Good Morning Vietnam!

Ho Chi Minh City (many locals still call it Saigon) is pretty out of control! There are thousands of motorbikes on the streets driving like crazy and crossing the street reminded us a little of Cairo - except here people do stop at red lights most of the time. There are tons of shops and restaurants as well as historical sites from the Vietnam War - or 'American War'. The first day here we went to the market, the Independence Museum, and the War Remnants Museum. The Independence Museum is more like an office building from the 70's with really bad colored carpet. It is odd to see the word 'enemy' associated with your country, and it is everywhere in the War Remnants Museum. There are old tanks, air crafts, etc in the front yard of the War Museum. Inside it has pictures from the war; many are fairly disturbing, especially the ones related to the effects of Agent Orange and the birth defects it caused. It takes you through the history of the War, has excerpts from political speeches and documents, but mainly relates to the war crimes America committed in Vietnam. When we left there it was time for a beer, so we got two cyclos to take us back towards our hotel. They totally ripped us off since we did not understand how much they were asking for originally, so we decided not to take another cyclo in Saigon. We took a break from the war sites the next day and went to tour the many pagodas and Herb Market in the Cholon area . The carvings in some are incredible while others look more like a fair with all the colors and brightly clothed statues. The Herb market was kind of a bust but they did have weasel coffee - this is coffee they feed weasels and then take the beans from their poop before drying them. Never tried any but apparently it is supposed to be very good but really expensive.

Naturally we had to go see the Cu Chi Tunnels and decided to go with a guided tour because it was actually cheaper than trying to get there on your own. On the way to the tunnels we stopped at the Cao Dai Great Temple. Cao Dai is an interesting religion that combines aspects of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity, and Islam; the base of which is to escape the cycle of reincarnation. We made it in time to see the noon prayers which looked like meditation with some chanting and music playing in the background. The Cu Chi tunnels had presentations of the different guerrilla traps used, spider holes, B-52 bomb craters, and we were able to actually go through one of the tunnels. The tunnel you go through is tiny: you have to crouch and walk since it is about 1.2m high and 80cm across. And that is the one they expanded for tourists! It was so hot and humid in the tunnel Ben and I bailed out just before the exit and were sweating bullets. Don't know how they were able to stay in those things for months at a time - our guide said he was stationed in one for 6 months. Next we head to the mountains and see Dalat!