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| amazing dinner with friends ! |
Ho Chi Minh City was nuts! It definitely was a lot more urban and modern
than Cambodia; a wake up call! The sheer amount of motorbikes was amazing and
crossing the street was like playing Frogger. I thought that Kuala Lumpur had
busy streets, HCMC was worse and I loved it! HCMC was great due to the fact
that one of my best friends, Joe, and his girlfriend were flying out from
England to do the next 2 weeks of Vietnam with us. I also had a reunion with my
friend Crystal who has been living there for almost 5 years. My opinion of HCMC
may be biased due to the fact that I enjoyed my company so much as well.
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| in front of the Notre Dame-Esque Cathedral |
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| try to cross the road |
First off, the food in Vietnam was excellent. I definitely
have put on some weight in these past two weeks. Luckily, Crystal gave us some
recommendations and even took us out to dinner one night. We tried a little bit
of everything and it was delicious. I would say the main reason to go to HCMC
would be to get involved with the culture and immerse yourself in the food. The
sites here are okay and you can walk around the city in a day, but the best
thing (for me) was the food and watching people try to cross the road or the
street with the motorbike traffic.
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| Vietnamese coffee on the side of the road |
The War Remnants Museum also has a lot of information on the
horrors of the Vietnam War and has an amazing galley of Lifetime Photographs as
well as Vietnamese Journalist’s photos from the war. It is pretty graphic, but
extremely informative. It is interesting to see what really happened in Vietnam.
The truth is in the photographs and what is taught in the schools in the U.S.
isn't entirely accurate. What happened during the Vietnam War was absolutely
dreadful and absolutely a waste of time as the U.S. left anyways, the North
won, and what was left were innocent people whose lives were destroyed or taken
from them and a country that was left in ruin. It is amazing how modern Vietnam is
and how far it has come since the unnecessary destruction from the war. Anyone visiting HCMC needs to go to the War
Remnants Museum to see some insight to what the country has been through.
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| at the war museum |
After a day of site seeing, we did a day trip to the Cu Chi
Tunnels, these were the tunnels that were constructed for the war. I’ll be
honest, for something that could have been so informative, it really was just a
tour to get us to buy stuff. The tunnels were impressive and so tiny I couldn't
do the small part the tourists were allowed in due to claustrophobia (didn't
realize I had it). Also, seeing the ways the fighters attacked intruders was pretty gruesome, but
like I said it was done badly and they lead you to a gift shop. They also take
you to where you can shoot guns; handguns to AK 47s. On the way to and from the
tunnels you stop at another gift shop and “bathroom break”. Organized tourism in
the South of Vietnam was very much lacking. Things could have been so great,
but were disrupted by the fact they wanted you to buy stuff.
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| Cu Chi Tunnels |
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| life on the Mekong |
We also did a tour to the Mekong Delta (you cannot really
get to these places without buying tickets from a tour agency) and the same
thing happened. We went to the Mekong river and a boat took us from island to
island which was essentially tourist gift shop to tourist gift shop. It was
quite humorous and worth it as we got to have traditional Vietnamese coffee
(sooo tasty and strong!) and watch some coconut candy being made. We also got
on a traditional boat of the Mekong, but of course we did it and had to tip. It
was a weird experience, but what can you do? At least we saw the Mekong!
The highlight of our time in the South was definitely the
food and the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City. It was awesome. You wake up
and play real life Frogger or sit in a cafe sipping Vietnamese coffee and watching the crazy traffic. Next, you go see some sites, then head to a roof top restaurant for
some amazing food and great beer with friends. What more could you ask for?
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the markets
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| just your typical electric wires on the street |
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| EVERYONE has a scooter |
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