Cu Chi Tunnels

 

The Cu Chi tunnels are a 2 hour drive from Saigon. They are a lattice work of tunnels covering 250km used by the Vietcong during the Vietnam war. An incredible construction, they were first started in 1948 during the French war and then expanded during the American war. They extend out to the Cambodia border and cover three levels; 3 metres, 6 metres and 10 metres deep, containing kitchens, water wells, hospitals and a complex drainage system to avoid flooding. 

The tunnels were designed to be deliberately complex and very narrow, suitable only for the slim Vietnamese, thus preventing attacks directly at the tunnels. Thousands of air ducts were created, which became the primary targets for the American soldiers, which meant the Vietnamese needed to be very creative to hide them. The tunnels that still exist for tourists are narrow, but much bigger than they were originally, but small for the average well fed visitor.

 

The war here was tough for both sides, the Vietnamese having to spend years surviving underground in a difficult living area and extreme weather conditions, while the Americans having to defend against the Vietnamese deadly gorilla tactics. 

The Vietnamese weapon of choice was often traps with long lengths of sharpened bamboo to impale an unsuspecting solider jumping from a helicopter or falling into a 1.5 metres hole, cleverly camouflaged. It’s painful to think about it. 

The photo below on the right shows a wooden construction with 10 cm exposed nails that would swing onto a solider bursting through a village door. The photo on the left is a trap with vertical sharpen bamboo. 

  Our guide for the day was an enthusiatic veteran who fought for the South Vietnamese army. He fought against the Viet Cong and spent 8 years as a POW when the war finished. He is now 72 and stll carries shrapnal in his face, which he was keen to guide our fingers over to prove. From what we could determine, his only benefit of the war is he now has a full time job as a guide.

Our guide Tuan

Back to Saigon

There are an estimated eight million motorbikes in Saigon. When we returned from Cu Chi, we took two of them for an evening ride around Saigon City. These were vintage manual Vespas, which our drivers weaved through the mad streets, stopping for drinks, dinner and music at venues across all parts of the city. As normal, road rules are for guidance only which added a touch of adrenaline to the evening. A great evening and one which we will not forget.

       

I never thought I would see Janice on a motorbike, Saigons has been full of surprises. Thank you and good night Saigon. 

DeNang to Ho Chi Minh

 

On the move again. We flew down from DeNang International airport to Saigon. DeNang Airport was a 30 minute drive from our hotel in Hoi An. Saigons modern name is Ho Chi Minh City, but no one seems to care which name we use. An easy flight, taking about 90 minutes.

We land to humid weather. Pouring rain and 31 degrees Celsius. Saigon is the financial centre of Vietnam, while Hanoi is their government centre. The two cities are very different. Saigon feels like a modern Asian City. It’s busy, with all the western shops and a buzzing night life. A Rolls Royce showroom is on the opposite side of the road to a Communist government building. This is a city which contradicts their politics, but most likely a sneak peek into Vietnam of the future.  

As we walk out of the airport, our driver is waiting for us. Perfect organisation as always, apart from a small flaw in the plan. Our drivers car gets wheel clamped. For the last three weeks we have seen organised chaos on the roads, with minimal rules or laws. We arrive in Saigon to a wheel clamp…  

But our Asian journey has given us a little tolerance and the problem is soon solved. We arrive safely at our hotel, keen to unpack and walk the streets of Saigon.

Dinner is a different experience, a roof top bar with live music, over looking the city. Opposite is a modern shopping mall with Merry Christmas being projected onto it. After spending two weeks visiting Buddist temples, it feels strange to see gitterging snow drops fall in 31 degree heat attemptng to promote a religous ceremony unknown to most of people filling the city. What we notice is the price of food and drink have gone up. It’s still a long way from London prices, but inflation is increasing the further south we go in Vietnam 

  Tomorrow we head to the Chi Chi tunnels from the war. An early start. 

 Good night Vietnam.

Lazy Day

 

Our last full day in Hoi An and its a free day. A 7am morning run down the beach and a chance to see the fishermen coming ashore in their Coracle boats. We still struggle with the time zone, 7am in Vietham is midnight in London. 

The biggest decision of the day, which type of eggs for breakfast; scrambled, fried, poached or omelette. It was tough, but poached eggs on brown toast was the winner.

Down to the pool for a day reading, swimming and sleeping. Very chilled. We did need to collect our washing from a local laundry. They charged us 50,000 Dong (under £2) for a kg of clothes. There is very little to dislike about Vietnam.

 

We head to Ho Chi Minh City (Siagon) tomorrow. Good night all. 

P.S a photo from the Hoi An Precious Heritage Art Gallery which is home to the Rehahn Photo Collection. We visited yesterday. The project documents the 54 regions across Vietnam. We love this photo.

