We arrived to our final stop and final destination of our bus ticket package in Vietnam- Saigon. The 6 hour bus trip from Mui Ne was just as chaotic and reckless as all the other bus rides in Vietnam. The driving in Vietnam is like no other and the bus drivers are the worst! The number of almost head on collisions are in the thousands in our 3 week journey through Vietnam! Anyway, we arrived in Saigon, the name the people of the North adhere to and Ho Chi Minh according to the people of the North.
Since we only had 2 full days in Saigon, we had lots to do in a little time! Our first day we got our visas for Laos and Cambodia sorted, visited the War museum, saw the cathedral, went to the palace, and shopped at the night market! The war museum paints the picture of the war and it was ugly on both sides, a unnecessary tragedy on both sides-
Our second day we took a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, the under ground tunnel system built by the Viet Cong in the war. They were tunnels that housed thousands of people and they played an integral role in the VC defeating the US in the war. Many US soldiers were killed and they were not able to detect where the enemy was located, because they were underground. Then at night we met up with some friends that we have seen traveling since China! Tomorrow we are off to Cambodia, and we leave Vietnam with fond memories. This country has wonderful people, delicious food, and beautiful landscape.
Since we only had 2 full days in Saigon, we had lots to do in a little time! Our first day we got our visas for Laos and Cambodia sorted, visited the War museum, saw the cathedral, went to the palace, and shopped at the night market! The war museum paints the picture of the war and it was ugly on both sides, a unnecessary tragedy on both sides-
Our second day we took a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, the under ground tunnel system built by the Viet Cong in the war. They were tunnels that housed thousands of people and they played an integral role in the VC defeating the US in the war. Many US soldiers were killed and they were not able to detect where the enemy was located, because they were underground. Then at night we met up with some friends that we have seen traveling since China! Tomorrow we are off to Cambodia, and we leave Vietnam with fond memories. This country has wonderful people, delicious food, and beautiful landscape.
Saigon es la ultima parada en Vietnam, estuvimos dos dias un poco a las corridas pero pudimos hacer la mayoria de los turs que la ciudad ofrece. Tambien aprobechamos para sacar nuestras visas para Cambodia nuestro siguiente destino y tambien para Laos futuro siguiente a Cambodia.
The Cathedral- The Pope would be so pleased with Agustin!
The War museum
The presidential palace- this is where the tanks rolled in 1975 and seized Saigon, ending the war
Christmas in Vietnam! They really go all out decorating for the holidays!
The night market, found tank tops for only .85 cents
Our tour guide, Joey, at the Cu Chi tunnels
Agustin trying to fit in a tight tunnel.....a couple more inches on either side and he would have been able to go down under......Big guy in a Little Tunnel!
The booby traps the VC made to trap, kill, or injure the Americans. They were bamboo spears coated with rattle snake poison.
An American tank blown up in the War
Some guns from the war
The man renting the guns for the tourists to shoot. It was a dollar a bullet, 10 bullet minimum. They had M16, M60, AK 47, and others. The shooting range could be heard through out the tunnels. It really made us think about how scary fighting in this war would have been.
Going down in the first level of the tunnels......made bigger for the tourists and there was some lighting for us down there. Due to the numbers of tourists injured going down to the 2nd and 3rd levels, they have closed that portion. The part of the tunnel we could go down was small enough that we had to duck walk through.....it was tight enough for us! It was hot and stuffy down there, cant even imagine what it would have been like to live down there with thousands of others....
Tight squeeze!
Saigon Post office
Saigon at night!
No comments:
Post a Comment