Vietnam 2008: Cuchi

Other links:
Vietnam 2008: In a Nutshell
Vietnam 2008: Ho Chi Minh City

Day 2: Ho Chi Minh City & Cuchi

Having booked the Cuchi tour the previous day, we had a delicious complementary breakfast at Bee-Saigon Hotel while waiting for our tour company to come pick us up.

Pork broth

Baguette with omelete

Vietnamese coffee is really good. I drink this everyday!

We stopped over at the Handicapped Handicrafts factory for a break.

Paintings handmade by handicapped people

A painting made of egg shells

The town of Cuchi is famous of its wide network of underground tunnels that have helped the VC (Viet Cong, which means Vietnamese Communist) to facilitate its aggression against the US soldiers in the American War. The tunnels stretch from HCMC to the Cambodian border but in Cuchi alone, there are more than 250km of tunnels filled with self-sustainable resources. The VC would live in the tunnels for months without coming out.

The area of Cuchi was chosen because of its hard ground and fertile soil. Unknowingly, the American army built their base right on top of the tunnels and soon fell victim to many surprise attacks. It took them many months to figure out why they keep getting shot at night.

This is the reason:

Secret entrance to the tunnel disguised by leaves

How to enter... as demonstrated by a fake VC.

The tunnels were built really small so that the bigger size American soldiers could not enter. If they tried to, there's always the booby traps.

Booby traps outside the tunnel

Booby traps in the tunnel

This American tank was destroyed by a land mine at this very spot.

Underground bomb-making room

The VC build a ventilation vent using a termite nest to disguise it.

Disguised chimney to get the smoke out from the underground kitchen

Then we crawled through about 20 metres of the tunnel. 20m is not a lot, but it is in those cramp and musty conditions. In fact, these tunnels were already expanded to accomodate the bigger sized tourists but still, it's definitely not for the claustrophobic.

Actual size of the tunnel!

After failing to eliminate the VC with ground attacks, chemical warfare and infiltration, the US Army begin sending B52 warplanes which eventually destroyed most of the tunnels.

Actual bombs used by the American soldiers

B52 Bomb Crater



Rubber sandals made of used tires. The VC made some really big and really small sandals to scare the Americans (as in monsters, lol).

Snake herbal wine for sale at the souvenier shop. Apparently, it's very common in Vietnam. There's also centipede wine, scorpion wine, lizard wine... eww.

Roadside pet store!

We had KFC for lunch because Kh says we need to slowly get used to Vietnamese food. As you can see, the chicken is really small.

Long long walk to the History Musuem. The most boring musuem ever. Shows all the history stuff in Vietnamese history but they are all briefly explained in Vietnamese. The highlight of this musuem is the Vietnamese mummy. Unfortunately, all their exhibits are very poorly preserved.

Dinner at Bi-Saigon Hotel (sister hotel of Bee-Saigon) before taking the overnight bus to Dalat. One of the best fried rice we've had in our entire lives.

Next post, Vietnam 2008: Dalat...

Vietnam 2008: Ho Chi Minh City

Other links:
Vietnam 2008: In a Nutshell

Day 1: Ho Chi Minh City

On board Tiger Airways

Aerial view of Mekong Delta

Tan Sot Nhat Airport

Kh and I nearly got ripped off at the airport. The taxi drivers kept telling us there were no bus services when we asked them about the airport bus. I think it costs about 150,000d to get to the city by cab, and 80,000d by minibus. Lotsa tourists got conned by them! Thankfully, we did our research and we knew about the airport bus. It took us quite some time to find it because it was situated at the far end of the domestic airport. Tickets cost only 3000d for a 20min bus ride! Imagine the difference!

Checked in at Bee-Saigon Hotel. US$20/night/room

Bee-Saigon Hotel: Cute decor

After which, it was time for our 6-hour walking tour as planned in my itinerary. I had already read up and chosen the places I wanted to visit and the route we would take. With our LP guidebook and map on hand, we quickly headed off to our first stop, Pho2000, for a tasty tasty Vietnamese meal. =)

Lunch at Pho2000
Our very first meal in Vietnam! Kh had a beef ragout with Vietnamese coffee and I had a chicken Pho with Vietnamese tea.

