Having bearly survived Songkran, Steph and I made our way to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon on April 15th. We were meeting up with her friend from childhood, Rickie, who was flying into the city that night. We found a cute little hotel in the back alleys of a less touristy part of the city that had been recommended by one of Rickie’s friends. Our bedroom was a PALACE (Check out the picture). It was on the top floor and three of its sides were windows!

Steph and I wandered the city for most of the day trying very hard not to get hit by motorbikes which are EVERYWHERE and CRAZY!! In Asia, crossing the street tends to be a challenge because there aren’t many crosswalks and even if there are, there aren’t lights to help direct traffic. HCMC was a whole other story. The city of motorbikes had its own rules, in other words, the bikes take lefts on red, drive on the sidewalks, and weave in and out of pedestrians.

To cross you literally have to make your way through a sea of motorcylclists who have no respect for anyone’s life, never mind the traffic signals. At one point Steph and I put our trust in a young Vietnamese guy, following him closely as we crossed through an insane intersection. Partway through he asked us, “are you scared?” Steph and I responded, “yes” and he finished with “me too”. Since I’m writing this account now, you can trust that we made it to the other side….

The next day (April 16th), with Rickie at our side as well as our newly purchased photocopied Loney Planet Guide (reminded me of Senegal and how they photocopy ALL their books), we made our way out into the world of sight-seeing. We missed the Cu Chi Tunnel trip, so instead we drove off to see the Giac Lam Pagoda. The pagoda itself was a little cheeseball, (it seems that the Vietnamese practice of Buddhism is a bit more involved when it comes to worshipping icons), but the grounds were lovely and it was neat to visit a place with resident monks.

Post the pagoda, we made our way to the Vietnam War Memorial museum. Most of what we saw was hard to stomach, particularly as an American. There were four floors of different exhibits, one consisting of photographs from pre and post fighting, one of the international stance against the war, another containing photographs by Vietnamese journalists, and finally, the hardest to stomach, the affects of Agent Orange. The last really drove it home and brought up a lot of anger for me because of how ignorant I felt. I personally had very little clue as to the extent of destruction the war had, and STILL has for the Vietnamese community. We really need to start teaching and learning the complete history of the US so we can stop making the same mistakes.

To calm our minds and fill our stomachs (the long walk helped us forget some of the gruesome photographs we saw) we made our way to the best Pho restaurant I have ever been to. For those of you who are not familiar with Pho, it’s a Vietnamese soup with rice noodles, some kind of meat and spices. You then add your own sprouts, thai basil, hot sauces, and other herbs. In addition to the Pho we gave the “wedding cakes” a shot. I wasn’t a huge fan, but Steph and Rickie loved them and were on a search for them from then on (they didn’t have much luck since they don’t speak Vietnamese and you can’t tell what’s inside when it’s wrapped…the last time they ordered some and they turned out to have raw meat!).

The morning of April 17th we woke up early and with our trusted guide “Tom” we, along with a bus load of other “honeys” (Tom’s pet name for his tour group participants), headed off to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The grounds are incredible…they have preserved an incredible amount of the tunnel network as well as the weaponry from both sides of the war. For those who aren’t familiar, the tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerrillas during combat primarily as hiding spots, but also as supply routes (all the way into Laos!), hospitals, food and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters in addition to their families!

It’s really obvious why it was so hard for us to win the war when the Vietnamese had such knowledge of the jungles as well as the tunnels. They definitely played a different kind of war from us, carrying very little so they could be super fast, and using methods of killing and trapping that were normally for animals. There wasn’t much you could do with an AK-47 when you were caught in a “swinging door” trap. See the link for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Củ_Chi_tunnels

It provided the base for visits to the Cu Chi tunnels, Mekong Delta and the War Remnants Museum before moving on to Cambodia.

Some people say that Saigon is busier than Hanoi, but as far as I can tell, Hanoi is much more closed in and not as westernised. Hanoi is my preference of the two.

On our first day in Saigon, we thought we had arrived at the War Remnants Museum because there were tanks and a fighter plane outside. We paid our entry fee and went in. Once we got in we found that we went to the wrong place… We had in fact gone to the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group Partnership Meeting lol.. We made a quick exit!

Upon eventual arrival at the actual War Renmants Museum, we finally managed to have a look round! It basically discusses the Vietnam war and documents the various eliments of it. Over three million vietnamese were killed and it lasted for over seventeen years. It started as a civil war between the north and the south but the USA got involved in support of the south.

