Cu Chi!

Hello all!

I hope you've all enjoyed reading the blog to date. Please keep diligently reading so I will not post in vain. This would be my last post from Ho Chi Minh City, tomorrow Brian and I are venturing north to Nha Trang, which is a coastal city by the ocean. There is much to see and do there, and I look forward to what that city brings. It will also be nice to be in a less-busier and bustling climate. Although HCM city has been great, it would be great to get some down-time in a place much quieter. Our friend Blair has already made the trek via overnight train to Nha Trang, so we will be joining him there tomorrow morning. We are taking the 11pm overnight train to save money on accommodations.

So last night our new friend Sara took us out for drinks at a nearby watering hole, which served the cheapest beer in town; 11,000 dong or about 67 cents U.S. for a pint of beer. The beer here is quite light so one needs to drink a bit more than usual to be drunk. There we met many a traveler, from Blackburn, UK to Adelaide and North Queensland in Australia. I absolutely adored the travelers I met, all were extremely easy going and easy to talk with. The traveler lifestyle is definitely something I can get use to. Everyone was eager to share stories of worldly travels, and we all enjoyed each others company. However, I had to call it quits earlier than usual. Rising everyday at 6:30am and going to bed at 12:00pm is starting to take somewhat of a toll on me. I will try to enjoy a good night sleep tonight.

This morning, Brian and I decided to venture to the Cu Chi tunnels in the northern area outside of HCM city. The tunnel systems were used by the Vietcong as one of their underground military bases during the Tet Offensive. The tunnels were amazing and remarkable in nature, they go 10-20 meters underground and stretch for over 250kms across Southern Vietnam. Vietnam was the heaviest bombed country in world history, more U.S. ordinates, bombs, shells, etc.. than any other war in history, including the First and Second World Wars. The VC strategically came up with a underground tunneling strategy to avoid aerial bombardments by U.S. planes. I have posted pictures on my face book of the tunnels, they are quite fascinating. Pictures will be on my face book! please check them out they are worth a look. I'm sitting here with a severely strained hamstring due to crouching down very low to squeeze through long stretches of tunnel. Nonetheless, the tunnels were not built for people of my size, and it was very uncomfortable. However, just being in them was a unbelievable experience, and I would do it again if I was there. I wrote an essay about the tunnels in my Vietnam history class, and never thought I would have the opportunity to actually be in one. There were sleeping quarters, meeting rooms, wells, kitchens, and weapon shacks in the tunnels. Cu Chi has definitely been the highlight of this trip for me, and I don't regret the 3 hour trip outside of the city to get there. The tunnels were rigged with many booby traps, from punji stick traps to poisonous spiked ones. I had Goosebumps and chills down my back from being in the tunnels, it was quite dark and I could hardly breathe. I could only imagine the feeling of being down there for days and weeks. Needless to say, the tunnels proved to be tremendously successful in stalemating the American experience in Vietnam. In part, the tunnels contributed to the eventual withdrawal of American forces from the war.

At the end of the tunnel excursion, we went down the range to fire of a few semi-automatic weapons. This proved to be nothing but a colossal rip off, I managed to fire a 10 rounds on a M16 and Brian fried the same amount on a AK47. The range was alright, but severely overpriced. It was nice to shoot at targets, my ears are still ringing from the range.

As for tomorrow, I'm waking up earlier than normal to catch a scooter ride to the Mekong Delta and do a few boat tours around the islands. I'm really looking forward to this. I will post another update soon with how it went.

I hope everyone is doing well back at home. I feel rather peculiar about not being back in school right now, and probably will be feeling even more uneasy if I wasn't graduated and abroad. However, I will be back soon so I should cherish these precious moments abroad as another trip like this would likely not come for another while. Alright! time to go mend my wounds with a bowl of pho and a nice sleep tonight. Check out the pictures on my facebook! And I will try to post some on here as well.

best wishes and take care all!