Saigon
Trip Start
Aug 09, 2008
1
10
13
Trip End
Sep 10, 2008
Saigon / Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam
Sunday, August 31, 2008
En route to the Cu Chi tunnels we stopped off at a factory where disabled people create handicrafts for tourists. It was interesting seeing the lacquer work but I felt a bit as though the disabled people were on show - "oooh look, they have no arms and no legs but they can still make things." Perhaps I'm being too anti-tourist.
We arrived at the Cu Chi tunnels and were with a group of about 25 people and an English-speaking guide. The guide was very informative and told us all about the Cu Chi people. The Cu Chi guerrillas had operated in the south of Vietnam during the American war and had fought against the Americans. They set booby-traps for soldiers in the forest and dressed as ordinary people so it was very difficult for the Southern soldiers to tell the difference. They also created a series of tunnels over a 200km squared area which they lived in. There were three different layers, one 3m below ground, the next level 6m below ground and the bottom level 10m below ground. We saw one of the secret entrances to the tunnels and it was tiny! Some people went in to see if they could fit and one woman got stuck as she tried to get out! We then saw the traps that the Cu Chi guerrillas set for the Americans and I began to feel rather sorry for them - the traps were absolutely horrific and designed to either kill or cause the most amount of pain possible. Finally we went through an extended original tunnel for 30m; it was rather uncomfortable and wonderful to come out into the open air at the end! We had the option of going for another 40m into the second level or going for 70m further into the third level but it was a united decision to come out!
After the Cu Chi tunnels we visited the War Remnants Museum which is one of the most famous in Vietnam. It was so so sad; the photos of the war and the accounts of the Vietnamese people were really shocking. Having felt sorry for the Americans at the Cu Chi tunnels I realised that both sides were as bad as each other. One story has stayed with me - a group of American soldiers entered a village and took two grandparents out of their house and killed them, then found the grandchildren hiding, killed two outright and disembowled the other one. They then proceeded to search the village and kill everyone they found. Only one person escaped. I just don't understand how people can do such awful things to other people, especially not to children who clearly wouldn't be old enough to understand the war. We also saw the tiger cages where suspected Viet Cong prisoners were held. The photographs of people who came out after years of imprisonment showed people that looked like they'd come out of Nazi concentration camps - again, how, after the exposure of the Nazi crimes, could people continue to treat other human beings like this?! Finally, one photo showed a man who had had both legs amputated bit by bit in an effort to get information. He revealed nothing.
We left the War Museum feeling very sad and a bit guilty for worrying about a camera when other people had been through so much.
The next day we visited the Independence Palace and had an English-speaking guide who told us all about the seizure of power by the Northern forces and the current political situation and workings. The President of Vietnam has his own private cinema and gambling room! We also went to see the Notre Dame Cathedral where mass was happening and the Post Office which looked like a rather spectacular train station. After this we went to the market which was great fun.
We finished off Saigon by watching the Mummy 3 which was my first time ever at a foreign cinema. Needless to say it was pretty rubbish but thoroughly enjoyable.
We've now arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and set ourselves up in a small guesthouse. We've truly learnt the meaning of "you get what you pay for" - our room is $4 and is the worst we've stayed in yet, sagging floors, no door on the bathroom, no loo seat, no loo paper and so on! At least it's only for one night as we're off to Sihanoukville tomorrow morning for some beach time!
Lots of love xxxx
