There has been so much going on, in such a short time that it is hard to put it all down.
The main thing we did in Saigon was the Cu Chi tunnels. During the Vietnam war, the people dug hundreds of miles of tunnels. There were people who lived in these tunnels for 14 years. We looked at all the torture devices the Viet Cong used to trap the invading armies. The current Vietnamese people still go through this training in this kind of warfare, so I really think that I would not want to invade them.
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| Crawling through the Cu Chi Tunnels - this part has been enlarged to make it easier for tourists |
Our tour leader asked for a volunteer to try one of the little foxholes. No one was volunteering, so I said, “sure, I’ll give it a go”. The guide told me that I was too fat. Then because he realized perhaps that wasn't a really good thing to say, he tried to back peddle after letting larger people than me go, by telling me that it was because I was too old. I said in front of the while group, that I would not be tipping him, and that he should not ask for a random volunteer if he is going to say that some people are ineligible.
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| Greg trying the trap that stabs you in the balls... Hope he is careful - the mock up of these traps are made of steel and just as sharp as the originals... |
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| One of the left over tanks -the Cong would cannibalize the components of the tanks they captured to make small engines to provide air in the tunnels, cooking stoves etc and also for the steel to make traps. |
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| The guides showing how the traps worked - these things looked very real - hope no one slips... They are just evil - like rollers of spikes that will roll and stab you as you fall in, and then will roll and stab you as they pull you out... |
We went to the War Museum. It was horrific. The things that country has been through are unimaginable.
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| Traffic in Saigon |
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| Bitexco Tower |
In the evening we went up the Bitexco Tower and looked over the city. I think Vietnam has come so far after years of invasion from with China, France and the USA.
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| The Market |
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| Ready to cross the border to Cambodia - wish me luck! |
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