We were met in the lobby this morning by our guide Nhung, who interestingly has a law degree and has worked two years in law, until she decided she enjoyed travelling and tourism more. Her sister is also a lawyer, with her own practice, which Nhung says she will join when she feels it is time. Off we went for the 1.5 hour drive to the tunnels, most of which was in Hanoi and outlying urban area. In the rural area leading up to the tunnels we went through quite an area of rubber trees, which I had not expected to see. We arrived before too many of the big tour buses arrived, which is probably why we had an 8:00 pickup instead of the more typical 9:00.
The ingenuity and determination of the Vietnamese was apparent throughout the day. The systems that they had for filtering smoke from cooking fires and the ventilation openings disguised to look like termite nests were classics. This particular tunnel system totaled 250 km of length and I think she said there were 16,000 people who lived in these tunnels. The soil that was removed was hauled to the river, used to repair roads, or inconspicuously dumped into bomb craters, which were all over the place. There were also some displays of the boobie traps used by the Vietcong, nasty looking devices. One section of the tunnels has been 'Westernized', as in made about twice the original size, to accomodate tourists like us.
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| I easily fit into the westernized entrance |
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| A ventilation mound |
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| We made it 40 metres through the enlarged tunnel |
These tunnels went undetected for many years, although the US knew they had to be there. They were discovered by accident, when a shirtless US soldier sat and rested against one of the ventilation mounds and felt the cool air from underground. Eventually, this lead to flooding of the tunnels by pumping water from the Saigon river, drowning a large number of the residents. So sad, and not so long ago either.
After touring through the tunnels, we drove back to the city and had lunch quite close to the hotel, at a place most tourists probably would not stop at, but really in the heart of the city right below one of the most modern looking high rise buildings in HCMC. As usual, good food.
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| Lunch stop, those bbq duck looked good |
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| Financial building outside the lunch stop |
We then went to the War Remnants Museum, which is a large, three story building with thousands of journalist photographs from the war. It was a very somber place, and some sections we so difficult to see that we went through those parts quickly, especially the after effects agent orange and other chemical weapons that the US employed. There were several familiar pictures as many were prominent on Time magazine covers during the war, and of course there was that iconic photo of the 'Napalm Girl', the crying, burned child running towards the photographer. The grounds surrounding the museum contains a large number of US aircraft and artillery that was abandoned at the conclusion of the war.
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| Abandoned US helicopter |
Close by the museum were two old French built landmarks, the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Post Office, which still functions, although ATM machines now occupy several of the old wooden phone booths.
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| Inside the Notre Dame cathedral |
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| Notre Dame cathedral |
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| The Saigon Post Office |
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| The neat looking wooden phone booths |
Got back to the hotel about 4:00, turned on the AC, had a beer and nap, and then headed to supper at the BBQ Gardens, recommended by Nhung. Great looking outdoor place, very popular, good food that you cooked yourself on the BBQ built in to the center of each table.
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| Cooking supper |
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| View of the BBQ Garden |
Tomorrow Nhung and the driver are picking us up and we'll head to the Mekong river for a couple of days with them. We had a great time today with Nhung, despite some of the disturbing history that we witnessed. A prelude to Phnom Penh and the Killing Fields next week. Nhung and Eileen had a lot of laughs together, so we are looking forward to the next two days.
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