Tran Nguyen Hai Statue

Roadside waffle stall

Municipal Theatre

Hotel De Ville/People's Committee Building

Their traffic lights were extremely hard to spot. And you wonder why when they are built above pedestrian pavements.

Ho Chi Minh Musuem: A 13th century boat carved out from a tree trunk.

Ho Chi Minh Musuem: The old Vietnamese money. Looks like hell notes. =x

Ho Chi Minh Museum: This is one of the many couples there taking wedding photos!

Reunification Palace (also known as Independence Palace):
This place as endured many bombings in the past and has now been rebuilt to hold international conferences and parliamentary meetings.

Reunification Palace: One of the conference rooms

War Remnants Musuem: It showed a lot of the weapons used during the war, and the damaged it created. There were several galleries showing gruesome pictures of bloody bodies and severely deformed children who were the result of chemical warfare.

War Remnants Musuem : Fighter Jet used during the American War

War Remnants Musuem: Ammunition used during the American War

War Remnants Museum: The prison entrance

War Remnants Museum: The guillotine used by the French to kill the Vietnamese, and then used by the Vietnamese to kill the Americans.

War Remnants Museum: Letter of apology by an Australian soldier

Notre Dame Cathedral

French-style Post Office

French-style Post Office: One of the nicest post office I've seen. It's like Harry Potter architecture.

Dinner at Lotteria at Diamond Plaza. Vietnam's version of KFC/McDonald's.

Lotteria: Unfortunately the chicken was rather burnt.

Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre

Water Puppet Theatre: Just puppets on water. There are peeps behind the green curtains controlling the water puppets. I fell asleep halfway through the 50 min show as it was all in Vietnamese (65,000d/person) and I was so exhausted from the day's activities.

Crazy traffic at HCMC.

Crazy traffic w/o flash

A woman just scooting past like we're not even there. We had to jump to one side to let her pass.

In HCMC, people will use the pedestrian pavements as "expressways". The situation is not so bad in Hanoi though. People here don't follow traffic rules. Green light, go. Red light, also go. And apparently, on the road, size matters. The bigger your horn, the more power you have on the road. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable people. People won't even give way to you when they see you crossing the road on green man.

Video of the crazy traffic:

P/s: This is one of the better moments. We were unable to capture the crazier moments because we were busy running for our lives.

We tried to avoid crossing the road. When we had to, we would make a mad dash to the other side. Occasionally, I would scream in shock when one motorbike just jam brake in front of me. I think that really put those people off because they would give me dirty looks. However, after 16 days and 15 nights in Vietnam, we've become jaywalking experts. It's all a matter of technique and mutual trust. ;)

Kh and I wondered what this red cross means. We were thinking it means "Free for All" because everytime it lights up, people would be scooting about all over the place. After careful observation with the more controlled traffic in Hanoi, we think it means that all those who are turning may now turn and all those going straight must stop. I guess this is quite a feasible way to organise traffic in Vietnam because most of the roads are 2 way roads and there are loads and loads of junctions.

Our feet and slippers were filthy after a day's walk. You can imagine how dirty and polluted HCMC is. Dust and soot flying all over the place. Argh.

Kh's foot covered with dirt. Yeah I know it's disgusting. Bro-in-law Jeremy says this looks like a pic taken from the doctor's clinic. =x

Vietnam 2008: Cuchi coming right up!

Vietnam 2008: In a Nutshell

"Blessed X'mas to all!"

After 16 days of hard core chionging, you bet Kh and I are thoroughly exhausted. It was always, 1 night in the hotel, 1 night on the bus, 1 night in the hotel, 1 night on the train... utilising most of the day time to explore the country. Loads of people we met along the way told us they could never do this trip the way we did it. The truth is, we never knew how tired we really were until we got back.

In a nutshell...

Singapore-HCMC-Cuchi-HCMC-Dalat-Nha Trang-Hue-Hanoi-Lao Cai-Sapa-Lao Cai-Hanoi-Halong Bay-Cat Ba-Hanoi-Singapore

HCMC- Vietnam's business city
Dalat- "Asia's version of the French Alps"
Nha Trang- "Beach life to the max"
Hue- Ancient city of ruins
Hanoi- Vietnam's political capital
Sapa- Trekkers' heaven
Halong Bay- Similar to China's Gui Lin


The Country

I used to wonder why Vietnam is categorised as a developing country when they have major commercialised cities like HCMC and Hanoi. As I've come to learn, this is probably one of the things you have to see for yourself to understand. HCMC and Hanoi are nothing like the world-class cities I imagined them to be. It's not even half as developed as Bangkok.

