Ho Chi Min Day 1

Have had a huge day with 15 minutes to shower change and join a motorcycle food tour. So just photos for now..

On the way to Mekong River, a 2hr drive.

Chu Chi Tunnels today with a pick up of 7:05 (oddly exact for a place with such crazy traffic), and I was awake every 30min for no reason….

I turned right and walked for a block - no Banh Mi, went left , none that way either, couldn’t believe it. Wasn’t game to go too far in case pick up changed, so away I went on an empty stomach. The snack collection saw me through to a road side coffee stand where we waited for a guy who had to catch up by bike as he’d slept through. I found a Banh Mi down a nearby alley and with a coffee to go. We were away.

The tour was great and we were at a less touristy area of the tunnels. Tom our guide had lots to tell and it was a fun group. The tunnel system and ingenuity of the Viet Cong astounding. The whole history of independence fascinating and tragic.
Ho Chi Min a very smart man and brilliant politician.

A couple of men on the tour had a go at firing an AK 47, and we watched another on the machine gun - they are fixed in place and can’t be picked up. Unbelievably loud! Norway tells us they instantly start damaging your hearing.
The adrenaline/testosterone was high for a while and the chatter amongst them hits home later 😢.

We called in for a rest stop at the craft village of the people with Agent Orange/Disabilities. The ramifications are into the 2nd generation now and they expect there will be for up to 5 generations as it destroys the dna of the first person exposed. After the initial financial compensation by the US government some villages
rebuilt on the poisoned lands and continued to farm. Whilst the chemical companies denied there would be long term residues.

Norway and I got dropped at the War Remnants Museum on the way back.

I cried the whole time and over 3 floors had to regroup each time I moved between the exhibition rooms. The adrenaline and false sense of power that might come from wielding the weapons can’t justify what individuals did but might explain why they did what they did. The guys that had them in their hands for 2 minutes were pumped up.

Acts of humanity by soldiers who saved villages from certain slaughter, worth noting.
American Senators lauded for being a Vet, charged with war crimes and being pardoned by the President (can’t remember which one - doesn’t matter, they are all the same!), worth noting, images of piles of dead Vietnamese, children, elderly, women, worth noting. American GI holding up the remains of a blown to pieces child …. And sitting proudly with a pile of skulls. How can we call ourselves Humam Kind….

I crossed paths with Norway and he told me he was crying on the inside, I looked at him in tears and couldn’t say anything.

10 minutes as an urban Bear Grills had me use the museum
Wifi to get a screenshot of maps to get me to the closest phone place - I had half the bus establish that my SIM had expired - and bravely I set off.

Mission accomplished at the first place I came to - huge flash place with 6 attendants who raced each other to open the door for me, could have bought no end of gadget but just 15000 dong for 3 more
days instead. Very helpful girl, who did everything through Google translate called the provider and sent me on my way.

Before I left the shop I’d booked a motorbike food tour to join Sheryl & Rayner from the days tour and a Grab bike to get home to meet my bike.

Motorbike foodie tour with 5 others and a bunch of female uni students who do this as their job, 3 nights a week to help them practice their English, great fun and a great
bunch of girls.
Rachel my driver was on her first tour and we had a great chat as she weaves in and out of traffic “like a fish” she tells me!!

Fell into a food coma at 10, pleased to be off my feet.Read more