The main war was in the south. They brought with them their weponry including napalm and phosphorous bombs, which wiped out anything and everything they came into contact with – and according to the museum, they used A LOT of them! The museum itself however was really propaganda against the USA… although they were as bad as each other, it was a war, afterall. See Cu Chi, below:

The massive Cu Chi tunnel network, about 60KM north of Saigon, were built by a gorilla outfit against the USA / and Saigon in the south. Over ten thousand people stayed in these tunnels at one time and there purpose was to allow a fight against the USA and the south, over night when they had the best chance of fighting by stelth. They made traps, which were really vicious and basically minced troops with metal spikes when they fell through them. They had their own under ground medical centres and living quarters and they plotted there tactics from them. They had to build and use tunnels because as soon as they went outside, they would be bombed. They needed to operate secretly and were lucky the Americans never found them.

Some of the tunnels stretch as far as the Cambodian border. I also had a go on an AK47… so now I can say I fired a machine gun in an old war zone in Naaaam

We head to the Mekong delta tomorrow to start our trip up to Cambodia. We spend the next three nights on a junk travelling up the river to Chau Doc. From there we catch a fast boat to the capital of Cambodia spend one night there then onto Seam Reap and Angkor Wat. We will not be blogging for about three days until we hit Phnom Penn on the 23rd Jan

No shoes are allowed inside the Cao Dai Temple. The colorful exterior is matched by the colorful robes the priests wear during worship. (Photos by GINA C. MENESES)

Saigon has been one of the places in my must-visit list and it was surprising that not too many people share that sentiment about this country made famous by a war. It took a year to gather friends who would be willing to go to an adventure, as most friends would rather spend on a trip of pleasure.

Minus the misadventures, Saigon didn’t disappoint us, and even surprised us with sights and insights you do not find anywhere else.

Cao Dai Temple

About three hours from Saigon is the Tay Ninh Holy See, or Cao Dai Temple, the center of the Cao Dai Religion. This religion was established in Vietnam in 1926 and now counts two to three million followers scattered in Vietnam, Cambodia, France, and US.

The Temple has nine levels, representing the nine steps to heaven. Black, scaly dragons wrap the pink columns supporting the ceiling painted like a summer sky. These columns mark the beginning and end of each level, and served as the boundary for how far the tourists could go.

At the end of the hall is the altar which looks like a globe with an eye. Elders offered incense here. Tourists are not allowed to walk or even stand, much less shoot a picture, at the middle section of the hall, even outside worship hours.

Cu Chi Tunnel

The Cu Chi Tunnel was Vietnam’s secret weapon against the Americans. It was a 250- kilometer underground tunnel network that stretched from Saigon to the Cambodian border. The Cu Chi tunnels served as hospitals, command centers, living areas, kitchen, and supplies storage during the Vietnam War.

The Cu Chi Tunnel is not for everyone. First of all, you enter the tunnel crouched and never get a chance to stand straight until you get out. There are lamps at ankle level; but they are few and far between, and their light is faint. Body heat and the earth’s heat combine to make it very warm inside, even though it was raining outside.

After 25 meters, tourists decide whether to take the exit or go on. The next exit, which also wraps up the tour, is at 100 meters.

The next 75 meters was not for the unfit. There was a four-foot drop. And then an ascent, where the ceiling is too low, you have to crawl to move on. Past that drop and climb are long stretches of darkness, and the next light you see is that of the exit, 100 meters from the entrance.

Our guide says that during the Vietnam War, there wasn’t a single light source in the tunnel. The Vietnamese soldiers brought oil lamps with them whenever they go inside. Gee, I worried about my own weight, and those soldiers had to carry an oil lamp and a rifle, and breathe the soot and endure more heat from the oil lamp.

The Tunnels must have been more punishing for the bigger-built Americans whose shoulders alone could easily span the original width of the Tunnels. Perhaps those who were too big for the Tunnels might have been better off. The labyrinthine Cu Chi Tunnels, is easily a booby trap for the unfamiliar.

War Museum

The tour takes you through six buildings that house tanks, planes, bombs, photos, and other war memorabilia. Since it wasn’t too easy to understand what the guide was saying, my friend, Tonette Alegria and I decided to go around by ourselves and shoot photos as much as the time allowed.

Motorcycles by the millions

Friends and websites were not kidding with their warning on motorcycles. We saw for ourselves how motorcycles outnumbered all other forms of transportation in Saigon. It was a common sight to see motorcycles taking up two out of three lanes of the road.

According to our guide, there are four million motorcycles in Saigon, a city of eight million people. We also learned that there was no need for a license if the motorcycle is less than 50 cc.

