War, what is it good for?

Darn it, now I can't get that song out of my head.

Anyway, I guess I can't be in Vietnam without mentioning war. Vietnam is the most bombed country in the world. In the world! Its hard to believe, but after re-learning about the Chinese 1000+ year invasions, the French 80+ years, and US 10+ years, we thought it was necessary to go to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a network of tunnels that was used by the Vietcong during the American War. This system has been used by the Vietnam for centuries (I guess you learn after awhile) and were a key part of guerilla warfare during the Vietnam war and played a major role in defeating American soldiers. It stretches for hundreds of miles and the tunnels were dug from clay by local people. Its pretty complex and the maps look crazy. The cool thing is that it had living spaces, kitchens, clinics, even a 'honeymoon'' room (one night only). So for the Vietcong, it was good escape from bombings, hiding from the enemy, and to do surprise attacks. Everything was pretty unbiased, until we saw this really old school video that talked about the "ruthless Americans"" attacking the "gentle Vietnamese." It was almost amusing, the propoganda of the video.

But part of the tour was to actually go through the tunnels, and mind you, it was pretty clever for the Vietnamese to use the one thing that most Americans don't have - their super small physique and frame. I don't think I could have fit in there:

They made the tunnels so tight and narrow, that most americans couldn't squeeze through them. But you ask, how could they survive in their, and what about flooding the tunnels or throwing gas/fire down there? Well, they designed air holes for fresh air and also for smoke to get out and also a pseudo underwater system that if attempted to be flooded, the water would go directly to the river (there was also a river entrance). And of course clay doesn't burn or melt or dissolve or anything, so that solved that problem. Hence, covered all bases. And it worked! We walked through it, well, half bent over and waddling more like it,

it was sooo hot and muggy!! When I surfaced, I was practically gasping for air. Okay, thats an exaggeration, but I can ONLY imagine how people lived there for months at a time! Crazy! So besides the tunnels, we learned about the ingenious booby traps and other clever designs (tunnel entrances) to deter the "ruthless Americans." Óverall, some of it was cheesy with mannequins writing letters to their moms and polishing their shoes, but I thought they did a pretty good job of re-creating it. It was also good to learn about it from their perspective - nostly unbiased, except the video.

On a side note, there is absolutely NO friction towards us being Americans (which some random people warned us about). Since Vietnam opened itself to tourism in the early 90's and President Clinton visited it in 1996, they like Americans because Americans ='s $$, and tourism is becoming a thriving industry here and helping their economy. I asked our guide about the opinions Vietnamese have towards Americans and he said that they have really tried hard to put their war torn history behind them and have moved on. I can see that. When we went out to dinner with Char's friends 2nd cousins friends (phew!) they said they were a new generation and want to nove on from the past. The guide also said, and I heard this from someone else, that there is more friction between Northern Vietnam (the "communist republic") and Southern Vietnam, the anti-communist and Catholic region (2nd largest Catholic population second to Phillipines) then towards any other country. Interesting. That was the whole trigger of the war, and as the guide reiterated that there will always be problems but but are looking in the future. And once again, that Vietnam is a nation, not a war. Then our tour guide from today, when we said we were Americans, shook my hand and grinned and went on to talk about how he was an English translator during the war. So as always, there will always be harsh feelings somewhere, but its a friendly nation trying to get back on its feet. And tourism is helping that tremendously, so everyone is everyone's friend. Woo hoo!

Ho Chi Minh City is mostly referred to as Saigon, and it is a pretty busy city with lots to see and do (but not as chaotic and congested as Hanoi, the capital). Once again, the influence of the French is here with colonial style buildings and baguettes. We did a pow wow and pretty much saw all the sites in one day: the general post office that is one of the most attractive buildings in the city because it really resembles a train station is ornately designed (designed by a french architect), the Notre Dame Cathedral - always interesting to see a basilica-style cathedral in Asia, Reunification Hall, City Hall, Municipal Theater, and lots of 5 star hotels. Oh, and this amazing Jade Emperor Pagoda with the traditional roof green stacked ceramic tiles and cool sanctuaries.

Today we went along the river Mekong Delta. The famous Mekong River is the 3rd (4th?) largest river in the world and runs all the way from India, through China, and all throughout SE Asia. Its mega, as I like to say and we took a nice river boat cruise through it and saw some traditional floating houses, markets, and fishing boats bobbing along. It was super murky (probably because of the most recent floods), so no swimming. Hhaha! But it was a nice sunny day so we were happy. We went to some homemade coconut candy shops (delish!) and road bikes through the villages, which was cool. The Mekong Delta is definitely famous for its ethnic diversity and I can see that. Here is me with the traditional Vietnamese cone hat on the Mekong Delta:

So now I can check off yet another "1,000 Things to See Before you Die." Yea!

Bye Vietnam! Cambodia, here we come!!