Livin' the Dream: Saigon, Vietnam (03 Apr 2006

Saigon, a.k.a. Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), although much larger than its northern counterpart, was much more bearable than Hanoi. The city definitely had more of a western feel to it. The traffic was still insane, but at least it seemed as if some sort of traffic laws existed. There were traffic lights and traffic signs...and most of the people actually obeyed them! It was quite shocking, and I write this in all seriousness.

The horde of motorbikes is actually stopped!

Yes, that is a giant frame on the back of that guy's motorbike. It reminds me of one of those Hewlett-Packard photo solutions commercials.

Cu Chi Tunnels

One day we spent touring the Cu Chi tunnels outside of Saigon and visiting the War Remnants Museum. The Cu Chi tunnels were fascinating. In the Cu Chi province, the underground was crisscrossed with an intricate and elaborate web of tunnels to aid Viet Cong fighters wage their guerrilla warfare against U.S. and ARVN forces. The tunnel complex itself spans an impressive 75 miles in distance and includes multiple "levels." About 100m of these tunnels were renovated and widened for tourists to crawl through, though they were still absolutely cramped. Despite the renovation, the 100m crawl was enough to stimulate for me how horrid the conditions were in reality.

The Cu Chi tunnels also included an exhibit on the booby traps that the Vietnamese devised to maim and kill U.S. soldiers. These were the most wicked looking traps that I have ever seen. All of them were cleverly concealed in the foliage or ground and featured razor sharp bamboo or steel spikes that would impale the torso or appendage of an unlucky GI. I definitely looked twice at each step that I took after that.

What impressed me was the ingenuity and tenacity of the Vietnamese people during this struggle. For instance, the steel that they used to construct those gruesome booby traps were recycled from the shrapnel of U.S. bombs. Unexploded ordinance was dismantled and used to manufacture grenades and other homemade explosive devices. The Vietnamese used whatever they could to fight against the Americans, including the remains of weapons used against them.

A cleverly concealed cave entrance. Where?

With a little help from our guide, we eventually found it.

That's me.

That's Johanna.

A row of vicious traps on display.

Tiger trap with razor sharp punji sticks below...but this wasn't meant to trap tigers.

I don't know how Joe fit through the tunnels.

Me and Maja - looks like there were two different pictures of this one being taken.

War Remnants Museum

After the Cu Chi Tunnels, we took a tour through the War Remnants Museum. The museum itself was very well done, although it was unabashedly anti-American (it used to be called the American War Crimes Museum). Even so, it was much more tolerable to browse through than the war exhibits in Hanoi, which I would characterize less as museums and more as podiums for nationalist propaganda. My favorite part of the museum featured a plethora of black and white photographs of the war, depicting the fighting from both sides. The exhibit seemed to be dedicated to the photographers who died during the course of the conflict. The most gruesome section of the museum featured displays on the effects of Agent Orange. The bodies of a couple babies, horribly malformed, were proudly on display for all to see the effects of the toxic herbicide. This display, combined with numerous pictures of deformed men, women, and children, was quite sobering to experience.

Lunch Break - Johanna, Maja, and Emelie

A sample of the truly moving photographs on display.

Saigon Waterpark

Even though it is still technically vacation, tourism can sometimes feel like a full time job. So, we decided to spend a day kicking back and relaxing at the Saigon Waterpark. This waterpark was amazing - it had a variety of waterslides of varying shapes and sizes as well as a large wavepool. The best part about it was the fact that the park was practically empty, which meant no lines whatsoever.