Reunification palace

Also called Independence Palace, the tour here was the quickest we did, and the least we enjoyed. Imagine going through dozens of rooms located in five floors, in only two hours. I wish we had more time to take in the rooms and let the sense of history sink in. There was a map room that detailed the contingencies from various countries, yes, including the Philippines. The telegraph room gave the feeling of time travel, in this era of mobile phones. Like our Malacañang, the cavernous reception rooms were nothing short of awesome displays of the finest furniture and art. The tank outside is a replica of the tank that crashed through its gates in 1975, marking the end of the Vietnam War, and paving the way for the reunification of North and South Vietnam. Every corner, every item has a share in the history of Vietnam, but there was just too little time.

One-million dollar dinner with a view

There were just three of us, and the bill reached one million dollars. Good thing the currency was Vietnamese dollar, and the exchange rate was 19,000 to a US dollar. But then again, a treat at any currency is still a treat, and it was courtesy of our good friend Eden Fanlo.

That dinner was at Rex Hotel, which has earned its place in Vietnamese history for its having been the site of media briefings during the war.

The restaurant was recommended to us not so much for the food but for its location. We were asking about the best place to take a top shot of an intersection with the most number of motorcycles. The Sheraton and the Caravelle, both historic landmarks, too, were crossed out of our list, because their windows are not meant to be opened, and the rooftops, too high.

Well, we didn’t get as many motorcycles as those that crowded around us the day before, but the plaza and the People’s Committee Building more than made up for it.

Notre Dame Cathedral

The blue skies and feathery clouds made our last morning all the more beautiful, and they were a perfect backdrop for the century-old Notre Dame Cathedral. Like some of the old churches in Manila, part of its walls and floors hold marble slabs etched with names of the dearly departed. Devotees lighting up candles was a common sight, too.

But what I would probably remember most was, it was at the Notre Dame Cathedral where we got ‘lost.’ We were here when we felt the urge to try the local Jollibee. It took three cabs before we got a ride. The first two drivers didn’t know. The third cab driver did his best, even calling the office to ask for directions. One hour and so many turns later, we were still nowhere near the fast food restaurant. We decided to return to the hotel and google “Jollibee Saigon.” We found six outlets. Armed with that list, we showed it to the front desk to ask help in choosing the nearest one.

Post Office

Before this trip, I never thought that a post office could be a tourist attraction. It could be that souvenirs are sold here in air conditioned comfort, at the same prices they are sold at the Binh Tay Market. But perhaps it is also the beautiful interior and exterior of the building.

“Are you an American?”

There was an American family in our group who were touring a friend from the US. The patriarch was a Vietnam vet who stayed after the war was over, and started a family in Saigon. After a few hours that we have been together in the tour, the more gregarious daughter asked, in quick succession: “Are you an American? Were you born in America?” They were surprised to learn that English is the medium of instruction in the Philippines.

Save for the US dollar, Americana was conspicuously missing in Vietnam. Very few understand English, and much fewer are able to speak it. There was no McDonald’s at all. Quick meals are available from ambulant vendors selling coconut juice, boiled peanuts, boiled egg, sliced fruits, ripe banana, and the like. Hot noodle soup is sold from what looks like the corner carinderia back home.

I also remember missing the sunset. It was summer; but for four days, daylight would fade to mark the end of the day and that was it. A far cry from the dramatic sunsets almost anywhere in the Philippines. Hmm, it is really time to go home.

(By Gina C. Meneses)

On that note, too, to our friends and family who are planning a visit to us in NZ next year, you now have a deadline – as do we. Our visas are good for exactly one year, which meansthat as of December 4th, 2010 (at the very latest), we will need to leave NZ and begin making our trek home – with a few stops along the way, of course. So keep that in mind if you are planning a visit! When I searched earlier (www.kayak.com is a goodie), the best fares from the states to NZ seemed to be in the May-June range, which is our late fall-early winter season. Our rough itinerary for our trek home is something like northeastern Oz-Bali-Malaysia-Thailand, so if you were planning a visit over the holiday season in 2010, we’ll most likely be somewhere in those areas, and we can coordinate something! At any rate, we have a whole year in NZ to get through, but I know quite a few of you were serious about visiting, so I wanted to give you our plans as soon as possible so you can begin making your own!

