Well, made it to Saigon and the first thing you notice is the trillions of motorbikes. It is unreal - i have never seen so many and it seems that siagon has a major traffic problem on its hand which the goverment is keen to sort out but sadly currently is lacking funding.
I met up with a friend I'd made in China who showed me a nice cheap local eatery (saigon isnt cheap) and i promptlyered a pizza having had a craving for some western food and very nice it was too. Had a relatively early night as had a 7am start to go to the Cu Chi Tunnels which are basically an amazing maze of underground tunnels (3 layers - 3, 6 and 10 meters deep which the Cu Chi people lived in to hide from and ultimately attack US stroops. Originally the tunnells stretched 200km from Saigon to almost the Cambodian border. They were deliberately narrow so as to not cave in when overland tanks drove by above ground. Also as the Cu Chi people were more or less starved of food, it worked wonders for them during the war as the americans couldnt fit in the tunnels. They made underground wells, hospitals, smokeless kitchens and a scarey array of fatal traps for the americans including spiked pits.
The CuChi tunnels were very interesting but nothing compared to the War remanants museum which i visited today. It was very moving and i couldnt help but cry looking and reading about the Vietnam war. The photopraphs were horrific showing dismembered torsos of soldiers, dead, injured and crying women,children and the elderly etc - you get the picture...what i didnt know about was the horredous effect of Agent Orange, a toxic herbicide which the Americans sprayed onto the vegetations and jungle. It bascally has created a new generation of grossly disfurged and disabled chhiildren in Vietnam and 30 years on, people are still bearing deformed children whos fathers were affected during the war by the toxin. it was all very sad and tragic.
After that i needed some cheering up so had a little wonder around town. Sat in a bar as I write listening to U2 ( I think its an irish bar!!) surrounded by sounds of horns honking, phones ringing and cars beeping. I'm not really a fan of Citys and Saigon isnt a place I think i want to stick around in so have booked flight to Hanoi in the north of vietnam tomorrow and should arrive around lunch time. i had hoped to make my way overland to hanoi via dalat and some coastal towns and villages but the weather forecast for the next 5 days is heavy rain and i hear there is another typhoon coming along the coast so i opted to chase the sun.
The jury is still out on vietnam - i have not complaints but it is quite different to cambodia and just not as friendly (although its not unfriendly as such). That said i have already bumped into quite a few other people i have met along on my journey which has been lovely of course but it does mean that we end up hanging out together and not really getting to know the locals to justify my making such a comment
Anyway, thats it or now. The trouble in bangkok and mubai is worrysome but thankfully i am far away from it all.
thats if for now
ten 4.x
