We have finally mastered the business of crossing the road in Ho Chi Minh City. It is just like the guide books say, go slowly and make eye contact. Remain calm and say “shit” quietly to yourself as you go.
We took a tour of the Cu Chi tunnels. This is a network of over 250km of tunnels extending from just outside Saigon to the Cambodian border and was constructed by the Viet Minh/ Viet Cong between 1947 and 1975. . They are considered by many to be one of the modern wonders of the World. The human endeavour that went into their construction is beyond belief. I travelled on hands and knees through only 100 metres of tunnel and the total darness and close confinement was almost too much. How so many lived for nearly 30 years in these conditions is amazing.
We also toured the Mekong Delta, a trip that involved much paddling and motoring around in small boats amongst a maze of rivers, canals and creeks. This area supports a population of 32 million peoplle and is so flat and low that global warming should take care of it over the next 50 years or so. It was interesting to experience the life in one of the World’s great food growing areas. However, my bum is growing seriously sore after days of sitting on benches that are too hard and too narrow for the likes of us well-fleshed Westerners.
The trip to Hanoi was marred by a badly delayed flight with Pacific Airways. We arrived at the airport at 8:30 and finally took off at 2:00. The leg room in the plane was even less than Tiger Air but thankfully it is only a 2 hour flight to Hanoi so we didn’t suffer too much.