So!! With that said, back to the present. Yesterday we had one of the craziest drivers yet take us to Hue airport first thing in the morning – he mostly drove on the wrong side of the road and would veer over only atthe very last second to avoid oncoming traffic – all at about 70 miles per hour. We had to pay a little extra to check our new duffel bag full of Hoi An clothes, but over the next few weeks’ worth of flights, it will still be less expensive than mailing them would’ve been. Another quick, easy flight down to Ho Chi Minh City (synonymous with Saigon)…that almost ended in disaster. We deplaned and got on the bus to take us to the terminal (no boarding gates here; buses take you directly across the tarmac to the airplanes, where you climb a short portable staircase into the plane). Right as the bus started to pull away, one of the flight attendants raced down the stairs and pounded on the side of the bus for him to stop, Then she jumped on, looked around in a daze, and rushed over to Jeremy. “Is this yours?” she asked, holding up his WALLET! We thanked her profusely and nearly fainted at how horrible it would’ve been to lose his wallet (we’d bought drinks on-board and apparently his wallet slipped out of his pocket as he was putting it away). What made it even worse was that, by sheer coincidence, BOTH of our debit cards happened to be in his wallet – that morning (at 6am) I’d checked out of the hotel and headed for the taxi, while Jeremy signed the receipt and gathered MY debit card and put it in HIS wallet. We have a separate stash of credit cards for just such an emergency, of course, but still…that would’ve put a serious damper in our trip (Western Union, anyone?).

So we hailed a taxi and made our way into big, noisy, bustling Saigon – and loved it immediately. It’s by far the largest city we’ve been in since Beijing – streets clogged with traffic, soaring buildings, 5-star hotels, activity everywhere – someone at the airport jokingly called it “The City That Never Sleeps,” and in a strange way, it actually does remind me a lot of New York. It has the same kind of atmosphere and buzz in the air – with a Vietnamese twist, of course. Just on the taxi ride in, we passed several pagodas, a Hindu temple, a Muslim mosque, and a French-Catholic cathedral (Notre Dame is here as well)! And we thought the power lines in Hanoi

were bad – you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! We were laughing out loud at the mass of wires running above our heads that nearly block out the sky, they’re so thick and tangled and knotted – our taxi driver sent worried glances back our way and wondered what could possibly be so funny. If only he knew…

We arrived at our hotel, thankfully tucked back off the main street in a maze of little alleyways (much quieter that way!), and checked into what is by far the nicest room we’ve had on the entire trip (except maybe for the hotel in Nanning, but we were too tired and ill to even care). We got a map and recommendations from the front desk (the hotels in this country have the best and most knowledgeable staff I’ve ever seen), and set off for a walking tour of the city. First we stopped for a quick bite, where our waiter asked where we were from and somehow knew the capital of Florida (“Tallahassee!”). We got a good laugh out of that, as most Vietnamese don’t even know where Florida is – it’s all we can do to communicate “America” to them, let

alone states or cities. During lunch we listened to Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” (from Titanic, remember?)…we hear that song at least ten times a day in this country – it’s everywhere, it seems, even an instrumental version played at the spa in Hue! Too funny.

Anyway, Saigon. It has all the charm and appeal of the smaller Vietnamese cities we’ve been to, but with all the modern amenities and western feel of a big city – the best of both worlds! We strolled through a city park, a bustling marketplace (finally ran out of toothpaste and needed to stock up!), then the financial district with its Opera House and illustrious 5-star hotels. Headed back for Notre Dame, a Gothic-style cathedral made with bright red bricks! Stumbled into a beautiful old post office (ha!) before arriving at Reunification Palace, the seat of power for the south during the War and the place where the war officially ended in the spring of 1975. On display are the tanks and a fighter jet used when the north broke through at last and forced the surrender. The palace itself is small and mostly full of large meeting rooms. In the basement there is a small museum with some pretty gory photographs of torture victims, masses of bodies, and even a monk burning himself in protest (I felt physically sick when I saw it). There is another museum in the city, “War Remnants,” which houses even grittier displays, the descriptions of which I won’t repeat from our guidebooks. Needless to say, we’ll be bypassing that one – while I love history and am not one to turn a blind eye to things that happened, I don’t necessarily need to “see” the gorier bits either. Some things are perfectly acceptable to just read about!

A block from the palace we discovered this gorgeous outdoor restaurant that featured cook-it-yourself Vietnamese barbecue and wide array of interesting meats. We started with deep-fried spring rolls stuffed with crab meat (yum!) before going nuts and ordering half a dozen skewers of meat. The more “normal” ones included beef stuff with cheese, filet mignon, and salmon wrapped in bacon. Our daring skewers involved wild boar and rabbit. Amazingly, it was all REALLY good! The boar tastes like bacon, and the rabbit is super-tender – almost melts in your mouth. They serve different dipping sauces, too -chili and garlic, spicy peanut, and curry. Jeremy did an awesome job cooking everything on the little burner in the center of the table, while I (of course) took photos and video. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to have a substantial amount of meat for once (I’ve had enough rice and vegetables on this trip to last a lifetime)!

