We spend our first full day in HCMC dodging the traffic while going on a self-guided walking tour of the city.
We begin by checking out Benh Thanh Market, which is located just minutes from where we are staying. You can find almost anything here – soap, souvenirs, dehydrated fish, whatever! Eric has to drag me away as I discover Vietnamese coffee is sold in convenient 10kg. bags.
From there we continue on past Independence Palace – or Reunification Palace, depending who you ask – and loop around to the heart of the government quarter, where Notre Dame Cathedral and the central post office are located. Both of these buildings are remnants of Saigon’s French-era and are very beautiful. We finish off the architectural portion of our tour with a stroll over to the Opera House.
After meandering through a number of different neighbourhoods, we eventually arrive at the waterfront, where we check out the harbour before heading to the War Remnants Museum. Along the way we discover an outdoor climbing wall and make a quick detour to find out about climbing there tomorrow.
We arrive at the War Remnants Museum to find it under construction. Fortunately it’s still open to visitors, so we head in. We spend the next two hours walking around the museum and learning about the “American War” from the Vietnamese perspective. The museum contains photographs, articles, documents, weapons and art all describing the war, some of which are pretty gut-wrenching. It’s a good prelude to our visit to the Chu Ci Tunnels tomorrow.
After the museum, we figure we need a treat so we stop off at Yugen Fruz and enjoy some frozen-yogurt-goodness. Our flavour of choice? Vanilla mixed with blueberries – delicious!
Our second day in HCMC we start off by taking a tour of the Chu Ci Tunnels.
During the numerous wars Vietnam was involved in during the mid-1900’s, the South Vietnamese army dug many tunnel networks stretching from Saigon to the Cambodian border. The Chu Ci Tunnels alone constituted a series of over 200kms worth of tunnels. These went from anywhere between 3 to 12 metres below ground and housed not only the army, but entire villages, including hospitals, kitchens and armouries.
The Cu Chi Tunnels are about 1 ½ hours outside the city. Along the way our tour bus driver gets lost and we spend some time doubling back and making U-turns but we eventually get there with not too much time lost.
Again the perspective presented on the tour was quite interesting. The area has been modified for tourism so replica bunkers, armouries and booby-traps are on display along a trail through the forest. It’s fascinating to see how a country that had limited military technology could be quite resourceful by adapting methods used to trap animals into traps for human. Some of them were quite brutal but when you’re talking about defending one’s home, you have to admire determination.
The final two areas contains a shooting range for tourists to try various types of guns – M16s, M60s, AK47s, etc. – and a portion of tunnels you can actually crawl through. The tunnels were cramped and we both felt claustrophobic… I was able to crawl through a 15m. long section and Eric managed to make it through a 30m. long section before we both had to get out.
And one thing to keep in mind – the government actually cleaned up the tunnels, added lights and expanded the size for the sake of Western tourists! I can only imagine what they were like originally… definitely not somewhere I would want to go again.
After such an intense morning, Eric and I decide climbing would be a good way to spend the afternoon. So we grab our gear and head to the outdoor wall for a full afternoon of getting vertical!
On the way home from climbing I decide to bite the bullet and get my haircut. It’s been over 5 months, and I’ve been contemplating it for the past few weeks – I’m feeling pretty shaggy and really, what’s the worst that can happen?
Well, what should have been a half-hour shampoo and cut, turns into a 1 ½ hour experience… 1 hour of shampoo, facial and massage – including having a cucumber salad made on my face, 15 minutes of actual haircutting and another 15 minutes trying to get my now crooked bangs fixed. In the end, I decide to cut my losses – no pun intended – and go on my way. After all, hair grows back.
For dinner we’re joined by the “Colorado sisters” – Katie & Carly – who we met on our snorkeling trip in Nha Trang. They’re traveling a similar route as us, so finish off our day swapping stories over some delicious Indian food.
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