Tunneling through Saigon

After a hot bumpy trip, and a long day, we arrived in HCMC (Saigon). The bus we travelled in on was not a tourist bus so we couldn’t effectively communicate with any of the locals or people on the bus. We were a little unclear about where we would be dropped off since the city is so large. We tried deciphering the complicated Vietnamese street names but we couldn’t locate ourselves on our map. One thing we did understand was when they shooed us off at the end of the line. So we were stopped at a local sidewalk eatery somewhere in Saigon. The driver motioned, with his hand to mouth, that we should eat so since we were pretty well lost, had been on a bus all day, and had nowhere else to be, we copped a squat Vietnamese style and enjoyed a dinner of pork chop, vegetables, and rice. After our meal we tried orienting ourselves as we walked through the neighborhood. It became clear that we were in the wrong end of town as we were the only 2 white faces to be seen and the locals almost taunted us with snickering “hellos”. Finally, we gave in and hired a couple motos to take us to “the backpacker district”. We still don’t know where it was we started from but we would have been all night on foot as the drivers must have taken us a good 5 km. Our first experience here was extreme as we weaved crazily through the chaotic Saturday night streets. At times like these I like to revert to a childlike innocence by abandoning any knowledge of safe driving and road rules. The best way to get through it without having an anxiety or heart attack is to hand your self over to the rollercoaster like thrills rather than retain any awareness of the recklessness. When we arrived at our destination we were more than happy to follow a timid Vietnamese girl who offered us accommodation for $10. We followed her down an alley and into her family home where we found a quiet and nicely appointed room. We were more than pleased to lay down our heads for the night.

Saigon was a typical bustling city with tons of bars, restaurants, and the huge Ben Thanh Market. One of the highlights in the Saigon area was the day trip which we took to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This network of tunnels was used by the Viet Cong during the war. We saw original weapons, tanks, and shelters which were used to fight against the Americans. We learned that the VC were simply people living in the village of Cu Chi. They worked the land in the day and they used the tunnels to evade the American fighters as well as for surprise attacks in the evenings. The entrances to the tunnels weren’t much bigger than a household heating vent and the space inside would have provoked claustrophobia in most. There are 125km and 3 levels of tunnels with an enlarged section for tourists to crawl through. All and all, it was a very informative morning.