On a funny side note, we have a flat-screen TV in our room (traveling in style now ha!), and for the first time in 5 weeks we had an ENGLISH channel! All that was on was South African sports broadcasters and a cricket game (the weirdest game known to man – something akin to baseball but much stranger)…but we sat mesmerized for an hour watching cricket and listening to commentators we could actually understand!

Anyway. Today we slept in (after two mornings in a row getting up before 6), did some laundry, and headed out into the city once more. Caught a taxi to the northeastern side of town to visit the Jade Emperor Pagoda, a 100-year old blend of Buddhist and Taoist deities. Sweet-smelling incense fills the air (much of it as “coils”

you’ll see in the pictures), and ornate carvings, tiles, and statues fill the small rooms. Many devout worshipers were there, holding sticks of incense, bowing, and praying in front of the various images. In one upper room, you were required to take your shoes off before entering (a sign of respect I’m guessing). They even had a rare “turtle sanctuary,” of all things. Very interesting place…

Lunch was at a beautiful little jazz-type bar appropriately called “Music, Coffee, and Friends.” We didn’t have any coffee or any friends, but we did listen to some fantastic jazz and relaxing music and chowed down on fried rice and Singapore noodles – and, oddly enough, water infused with lotus blossom – very strong flavor and unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. We couldn’t decide if we liked it or not…

Starting the long walk back across the city, we made like preschoolers and hit the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens – which was actually very impressive! Beautiful setting, gorgeous trees, a bonsai garden, big lakes…and lots of great animals – zebras, giraffes, orangutans, hippos, tigers, and even elephants you could feed! For fifty cents, it was a great way to spend theafternoon! After the zoo we headed down along the river, past enormous ships (including one from Panama, of all places!), and into the ritzy financial and shopping district – 5-star hotels, Gucci, and Armani as far as the eye could see…unfortunately, our only purchases were a couple of $2 tank tops (for me), and some extra undies (for Jeremy), purchased at a road-side underwear stand. I’m not even kidding. Check out the last photo in this blog!

Our final stop this evening was something we’d read about months ago and were hoping to find in this city – and sure enough, it is right down the street from our hotel. It’s an institute for blind people where they are taught the art of massage therapy, and for about $2.50, you can receive a professional one-hour massage from a blind therapist! It sounded too cool to pass up, so we headed inside and were segregated into large freezing hospital-like rooms, where we stripped down and hopped on the tables and actually got really nice, relaxing massages. The girls (and guys) are good – you would never in a million years be able to tell that they couldn’t see. The massagewas spot-on; my therapist never misplaced her oil bottle or accidentally poked me in the eye or anything out of the norm. It was a really neat experience, and nice to know that such a place exists where an otherwise “disabled” person can earn a decent living and support themselves. Very nifty idea!

Dinner tonight was at the near-by “Milwaukee Bar,” (next to “Canada Hotel” – I have NO idea on that one!), where we delved into awesome potato skins and split their “Mexican nachos,” which consisted of (I kid you not) Doritos topped with Hormel chili and a bit of melted cheese. It was hilarious and just the touch of “home” we needed – not that those are typically things we make our nachos with ha!! So tomorrow we are taking a day tour of the Mekong River Delta, about 50 miles south of here, which should hopefully be a nice relaxing day before our grueling 13-hour bus ride on Sunday! Catch you guys on Monday from Siem Reap, Cambodia…

Waking a few hours later to the sound of Ti Chi in the park across the street, we stumbled to the restaurant for our complimentary breakfast. On a terrace overlooking Southern Saigon, we enjoyed Vietnam’s version of a breakfast buffet. We indulged in dragonfruit, fresh juices, and an assortment of French pastries. Not to mention the “I think it’s boiled” bacon, stale “fresh rolls”, and cucumber soup. After breakfast we set out on our mission to get cash to pay for the hotel room only to find that 9 out of 10 ATMs in Asia seemingly don’t accept our cash cards. We were able to negotiate the labrynth of international banking phone numbers to solve our dilemma. We were then free to explore the hustle and bustle of a real, live Asian metropolis.