Firstly, they do not have major shopping centres to boast of. I don't recall Hanoi having a shopping centre at all, but I do know of 2 or 3 little ones in HCMC. Even the size of HCMC and Hanoi's airport added together is smaller than our T1.

Secondly, the streets are strewn with rubbish. I don't think I've ever been to a dirtier country. People will just litter on the pavements and the shopkeepers will sweep them to the drain in one neat pile where a garbage collector will come pick it up at the end of the day. The good thing about all that is that the streets don't stink.

With a population of 85 million people, about 50 million are Viet people, the native Vietnamese people. The rest are made up of over 50 minority groups like the H'mong, T'zai, D'zao people. You just wonder how they have so many people left after having gone through numerous wars in succession (WWII, French Occupation, American War) which nearly saw the whole country being wiped out. You bet their population growth rates are high. I saw so many pregnant ladies along the way!

The Climate

I always thought that Vietnam is like Singapore, really hot and humid because it is in South-east Asia. South-east Asia IS hot and humid. But apparently, Vietnam does have 4 seasons. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.

Winter came late in Vietnam this year. What Kh and I experienced was actually the transition period between autumn and winter. Winter did come after all, during our last 2 days there. I'm not sure how cold it was but I was literally shivering.

Temperatures at the south was about 26°C - 28°C when we got there. Dalat, at 1,400m in altitude, was about 16°C but temperatures could drop to around 10°C in the morning. The north was about 16°C as well. Sapa, at the border of south China, with an altitude of 1,300m, was about 6°C and during its coldest winter periods in Jan and Feb, its temperatures would drop to 0°C and would even snow sometimes. Yes, snow in Vietnam.

So, as Kh and I travelled upwards in Vietnam, our jackets were on and off, on and off and on again as the temperatures keep changing. Sometimes it was cooling and we could walk around in tees and berms. Sometimes it was so cold that we would put on all our cold wear. Long john, windbreaker, scarf, gloves... When our plane touched down in Singapore, it was 31°C on a fine morning. Our first reaction was,"So HOT!!!" I guess I've gotten so used to the temperatures there that I've forgotten how hot Singapore really is.

The People

I think Vietnam is a beautiful country but tourism is ruining its culture and its people. I gotta say that I've met really nice and friendly Vietnamese there, but unfortunately, those are the rare few. At least 90% of Vietnamese I met were rude and dishonest. Their motives were always money-driven. Like when I'm just walking along the streets, people will be like,"Oei! Buy from me!" When we refuse to let them scam us with their exorbitant prices, they will get really really angry, like they will just sit there and sulk and make angry gestures. Quoting a Canadian lady I met,"These people need to learn to be more polite." It's making all the tourists unhappy. One Amercian guy even said,"I can't f**king wait to go home. I can't stand anymore of this f**king b***s***."

Poverty is rampant in the country. Naturally, there are a lot of beggars and scammers. But as what one Swedish guy so rightly said, Vietnam will never be able to advance like that. There's gotta be fair trade and reasonable prices for reasonable services. Because when 1 tourist gets unhappy over a ripoff, he will go back and tell other people about it. This is not gonna be good for the country in any way, especially since Vietnam is heavily dependent on tourism to survive.

Ya know, if they are not gonna be nice to us tourists, they could at least try to be nice to each other. During our 16 days there, Kh and I saw about 5 public fights between men and women, and men and the police. The men would hit the women, and the women will hit back, and they would yell at each other, and hit somemore, and everyone will stand there and watch, and the women would cry... yadayadayada. It was extremely dramatic and tiring to watch.

The Food

Vietnamese food is very much like Chinese food. Except that they use a lot of onions, carrots, and lemongrass in their cooking. You know, I thought I would lose a lot of weight during this trip from malnuition or something, but I was so wrong. Vietnamese food is actually really really good. Very much like Chinese home-cooked food. If Chinese food is not for you, then there's always a lot of baguette around.

