Saigon & Mekong Delta

The next stop on our tour was Ho Chin Minh, better known as Saigon to the locals. This used to be the old capital city of Vietnam but after the American War the government took the status away from Saigon and gave it to the more communist part of the country, Hanoi in the north. Saigon is the complete opposite of this where the locals are more laid back, less uptight and lead a more Western lifestyle. Maybe its because of this that we very quickly fell in love with this absolutely stunning city.
The sleeper bus from Nha Trang again pulled up very early in the morning (5.30am) and we found our self looking for a small hotel which we could call home for the next 3 nights. Obviously with it being so early all the small (cheaper) hotels were shut, but never the less we kept wandering until we found a small hotel that was open. We had a quick look at the room, haggled on the price and settled in.

After a quick shower and change we were out on the streets wandering. Knowing that we were only going to be here a few days we decided to spend our first day just looking at some of the local attractions. We visited the American War Museum which we found most amazing, not always for the best however. It was nice to see the machinery that the Americans used in the war against the Vietnamese. After this we went into the actual museum to see the millions of pictures and information on the walls. Some of the images were exceptionally moving and some showed images that just should never be seen on this planet again. How any human can carry out the levels of violence on another race is just unbelievable. We were exceptionally surprised to see however that the museum was exceptionally one sided towards the Vietnamese. It was all about what the Americans had done to them, and the violence towards the Vietnamese people. No other views were offered which we found disappointing and very uneducational.

After the museum we walked around the local park and found the Saigon Cathedral. It was an impressive sight considering we are in a mainly Buddhist and Muslim country.

In the afternoon we visited a local market where we had a street lunch and then headed onto the Reunification Palace. This was the South Vietnam's main Government building which was stormed by North Vietnam in April 1975. The rooms in the building have been left exactly how they were on that specific day as a memorial.

Reunification Palace

Rooms left exactly how they were  when the building was stormed

The following day we booked on to a tour to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. This is an area where the Vietnamese Army dug and lived in a series of tunnels underground. We learnt so much here and trying to get it all down on paper is hard to do so I will give you the basic facts in bullet points.

• There are in total 250km or tunnels spread from Saigon all the way over to Cambodia.
• The tunnels were built at night to avoid detection form the American Soldiers.
• A team of 5 would be able to dig roughly 10 meters of tunnels during a night.
• Tunnels are built on three levels, the deepest being about 15 - 20 meters underground. There would be living pods every 200 - 300 meters where sleeping, cooking, toilets, ammunitions etc would all happen.
• Disguised entrances were built so surprise attacks could be made on American soldiers.
• Smoke from cooking would be kept in a series of chambers which would then be released about 500 meters form the kitchen. Cooking could only take place during early morning when the smoke would blend in with the natural mist and fog that appears every morning.
• Should an American Soldiers find or fall into a tunnel they were designed that the soldiers would be killed before they could tell anyone.
• Air holes were built to look like termite mounds.
• Around the tunnels, brutal traps would be left for the americans to fall into.
• Finally the most impressive stat is that soldiers sometimes would have to live in the tunnels for up to 2 or 3 months without coming above ground.

It was absolutely incredible to learn about the tunnels and when offered the chance to go into the tunnels and complete a 100 meter section we jumped at the chance. The area we went into was so small and hot, its incredible to think how people lived in there for up to 3 months. What was more incredible was when we found out that the tunnels had been widened by almost double for tourists. There was the chance to get out of the tunnels at every 20 meters but we are pleased to say that we completed the full 100 meters and went down to one of the deepest points of the tunnels, 20 meters below ground.

Model of the tunnels and their layers

Trap left for Americans

Which would then open allowing them to fall on to sharp bamboo poles

Hiding Hole

Different types of traps set up

Amber entering tunnels

Jonathan in tunnels

Knowing that our next major city was Phnom Penh in Cambodia, we booked our self onto a 2 day Mekong Delta tour which would show us part of the Mekong Delta and then give us the chance to cruise up the Mekong in a 'Fast Boat' and into Cambodia. Sadly we don't have much to say for the Mekong Delta due to constantly travelling. With it being a delta it is a very scenic part of Vietnam, but an extremely poor part of the country. We are very glad that we did see the Mekong Delta but wouldn't rush back to see it.

Mekong Delta boat

Mekong Delta Sunset

Now i feel it appropriate to mention a funny story and experience that we had on the tour. A lot of people say that the British dont complain as much as they should. Well they clearly have not met 'David and Judith', a late 40's / early 50's couple that were on our tour. They seemed to be able to find anything and everything to complain about. Including not being able to find their bags when they were just under there nose, not getting their passport back form the Vietnamese Immigration department quickly, not getting their passport stamped quick enough by the Cambodian Immigration department. You name it, they complained about it. Im also please to tell you that it was not just us that were getting seriously annoyed with them and i think one American lady may have told them what she thinks. Now in Phnom Penh, we accidently bumped into them in a local corner store near our hotel. Again i'm pleased to tell you they were complaining that the store didn't have David's favourite juice.

So to conclude our Vietnam Visit. This is one of the most spectacular and scenic countries we have ever visited. The north has the gem of Halong Bay. We can not recommend a visit to this area of the country strongly enough. The north of Vietnam still very much has the feel of a communist country. The people are very uptight and no where near as friendly as other countries we had previously visited and actually border on being rather rude. This is completely opposite to the south of Vietnam. The people are much kinder, going well out of their way to be able to help you. Would we recommend Vietnam to anyone that was considering a visit? Absolutely!!!

Vietnam Facts:

• There are 82 million people in Vietnam with more than 28 million scooters on the streets.
• That's more scooters in Vietnam than Australians in Australia.
• There 14600 motor bikers killed each year on the roads. (Unfortunately we did see one of these accidents with a fatality.)
• 20 million people live in either Hanoi or Saigon leaving the rest of the country rather empty.
• Land is $5000 for 1sq meter. Hence properties are very small but have 3 - 6 levels.
• One of our tour guides joked that you don't have to worry about terrorism in Vietnam and rather just concentrate on the traffic.

We are pleased to say we have survived and will write to you about our experiences in Cambodia very shortly.