                                             

On our bikes in Hoi An

 

Our third morning at the Palm Garden Resort, the longest time in one place since leaving home. Our activity for the day was a cycle ride around the Hoi An area.We met our guide, Hiem, at 8 am. She had already organised for our bikes to be delivered to the hotel earlier in the morning. The logistics throughout the holiday has been excellent.

Our cycle ride took us through the Hoi An countryside, stopping at one of the farm communes, where local farmers share the land to produce crops for the local community. They grow a diverse range of beautiful vegetables and herbs. Our favorite new vegetable for the holiday is Morning Glory (named before the Oasis song), which when sautéed with garlic is wonderful. 

Morning Glory 

Vietnam is changing fast and new job opportunities are opening up, which means the next generation are not as interested in farming, so the average age of the farmers is quite high. To help the farmers, the tourism industry is using what they call Eco-Tourism, where the tourist guides pay the farmers to host and entertain the tourists, which results in the farmers encouraging the tourists to take on their work, such as watering their crops…

A local farmer watering the plants

Its a lovely area to cycle around, with the heat and high humidity its nice to take your time, enjoy the countryside and wildlife, like the Water Buffalo who enjoy the muddy water to keep cool in the days heat.

 

Our cycle ride took us to the river estuary, so the only answer was to take a river boat to another area of Hoi An. October is the start of the rainy season, which often results in flooding in this part of Vietnam. Only a month ago a Typhoon swept through the region and flooded the area. Many of the houses had 20 cm or more of water in their houses. This seems to be part of their lives, so they sweep down when the water drains away and move on. The biggest tell tail of the flooding is the river, which is deep brown from the soil run off during the flooding. 

This is a hot country and the people are hardworking. They wake early and work throughout the day, but they also have a siesta culture. After lunch they have a sleep while the sun is high. This is normal for adults and children, in business, schools and farms. It enables them to start early and finish late.

While trying to find someone in a local restaurant, the only person we found was fast asleep, so I couldn’t resist taking the photo below. She looked both comfortable and contented. Just brilliant. 

Market Street Restaurant 

So back to the hotel and the pool. Before heading out for dinner, one of the hotel staff offered to cut down a coconut for us to drink. Lovely and refreshing after a not so hard day.

 

Coconut juice, our drink of the day. 

Hoi An

 

Good morning Vietnam. 

We couldn’t resist it, we watched Good Morning Vietnam last night on Amazon Prime. Released in 1988, but still worth watching. The brilliant Robin Williams at his best.

A free day. Just the beach, pool and bar to keep us entertained. It’s winter in Vietnam, The temperature is around 28 degrees Celsius in Hoi An during November. It’s their rainy season, but like many countries globally the weather is not as expected. Only the occasional shower to break up the sunshine, but perfect weather for two tourists to spend a few hours reading books. Amazon Audible for Janice. I’m working through the Neil Stephenson Cryptonomicon, which is a brilliant book, but 900 pages of print which needs a magnifying glass to read, so at my reading pace, I’m unlikely to finish this holiday or even the next. 

Dinner was in down town Hoi An, which required our first taxi journey for a night out this holiday. Hoi An is a port town, which has become well know for lantern’s and river boat journeys. From what we could see this has predominately become a tourist town. The markets, bars and resturants had more europeans than we have seen previously. But it had a good feel to the area and as usual it felt safe and very welcoming.

A fairly uneventful evening. A really nice and spicy Thai meal and then taxi back to the hotel. A full day ahead tomorrow exploring the area, so early to bed. 

Good night Vietnam. 

Hai Van Pass

 

Hue to Hoi An

Time to leave Hue. Our next journey was to Hoi A via the Hai Van Pass, which Top Gear declared as one of the worlds best coastal routes during their 2008 road tour through Vietnam. The coastal road runs along the South China Sea and rises to 500m above sea level, dividing Hue and De Nang. A tropical area which was covered in mist as we drove over it. The pass is a steep winding road which was scattered with rocks that had slid down the hillside. There appears to be a constant battle to keep the road clear and safe. Our journey took about 3 hours, with a stop at the highest point for coffee. 

De Nang and Hoi An are joined together and are growing beach resort towns. The largest luxury hotel chains are either present or under construction. Investment is flowing in. Change and development is underway. Our hotel for the next four nights is the Palm beach resort in Hoi An. A nice resort on the beach with golden sand.

  Congratulations to the England Cricket team for winning the T20 World Cup. Sad as it may seem we ignored the swimming pool and sat infront of an Ipad watching the game. We did try to find a television showing the game, but cricket has not made an impact in Vietnam yet. Football and the Premier League is very different. We are often asked where we are from, when we respond England, the first question is what team we support. No surpises that Man City and Liverpool are the two most supported teams over here. To be kind, they often declare West Ham to be their second team.  

Good night Vietnam.