Fun Fact 1:

- 1 in 2 people in Saigon own/ride a moto, which is basically a scooter of death.
- The first rule of driving in Vietnam is that there are no rules to driving in Vietnam.
- The above two fun facts make it difficult to cross the street without running like a girl.

Tourists

So we quickly learned that in addition to navigating the roadways, we had to get used to dealing with the indigenous population. You think Girl Scouts won’t take no for an answer? Try to keep that dorky “hey how are ya” American face when you’re confronted with opportunities to buy the same four books, “Good Morning Vietnam” shirts, and fishing net hammocks every two seconds. During the first bit of our assimilation into negotiating culture, we made an exception for a “cyclo” ride around Central Saigon with two authentic Vietnamese men. In between moments of stark terror when riding the wrong way on packed city streets, we had the chance to see a few museums, Notre Dame Cathedral (apparently there’s another one), the war crimes museum (awkward), and a lacquer painting factory. If anything, we got some good pictures and funny moments, plus it got us familiarized with the pace of these crazy people’s lives.

On Day 3 we went to the Cu Chi tunnels, where we were reeducated from the get-go with a video about “Uncle Ho” and all of his constructive projects through the years. Nice guy that Uncle Ho. We toured the tunnels, and saw some other stuff, but the most notable thing was getting to shoot an m60 machinegun. Both Char and I did, and while we didn’t get pictures, we did get video, so standby for that.

For Day 4 we booked a day trip to the Me Kong Delta region of Southern Vietnam. Not too far from Saigon, the Delta is huge, sprawling something like 12,000 square km. Again, to spare us the time, just the highlights. We boarded a couple of boats for a tour of the region visiting four islands, all with different productions. We saw coconut candy and craft production, exotic fruit orchards, rice paper making (delicious, really), and a bee farm. All of this punctuated by an animated Viet man, cucumber/fish soup lunch, and a ride on an extremely haggard mule cart. The trip ended with a sampan (kayak thing) ride back to the main boat, the bus, then the city. Fun, fun and lots of pictures.

So the next day we purchased an open bus ticket North to Hanoi. Basically we will make several stops on our journey upcountry in this order: Dalat, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue, and then Hanoi. We got the tickets pretty cheap and we figured it would be a great way to stop for a few days at each place and get to see more of the country. We left Saigon in the early morning, set to arrive in Dalat at around 3:30. We now understand why the tickets we bought were so cheap. The partially gravel road to Dalat winds up mountain roads about 8 feet wide, snakes around narrowcurves, and teeters on the edge of sheer cliffs. While the scenery was beautiful at times, we found ourselves staring at the oncoming traffic before us, wondering if the bus driver was all there or not.

Fun Fact 1.2: Understanding The Language of The Road:

- One Honk: can mean anything from “hey buddy, nice shirt”, to “I’m right here, just to let you know”.
- Two Honks: means “I’m about to pass you and risk not only your life, but mine and all twenty of my passengers”.
- Three Honks and one sustained, puckered honk: means that danger is imminent, and that you will likely need to do some laundry.

Dalat, Vietnam-Arriving in town, we were immediately prayed upon by a group of aging motorcyclists that call themselves the “EasyRiders”. Edgy. They literally followed us from the bus stop as we found a guesthouse to stay for a couple of nights. Once we were back on the street, the same three guys would cruise up next to us and insist that they could find us a better hotel at a better rate, and that they didn’t work for the hotel. They even offered to leave Char and our bags on the street while they took me away from town to have a look at the room. Talk about salesmen. For the fifth time at least, we declined their creepy offer and decided to keep walking and see the town. These guys would not take no for an answere and I was getting pretty tired of it. Char and I were in the middle of walking around getting the lay of the land when another sharp dressed EasyRider rode up and tried to break the ice. “What are you up to?” he asked. “Oh nothing,” I replied, “minding my own business.” My body language transcended cultural miscommunication boundaries and he rode off. We found a small place on the corner (they all are) that had big bowls of “Pho” our new favorite dish, and decided to call it a night.

Early the next morning we booked an adventure tour through a company called Phat Tire Ventures. They specialize in active outdoor tours. On a recommendation from one of many travel books we’ve acquired, we chose something called “canyoning” which is basically starting at the top of a mountainous river canyon and making our way down. For only $38, the two of us were accompanied by three guides and a driver. We were taken out of town in the surrounding mountains and after we received permission from the park manager, we hiked down to the beginning of our route. The plan was to cross the river and follow a trail on the other side through the jungle to our “training slope”. The hike alone almost killed us. Not counting the sounds of cicadas and other creatures making their presence known, the route down was chock full of slippery rocks, spiky plants, and only vines as our lifelines. Anyway, we made it to an area above it all and got acquainted with the equipment and procedures for absailing. Literally 4 minutes after that we had a trial by fire by rappelling down a sheer 20 meter face. Nerves were in full effect, but Char went first and did great, then I followed. SUCH A RUSH! Things get very real when you’re told to step on the edge of a cliff, face the hill, and lean back!

