with today. Spent most of it at the Cu Chi Tunnels. Got a bus first thing this morning with our lovely guide called Bean or "Mr. Bean, like the television". He was born in Vietnam but moved to the US and ended up fighting for them against the Viet Cong! But he was captured and imprisioned and at the end of the war decided he wanted Vietnam to be his home and has never left. He had some brilliant stories and talked for the entire 2 hour bus jounrney to Cu Chi! Cu Chi is a network of underground tunnels created by the Viet Minh when they were fighting the US who had bases in Saigon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%E1%BB%A7_Chi_tunnels
Easier than me explaining I think. Anyway Mr. Bean took us around the area to see many of the entrances to the tunnels and the traps which the Viet Cong set - most of which were fairly gruesome! They must have been amazing people though judging by the stories Bean told of how they avoided detection and lived for years underground. The tunnels were on 3 leveles - 3m, 8m and 13m. At the end of the tour we walked through them for 140 metres. It was pitch black in parts and the tunnels were tiny! About 80cm wide and 130cm high. You had to bend down and when they got narrow we had to crawl. It was fairly scary but also made you realise how agile and nifty the people must have been as Bean said they could run through the tunnels carrying guns, food or children. And of course everything was stolen from the Americans - even the oil to light the lamps in the tunnels.
After that mega experience I went back to HCMC and visited the War Remanants Museum. It had some great if disturbing exhibits - particularly sad was an exhibition of photos taken of people disfigured by the toxic chemical Agent ORange which was dropped by the US. Zack you would have loved the exhibits of all the weapons, heliopters, tanks and bombs about 10 times as big as me. Also at the Cu Chi tunnels you could pick any model of gun they used - AK47 etc - and fire 10 rounds. I wasn't interested but I thought of you zack :)
Went back to the market for souvenirs, picked up my laundry, went for dinner and then home to lovely family run hotel.
I leave first thing tomorrow morning for Dalat in the mountains. I hadn't planned to stop there but it is halfway to Nha Trang and so breaks up the journey a bit. Apparently it's like the french alps and 'cold' by vietnamese standards at just 18 degrees (i tried to explain that that isnt cold).
I have booked my open bus pass which was $35 and will get me all the way to Hanoi. I just reserve my seat a day in advance and I'm off to the next place. There are even sleeping buses for the slightly longer overnight journeys. My route will be:
Saigon- Dalat- Nha Trang- Hoi An- Hue- Hanoi
Keep commenting guys - i love to hear from you I'm just sorry I can't reply. You can alwys facebook me as well and if I have a chance I will reply on there.
Lots of love from the ever happy traveller. So excited for the next stage of my adventure!
over and out xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
