Speedboats and Cocktails

After the horrors of the election yesterday, we decided to keep ourselves busy and away from the news/wifi by taking a trip up the Saigon River by Speedboat to the Cu Chi tunnels. The tunnels were originally built during the French occupation but were mainly used in the fight against the South Vietnamese/Americans during the Vietnam War, 20 or so years later.

Our mini bus picked us up at our hotel at 7am, where we were shortly joined by Libby and Jason, a GP and fellow Accountant from Glasgow and within minutes we were talking like old friends, trading stories about Scotland and trying to convince them to move to NZ.

We jumped on the speedboat and took off up the river dodging river weeds and lillipads while being served a Breakfast comprising Bahn Bao, fruit and Vietnamese coffee. Libby and I were in such deep conversation that we hadnt realised that the boat had stopped and picked up other people halfway through our journey. After 1.5 hours on the boat, we arrived at the tunnels, and were quickly escorted off and into a bunker showing a propoganda video of the areas history. Before we came, I thought the tunnels comprised a small network close to the river, however the complex as a whole is over 250km in length. That is insane when you consider they were dug by hand or digging apparatus constructed out of Bamboo and that the only thing holding them open is the clay itself. No shot crete, netting or rock bolting here my geological friends.

We walked around a small portion of the complex, complete with the obligatory get in the tiny hole picture (see below). Our guide informed us that this tunnel (which is bloody tiny as it is) had to be made slightly larger due to an incident where a tourist got stuck in the hole and had to be cut out. She normally advises people if they are too big to get in, but in this instance she had turned around and was distracted when he jumped in the hole. Anyway, Jamie was the first in our group to give it a go and was followed by the majority of the men in the group, with the ladies being slightly concerned by their child bearing hips and the size of the hole. As the group was walking off, I jumped in the hole just to prove that us ladies could do it and got out quickly before I was attacked from anything in the dark depths of the hole (which there was nothing of course).

We continued our tour viewing various traps, bunkers and air vents before we arrived at the shooting range where you could pay to shoot a number of different guns ranging from the casual M16 shotgun, the AK47 and an M30. Not being the biggest fan of guns, I was a bit torn between whether I would give it a go or not. It wasn't until we were informed that all the money spent would go towards the victims of Agent Orange, that I decided I would give it a go and subsequently chose the AK47 to shoot my bullets into a stopbank. All I kept wondering was how much lead was in that soil. Geek. Jamie followed and chose the Carbine.

Our last stop on the tour was getting in the tunnels themselves and trying to navigate the 100m route. The size of the tunnel was about 1m high so to navigate them you had to do a squat shuffle. There were various exits along the 100m, so if your legs got too sore or if you got to scared you could come out. I made it to 60m before I decided I had enough, but Jamie went the whole way.

Before we jumped back on the boat, we were treated to a delicious Vietnamese lunch and sat around the table discussing travel plans, the US election result and Brexit with Libby and Jason and Gael and Steve who were on their honeymoon from England.

After lunch it was time return to Ho Chi Minh and I spent the majority of the boat ride talking to Steve and Gael about the rest of their honeymoon plans and their jobs as Air Traffic Controllers. I told them I had looked into becoming one once and I decided I probably wouldnt be that good at it as I have a tendency to zone out and that I had zoned out while watching the video earlier. The conversation took a more sinister turn when we started discussing the Vietnam War, Americas current relationship with Vietnam and then again the US election and what it could mean. The result has not sunk in for anyone yet, and I dont think it really will for sometime. One thing we all agreed on though is that Donald Trump being elected as president is not the scariest thing, the scariest thing is the number of people who support that rhetoric and think the same. The underlying feelings of everyone in the group is disbelief, horror snd fear. The world is all of a sudden a very scary place to be in.

After finishing our conversation on death and destruction, it wasn't long until we were back on land, and heading back towards our hotels. We had notionally agreed to meet up with at the Saigon Saigon bar later on, but it was "if we see you, we see you" and said our goodbyes to Libby and Jase and Gael and Steve and headed back to our hotel for a quick rest and to get a bit more glammed up for a night of cocktails.

On our friend Will's recommendation who had spent time here with the Australian Navy, we made our way towards the Grand Hotel Saigon to get some amazing views and mojitos from the rooftop bar. Within 10 minutes, we were joined by Libby and Jase and laughed at the irony that without even planning it, we found each other again, like it was fate. During this trip, we have met people that we have found instant connections with and Libby and Jase were no exception. I suppose likeminded people end up in the same place, but within minutes of meeting this morning, I felt like I had been friends with them for years.

Anyway three cocktails later and with the happy hour over, we decided to move on to the Saigon Saigon bar to make the most of their extended happy hour. This is where we ran into Gael and Steve and the four of us drunken kids interrupted their romantic evening together and proceeded to join them for a few more drinkies before they needed to head off to the Noir Restaurant where Jamie and I went the other night. Just after 7pm and at the end of the Saigon Saigon happy hour, we decided to move on quickly to the nearby Sheraton who had a happy hour which extended until 8pm where two more cocktails were ordered. Gael and Steve only had time for 1 more though and nearing 8.30pm we waved our goodbyes and wished them safe travels for the rest of their journey. The rest of us were quickly finding ourselves very VERY drunk, so at 9.30pm decided dinner was a must and settled on the Ben Thanh Market for dinner. We arrived and ordered a few Buns but it wasnt long until Libby started to feel unwell, and needed to go back to the hotel. We said our quick goodbyes and finished dinner and headed back to our hotel for much needed water and sleep.Read more