Continuing down the canyon, we crossed the river several more times, hiked up and down technical routes and faced a few more really challenging cliff rappels. To mix up the tension, we slid down a short whitewater “waterslide” section, then hiked to the top of a large waterfall. The guides dug out some baguettes, cheese, meat, veggies, and fruit, and we had lunch. Afterward, the lead guide, Ken, started preparing some more rigging while the other two hiked around the feature and below it, to get a good camera angle. Up top, Ken instructed us on the way to make it down killing ourselves, and what to do in case something went wrong. Without much ado, I volunteered to go first. After tying in to the safety line and the rappel line, I stepped into the rushing water near the edge of the waterfall and inched my way toward where I would drop in. As the power of that volume of water made itself known by its deafening roar, Ken gave me the all clear and that was it, it was all up to me now! I leaned back to get some tension in the line and started walking backward. Before the water was able to rush up over my head, I looked up at Ken one last time to make sure I was headed in the right direction. I lined up with a spot between two large currents of water and tucked myself through, easing my right hand on the line to control my descent. The water rushed around me and I had to look down to breath, but I focused on how my feet felt and kept walking down. Within 4 meters of the water below, I jumped, freed myself of the rope, and swam to safety. Crazy!

From below, I shot pictures of Charla as she followed the same line as I did. I was so impressed and proud of how she handled herself facing something like that. The pictures are proof!

Our day was not without tragedy. On the last waterfall descent of the route, known as the “washing machine”, one of Charla’s shoes didn’t make it. Torn from her foot’s grasp, the water’s power proved too great. We will miss you Lefty, RIP.

Nha Trang
We left Dalat this morning at 7:30 and had perhaps the bumpiest, swerviest 5 hours of my life. Todays bus driver was apparently blind and using a prosthetic right foot, because we were all over the place. There is no reason we should have survived the trip, but we did. And, those of you in the know, Char did just fine, thank you. She wore a motion sickness patch and instead, another passenger in front of us was the one who got sick…real sick.

We’re looking forward to relaxing on the beaches of Nha Trang for a few days. The priorities are few: rent bicycles, apply sunscreen, lay down on towel, drink fruity cocktails, and decide where to eat. Tough lives we know. Keep us in your prayers, we’ll find a way.

This is the first photo contest about the beauty of Ho chi minh city(sai gon), which will last until April 16. The contest jury will gather famous photographers like Dong Duc Thanh, Dao Hoa Nu and Tu Luong Van.

“Winning photos must discover hidden beauty of HCM City through the daily life, culture, landscapes, etc. of the city,” said HCM City Department of Tourism’s Dong Thi Kim Vui.

According to organizers, amateur and professional photographers can send as many photos as they would like to the contest. They are allowed to use Photoshop to make photos better but not change the fact. Minimal size for photos of professional photographers is 25×38 and 20×30 for amateurs.

The contest results will be announced and winning works will be displayed at the fourth HCM City Tourism( Sai gon tour ) Festival at Dam Sen Cultural Park from April 18-20. Winning works will be used to advertise HCM City tourism.

Bloger: Ngọc Linh

Dam Sen Park is Saigon’s take on Disneyland. Hard to miss, with an enormous three-arched red gate heralding the entrance, inside the park guests are welcomed by enormous statues made of china bowls. Standard amusement park fun includes Ferris wheel, roller coaster with a loop-de-loop, a seriously fun aviary, and a fishing hole shaped like Hanoi’s West Lake. But the piece de resistance is Dam Sen’s dinosaurs. The 5000 square meter Cong Vien Khung Long (the same name the film Jurassic Park was given in Vietnamese) houses around 200 model dinosaurs, half of which are animatronic, and the smallest which are between two to four metres tall. After paying and entering you take a riverboat trip to see the things in their ‘natural habitat’. Amazing.

Also technically within the Ho Chi Minh City limits is Monkey Island, on Highway 15. Entrance to the park is only a dollar, and it includes a free bottle of water! Monkeys roam wild inside the park. They approach humans demanding food, shiny things, or sometimes just blood.

