Good Mooooorrrning, Vietnam!

This was my kind of day, the modern history nerd in me was incredibly happy. I once took a university course based just the Vietnam War, so it was pretty interesting to visit the War Remnants Museum and the Chu Chi Tunnels today. :)

The War Remnants Museum houses a whole whack of American bombers, helicopters, flame throwers, and tanks on the outside. I went a little photo happy. But when you go inside, you're hit with hundreds of pictures of the atrocities committed by US troops during the war. Made me feel a little gross that I took so many picture of the artillery outside.

American tanks leftover from the Vietnam War

One of the most interesting galleries was the one showcasing photos of victims of Agent Orange. Agent Orange was a chemical dropped on the Vietnamese by the Americans during the Vietnam War. It contains dioxin and causes many deformities and developmental problems to those directly and even indirectly through second generation exposure (passed on through the parents initial exposure, working in contaminated agriculture, etc). 4.8 million Vietnamese were exposed and I even saw a picture of a girl born with no arms/legs (just stumps) in 2008! While the museum didn't really capture my interest for too long, it was really interesting to see the war from solely at Vietnamese point-of-view. This was even more apparent at the Củ Chi Tunnels.

A tour to the Củ Chi tunnels was next on our Vietnam War History itinerary . The tunnels (which are in the Củ Chi area) are an example of and homage to the elaborate tunnel system and guerrilla warfare tactics that the Viet Cong used during the war. At the beginning of the tour, you were shown a very dated, propaganda film about Củ Chi and glorifying killing the "American Devils". Quite different than what would be in an American textbook, I bet.

A volunteer demonstrates how they popped in and out of the tunnels

They demonstrated how they popped out of the holes and camouflaged them. They showed us ways that the Viet Cog survived living underground to avoid detection (such as using termite mounds to disguise air holes and then using dead GI clothing and soap to throw off the scent of dogs trying  to sniff out the air holes). They even showed us the different types of booby traps they used and how they made them.

I couldn't believe how ingenuous they were. They only had AK-47s to combat against machine guns and tanks. So they had to use guerrilla tactics and booby traps to defeat their enemy. They sharpened metal taken off the enemy into sticks which they would then line the bottom of traps with. If they didn't have metal, they'd use sharpened bamboo. They'd take unexplored bombs, cut them open, take the bomb powder and make their own delayed mines to take down tanks. Even though they were slaughtered 10 Viet Cong to 1 GI, the fact that they even killed any seemed a great feat to me.

Bamboo spiked booby traps

I find it incredibly lucky that I am visiting a country and locations that I studied in university. It's amazing to physically be somewhere that you've read about. Facts keep flying into my head throughout the trip and as soon as I read something I go, oh yeah! I remember that! Once a (history) nerd, always a nerd it seems. :)

Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh, Ho Chi Minh is gonna win!

Welcome to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam! The formerly named city of Saigon, was a welcome relief after the kind of drudging, on-the-rise but still a bit dodgy, Phnom Penh. We had learned our lesson about taking cheap buses (the bus ride from Siem Reap to PP was in a word, Brutal) so our more expensive $14 ride was much nicer. We met some new travel friends along the way (hi Cheryl and Magnus!) and hung out with them later that evening at a fun bar up on the top floor of a hotel. It had a great view of the skyline and pretty cheap beer! Darts, Jenga and picking our own playlist were highlights.

Drinks with a view!

Our hotel is gorgeous compared to the last one. At $25 a night, it's a bit pricier than most but worth it. A/c, clean washrooms, super friendly staff and breakfast included. HCMC is a bustling town, with thousands of motorbikes racing around in a more organized fashion than in Cambodia. You have to be super careful about bag and camera snatching too, so more often than not, I left my camera back in the hotel and had my money/iPod in my bra.

Food wise, everyone seems super happy. I really liked the sandwiches (I had an amazing egg version) and the spring rolls. The buns they use here are incredible. Sometimes I just order a jam and baguette for breakfast.  I tried Banh Mi, a famous Vietnamese sandwich. Unfortunately for me, everytime I see pate, I think of cat food. If I got my mind around that, it was pretty good! I also tried Pho for the first time and while I'm not a big soup eater and didn't eat the pork part, it wasn't half bad! Unfortunately, the rest of the day I didn't feel great but that may have been a combo of hangover/sun/meat soup. Still haven't thrown up yet though! I think that's a record. My family always says "it's not a trip til Susan pukes". Ha.

Trying Pho for the first time!

Not many people seem to really enjoy HCMC because it's SO busy and a lot of the touristy type activities require you to leave the city on a bus tour. However, i like exporting cities and we have only been scammed once but at least he did it with a smile (we were overcharged at least 115% for coconut waters which we didn't even want). Also, we've found some cool public parks around the city with people playing badminton and greenery everywhere.

Eat your heart out, Edward Scissorhands

We visited some Vietnam War sites, as well as a Mekong River mini-trip, but I'll post more detailed ones about that later. I've reached the halfway point of my trip and cannot believe the reports of snow back home. I won't lie, I'm pretty pumped to be in a tank top and shorts right now.