Viva Viet Nam (South)

I spent almost twice the amount of time in Vietnam than I originally thought I would and it is all because it is such an amazing country. From Hanoi I went south to Hue with 3 Canadian friends (Jamie, Paul and Adam) the first day we hopped in a car with a guide who took us to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone), where during the war the majority of fighting took place. We saw a church and school just completely riddled with bullets and holes blown through roofs and walls, these 2 buildings were involved in 81 days/nights of fierce fighting. After that we went up into the mountains near the Laos border and visited Ke Sahn a mountain top base held by American forces till the last possible moment, but lost. It was there that I encountered a local man selling medals and dog tags of both American and V.C soldiers. It really made me sick to see someone trying to profit from the belongings of dead men. Later in the ay we went to the coast (this part of Nam is very narrow) there we stood in craters left by bombs dropped by B-52 bombers and got to crawl through the V.C tunnel system and see what life was like underground. Our guide was a South Vietnamese whose father was of high rank during the fight against the north and he was captured and killed by the V.C. He told us that the communist government hates his family and never asked him to join the army post war; because he said if they ever gave him a weapon he would start killing them.

I now realize why there wasn’t so much emphasis on the war and even on communism in the north; they had been the victors and were communists before the war. In the south they are still trying to convince the people to fall in line, still have communist propaganda poster all over on how work together for the country and other imposed ideals. Also the majority of the fighting in the south so it is here you still see bunkers, tanks and lookout towers rusty through the country side.

After Hue we went to a town on the coast called Hoi An which is famous for relaxing beaches and tailor shops and we took full advantage of both. It was in Hoi An that we amassed the largest part of our group of friends by the end of Hoi An there were about 15 of us all, a tight knit family of world travelers. We would all hit the beach and laze around all day in the sun. Jamie and I decided to have suits made, he needed them for work and I well I just thought the tailor experience would be fun. So after beach sessions we would go off for fittings an goof around with the local girls who were in charge of us, they loved us by the end. All we really did in Hoi An was have a blast, we celebrated my 25^th birthday there by going to the beach, dinner, and a night out at the “Club Salsa”. Hoi An was great in total we stayed 5 days and I would gladly have spent many more there.

Our next stop down the coast was a city called Nha Trang, which after Hoi An just didn’t compare but we did have fun. One day we went to the local water park on VinPearl Island and just had a great day of splashing around and acting like kids (never mind we’re all in our 20’s, you’re as old as you feel). The next day we went to the local hot springs and mud bath and sat around in mud and hot tubs or the better part of the day and had a blast there too. I only spent 2 full days there and took a morning bus on the third day to a another town called Mui Ne, which has some amazingly beautiful sand dunes, both reddish orange and white. I only spent a night there and basically spent the time watching TV and recovering from too many fun nights out with the gang. From Hoi An to Mui Ne I did not take a single photograph, it was sort of a nice break just having fun and enjoying the places I was in and the people I was with, but after Mui Ne I was ready to take the camera and get busy shooting.

Saigon or Ho Chi Menh city as it is mainly referred to came last and it too was simply an amazing city, never in my life had I ever seen more people and more traffic. Crossing the street in Saigon takes courage and an almost suicidal approach, you just cross in a straight line at a steady pace and let all the traffic and motos go around you, it is truly an art form. Mike one of my British friends and I toured most of the sights of Saigon together, as the rest of the big crew wasn’t showing up for a few days.

The War Remnants Museum is a place every visitor to Saigon should go, it’s almost like the Holocaust Museum in D.C, it shows the true horrors of war and it is slanted against the U.S side. The photographs and displays at times will bring tears to your eyes when you realize that due to chemical war fare (agent orange) used by the U.S forces, there are still to this day children being born horribly disfigured, the Vietnamese government is not shy about putting two deformed still born babies on display in tanks. In the end you realize its war and nothing good ever comes from it. They also have a room that’s partially deals with journalist and photographers killed in the war with pictures displayed of those who died. It was there I met a French photographer who was picking out and remembering friends and guys he knew who died, he spent 2 years photographing the war and we had a good conversation in regards to photography and war. That’s about the most depressing day you can have in Saigon but everyone should experience it.

We also visited the Cu Chi tunnels where you watch a film on the history of the tunnels made back in the 60’s (the film) which contains a hilarious amount of American bashing and about 2 minutes of history: among my favorite lines were “Like a bunch of crazy devils” and “Hero American killer”, but what are you going to do, it’s their country I’m just passing through. These tunnels were cool; unlike the ones outside of Hue they had not been enlarged and were tiny. I had to crawl on my hands and knees through the majority of them. It’s there you learn and gain respect for how crafty and intelligent they were about their tunnel system. It stretches some 200 Kilometers, they built ventilation opening in the shape of termite nests so as not to be detected and had complex “fake tunnels” dug solely for carrying water so the real tunnels wouldn’t flood. They also devised some seriously sinister booby traps for what they called “Hunting Americans” It was incredibly interesting seeing the war from the other point of view, but you have to realize that this is put on by a communist government and not all of the people as I discovered think the way the government would like them to.

One of the best things about Vietnam I forgot to mention was how delicious all of their food is. For the first tie in Asia I fell in love with every local dish I tried, I can’t complain about one single thing I ate. They use all fresh ingredients and every meal is tasty and good for you, I hope I can find a Vietnamese place when I get home.

From Saigon I tool a bus across the border to the capitol of Cambodia Phnom Penh and stayed a day there and am now in a city called Siem Reap which contains what I believe is the largest and most complex amount of temples anywhere, they stretch randomly across Cambodia and into Thailand, but I will write about Cambodia at the end of the week when I am in Thailand. I hope you enjoyed reading about Vietnam as much as I did experiencing Vietnam. Pictures won’t be up for a while as the Cambodian computers leave much to be desired. Thanks.