For those who are less primate-friendly than they thought, Can Gio, a surprisingly relaxing beach, is 10 kilometres further on the same road and has inexpensive seafood, beer, and Johnnie Walker Black. Though only around 70 kilometers south of the city centre Monkey Island takes over two hours to get to because of the poor road quality and the ferry.

Just outside the city limits on Highway 1 is Suoi Tien Cultural Theme Park. Suoi Tien advertises itself as an ideal place for “gifting yourself a relaxing”, however on the list of the ‘Top 500 Most Relaxing Places In and Around Ho Chi Minh City’, the park rates slightly below the screaming intersection of Hai Ba Trung and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Streets in downtown Saigon.

The park commemorates significant events in Vietnam’s history, as well as several myths and folktales. It all makes perfect sense to the Vietnamese, but due to its size, grandiosity and completely contextualized meaning, adds up to one of the most disorientating, baffling experiences you can have in Vietnam if you’re a foreigner.

Monuments include the statues of Au Co and Lac Long Quan, the founders of Vietnam; a tribute to the famous General Tran Hung Dao, and statues of the four most important animals in Vietnamese culture – the dragon, the turtle, the phoenix and the lion. However, in addition to things you don’t really understand, there are fun rides, a water park, and a lake where you can fish for crocodiles with hunks of meat for only 2000 VND.

About 100 kilometres northwest of Ho Chi Minh City on highway 22/22B is Tay Ninh City, the seat of the Holy See of Caodaism. Cao Dai, which translates into ‘high platform’, is a religion indigenous to Vietnam with between two to three million followers. Pilloried by Graham Greene in his Vietnam book ‘The Quiet American’, it combines Buddhism, Confucianism and Catholicism, controlled parts of Vietnam’s South during the French Indochina War, and was formally established in only 1926. Its three principal saints are Sun Yat-sen, the leader of China’s 1911 revolution; Victor Hugo, prolific French author most famous for novel Les Miserables, and Nguyen Binh Khiem, Vietnamese political adviser, poet and prophet from the 16th Century.

The religion may be eclectic, but the Holy See is entirely surreal. Part-cathedral, part temple wreathed in dragons and awash in bright colours, its insides decorated with huge windows featuring a lattice work of the worshipped Divine Eye it… it needs to be seen. Not described.

Visitors are welcome at services, provided they are respectful.

Also around 100km from Saigon, but to the northwest is Nam Cat Tien National Park. Made of swamp and jungle, the park covers an area of 74,219 hectares. The jungle is thick and home to over 300 varieties of bird, and 50 species of mammal including the highly endangered Javan Rhinoceros, the Asian Elephant, and tigers. You almost definitely won’t see any. Thanks in part to the destruction wrought by chemical defoliant Agent Orange, dropped during the American War, no foreigner or scientist has ever seen a rhino.

However, there are several attractions in the park, from large trees in primary growth areas of the forest to a lake where once again you can fish for crocodiles (worth it every time). Visitors can’t bring their motorbikes into the park, so you’re stuck relying on guides to run you around in jeeps or canoes. Wait until the dry season to make your trip, unless waterlogged is your thing.

Outside that Alpine lovers’ paradise of Dalat is something… different. In Lang Ga village, known colloquially as ‘Chicken Village’ there is a statue of a giant chicken. There are various theories as to the thing’s genesis, ranging from the idea the government built it to commemorate the brave efforts of the area’s chicken farmers who fought for their country to it being constructed as a draw card for tourists. It might be aliens. Don’t rule them out.

Tourism brought by the odd statue has resulted in the town’s people becoming very aggressive about getting your money. It’s rather like a village-sized Ben Thanh Market. But who could pass up a giant chicken statue in the middle of nowhere?

Approximately the same distance away along highway 1 is Phan Rang – Thap Cham. Phan Rang – Thap Cham is in the middle of the desert, which clashes with images of a Vietnam covered in jungle. The draw of these two towns is the ruins of Cham buildings that lie in and around them. Ruins are extremely well preserved due to the piddling 60cm of rain per year the area gets. The Cham are an ethnic group living in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand; there are currently about 10,000 Cham in Vietnam. The main attraction – a couple of Cham structures about 7km up highway 27 – date back to the 13th century and served as temples to the Hindu Cham (though 80-85% are Muslims). There are statues of Shiva and other Hindu figures inside, along with a phallic symbol with a human face on it.

So there you have it, more or less. Outside the frenetic, tree-lined streets of neon-lit, inner-city Saigon lurks ever-stranger and more intriguing craziness. You’ve been warned.