The most popular authentic Vietnamese food would be the Pho (rice noodles with chicken/beef/pork) and spring rolls.

The Language

The Vietnamese language was initially very much like Chinese because of the close proximity to China. But after the French occupation, the Vietnamese language begin to adopt a more French sounding tone. They no longer use Chinese characters in their writing. Vietnamese writing is now simply in English alphabets with added tones.

When spoken, it sounds like a deaf person speaking a mixture of Thai and Cantonese. I'm sorry this is not gonna sound nice, but they do sound like a gaggle of geese when they all yell at each other. =/

Overall, a very smooth-sailing trip. Everything was almost according to what I had planned. I loved Vietnam for what it's worth. =)

Stay tuned for lotsa and lotsa pics!

Back!

During our last few days at Vietnam, I was thinking that it is time to come home because I was tired of being away from home for so long. But then as I touched home ground, I kinda missed Vietnam. I missed the good and the bad, the weather, the food, the scenary... Met lotsa nice people along the way. Not only the Vietnamese but fellow backpackers from Australia, Germany, Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, Canada, France and of course, Singapore. I've learnt so much on this trip. Not just about Vietnam, but about people from other nationalities as well, as we share our experiences and talk about issues our world is facing today.

So much has changed since I was away. Mum bought a PDA, Gerrie upgraded her handphone to a Samsung F480 (the same as mine, much to my annoyance), Dad went on a diet and lost a cool 6kg! He also bought a guitar!

It feels kinda weird being back home again because I was getting so used to life in Vietnam. Used to eating Pho everyday. Used to people shouting at me, going, "Oei! Buy from me!" Used to the littering (oops!) on the filthy streets as there were no rubbish bins. Used to crossing the crazy traffic and to expect the unexpected. I got a cultural shock when I got there, and I got a cultural shock when I got back. It's like I'm not even the same person anymore.

I came home, did my laundry, and then I had to go out again for my church's annual candlelight service. I especially arranged my trip to end on 23rd Dec so I could come home for Christmas as I've missed Christmas in Singapore for the past 2 years. It's interesting to note that most of the travellers I met along the way were doing the trip in order to avoid Christmas at home.

Carolling with candlelight

Then GC called Kh using CY's phone asking us to come to the Christmas party at Settlers. We still don't understand why he can't use his own phone. So anyways, he said something really neat so I'm gonna "jot" it down here.

GC: Come down tomorrow.
Me: Huh?
GC: 不要Huh, 我请你喝茶, 我买了礼物, 要不要拿？

I have a feeling he'd got this script prepared...

Stay tuned for updates on my Vietnam trip!

Blessed =)

I can't be more thankful for what I saw on my RMIT results page this morning. For weeks after my last paper, there were times when I couldn't sleep just thinking about how my results would turn out. My last paper did not go too well and I was filled with extreme remorse and regret for not studying harder for it. Somehow during this time, many people keep asking me when I'm going to graduate. I didn't know whether to say June '09 or Dec '09. Graduating in Dec '09 really sucks because then you'll have to wait until August the following year to get your cert.

Deep inside me, I said a silent prayer for God's will to be done. It didn't matter if I passed or failed because I know that although my earthly wisdom may not understand it now, everything will turn out to be for my own good. It's like how I'm thankful to be in SIM because I don't think I could be where I am today, working part-time, studying the way I want to, and fulfilling my dreams if I had gone to NUS or SMU.

Whenever I recount my blessings to mum, she'd always say,"Don't forget to thank God." Sometimes I think she's being so naggy. But today, I fully understand the depth of her words because this has never been so real to me.

Perhaps God heard my little cries about my financial burdens too, because Dad just gave me a million dong to spend in Vietnam, even taking the trouble to exchange dollars to dong first so there was no way I could refuse it. I have been really broke after buying my camera, and I wasn't sure how I could pay for my upcoming Vietnam trip with the heavy burden of paying for my own school fees (all $36,000 of it) weighing on my shoulders as each new semester approaches. I'd like to be really tough and independent and all, but sometimes I gotta admit, I can't do this alone without letting others help me.

=)