Day 1

I arrived in Saigon late Sunday night without any problems at all. I woke up early Monday morning for the full day city tour. After eating a healthy breakfast I was picked up by the Happy Tours tour bus.

Our first stop was The War Remnants Museum. The name speaks for itself. The outside of the building was littered with tanks, planes and helicopters that were abandoned by the Americans. The inside was full of pictures taken before, during and after the war. I must say the pictures were very graphic. The pictures were of victims of Napalm, Agent Orange and other biological weapons used by the Americans. Other pictures were of limbless Vietnamese civilians and dead babies. It also gave a good timeline of the war from start to finish. While the museum was very biased it really did drive home the horrors of biological warfare.

After the museum we headed to Reunification Palace. It resembled more a government building than a a palace. The building served as the headquarters of the Southern Vietnamese army until it was eventually attacked on April 30th, 1975. On the outside of the building you can find the original two tanks that crashed through the front gate on that fateful day. The building itself has been left as it was up until 1975. Inside the building you can find meetings rooms and offices just as they were during the South's occupation. In the basement you can see the the bunkers where the president and other top officials planned their defense during the war. The walls are still cloaked with the original war-time maps.

After eating lunch we headed to the Notre Dame Cathedral. It was kind of boring. We then walked across the street to the post office. While there wasn't much to see, it was nice to see the French-influenced architecture. We then traveled to a temple and a traditional Chinese market.

 

Day 2

On Tuesday I again went with Happy Tours for the day. This time I went to the Cao Dai Holy See in the morning and the Cu Chi Tunnels in the afternoon.

It took us about 2 hours to get to the Holy See. The drive was long but interesting. We had to pull off the main highway and travel down some rural roads to get there. What amazed me was that the mass of scooters I saw in Saigon didn't stop at the highway. At least on the highway most of the riders wore helmets.

The Cao Dai Holy See is a massive temple located in Tay Ninh Province. We arrived at about 11:45 a.m., which gave us some time to take some pictures on the outside before watching the noon mass inside. While I had no idea what they were saying I did enjoy the many colors of their robes. What I found very odd was that the worshipers had no problem with the hundred or so visitors taking their pictures from the balcony as they worshiped. It was more of a performance than anything else.

After eating lunch at a really cool restaurant minutes away from the Holy See we continued on towards the Cu Chi Tunnels. I anticipated this as the highlight of my trip, and it didn't disappoint. Just being there where the Viet Cong fought the Americans was like living history all over again (minus the bombs). We started with a 20 minute movie about the history of the area before we began our walk. Most of the tunnels we encountered were originals, but there were a few that were made as models for tourists. I crawled into one of them but it just got too narrow. I could have kept going but it was really dark and spooky! It was interesting to learn that everyone from the Cu Chi area, including children and women, were involved in the combat against the Americans. I paid $6 to shoot 5 bullets from and AK-47. The man at the range even let me keep the casings.

 

Day 3

On Wednesday I walked around the backpacker's district before checking out of my hotel. Everything until this point had gone smoothly with my trip. This changed when I tried to retrieve my boarding pass at the airport. It turns out Vietnam Airlines over-booked the flight and, because I didn't re-confirm my ticket, the bumped me. The problem was that I had an airport pick up scheduled to pick me up in Cambodia at the original arrival time. I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of the hotel. After 30 minutes of waiting I was told I could get a seat on the plane but that I had to use the jumper seat. That was okay with me. Just when I was about to board the plane I was told there was a possible security threat in my luggage and that I had to leave the area. I had to go all the way back to the luggage check so that I could remove the casings I had kept from the tunnels. It's funny how the guy at the range told me I could keep them knowing full well I couldn't take them out of the country.

 

Day 4 - Cambodia

 

Day 5

I arrived in Saigon at 2:00 p.m. . While the English spoken at my first hotel was passable, that spoken at my second hotel in Saigon was horrible. I had some serious problems understanding what this women was talking about. I smiled and nodded, gave her my receipt (I had already paid for the room before I left for Cambodia) and took my key. After unpacking and getting settled I decided to check out the local movie theater. I paid about $3 to watch "Pirates of the Caribbean." It was freaking funny. I didn't like the first one that much but the sequel is definitely better.

 

Day 6

Yet again I was off to Happy Tours. This time it was for the one day Mekong Delta tour. They offered longer tours (2 days, 3 days and 4 days) but I only time for the one day tour. We traveled about 2 hours south to My Tho City. After our arrival we went onto a tour boat and cruised the open water before entering the smaller canals (see the pictures to understand). We went to 4 different islands: Dragon, Unicorn, Phoenix and Turtle. We ate lunch at Phoenix Island and watched coconut candy being made on Dragon Island. The day was very relaxing. If I ever go back to Vietnam I would definitely take the three or four day tour of the Mekong.

 

Day 7

When I woke up Sunday morning my right foot was killing me. I think it was gout. In the morning I took a walk to the Ben Thanh Market. I had a map and knew exactly how to get there. As soon as I checked the map some guy on a cyclo (bicycle with a seat for a passenger) tried to give me directions. I tried my best to ignore him but he insisted on telling me how to get to the market. He purposely took me to the back entrance of the market. Had I been able to look at my map I would have realized I was within minutes of the market when this guy saw me. Of course he wanted money for taking me to the market but I just ignored him. He wasn't very happy. After doing some last minute shopping I headed to Pho Bo 2000 to eat some, you guessed it, Pho Bo (rice noodles in a beef soup). I then headed to back to my hotel and off to the airport.